Vicar of Baghdad: 'Every Single Christian Wants to Leave’; About Sympathetic Abortion Stories;...more

Vicar of Baghdad: 'Every Single Christian Wants to Leave’  ..."We do not really know what is happening all we know is that people are very afraid we know that civilians have been killed in air strikes we know that there are huge battles with ISIS and we know that our army is not very efficient," the vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq posted on Facebook.

“President Obama is saying that he overestimated the ability of the Iraqi Army. It is so clear they have no ability. A hard thing to say but its true,” he said.

“To be honest, every single Christian wants to leave,” White previously told the U.K. Telegraph on Saturday after returning to Baghdad following a brief visit to the U.S. and the U.K. for medical treatment.

“I used to say to my people: ‘Don’t you leave. I’m not going to leave you, don’t leave me,’” he said. “But now every one of them wants to leave and the ones who are left tend to be the poorer ones who couldn’t get away earlier.”...

Is justice for Christians possible? World court to decide
We all know how tolerant radical Shari’a Muslims are toward Christians, especially when it comes to kidnapping, torture, hangings, and beheadings. As brutal as they are toward Western Christians, they are even worse (if that’s possible) toward Islamic converts. It’s also no secret that Shari’a based Islamic governments don’t like to be criticized for the iron veil of oppression by which they control their populations.

So in 2009 when an Iranian web publisher petitioned Sweden for asylum in order to escape political persecution from the strangulating Iranian government, one would think the welcome mat would have been laid out for the man. Unfortunately, asylum wasn’t granted.

A year later the Iranian did the ‘unthinkable’ and converted from Islam to Christianity, putting his life even further at risk. Again he petitioned Sweden for asylum, this time adding religious persecution to his desperate plea. Sadly, Sweden denied his request in 2011...

National Home School Organization to 'Vigorously Oppose' Use of Newtown Shooting to Control Homeschoolers  ...“To assert that there is any connection between homeschooling and violence in public schools is simply ludicrous,” Dewitt Black, HSLDA senior counsel, told Breitbart News. “There is no evidence to support this.”

As Breitbart News reported last week, the commission, convened by Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-WFP), said it was recommending tighter control of homeschooling families in the state to prevent another Newtown shooting.

Alleged shooter Adam Lanza reportedly had some homeschooling, but he experienced most of his education in public schools. Therefore, the commission’s focus on ensuring all children in the state receive mental health screenings and its recommendation that homeschoolers with mental health issues report regularly to the special education directors in their public school district have created an uproar in the homeschooling community...

Four Responses To Sympathetic Abortion Stories

Who doesn’t love a good abortion story? Break out the popcorn, eh?
 

Okay, so personally I prefer a good romance. But “abortion rights” advocates are working to promote abortion stories as part of their ever-more-aggressive campaign to persuade the public that abortion is normal and fine and not the least bit offensive. A month ago Janet Harris got people talking with her Washington Post piece claiming that abortion isn’t necessarily a difficult decision. Alex Ronan made waves a few weeks ago by detailing the life of an abortion doula.  And HuffPo recently got in on the party by celebrating the beat poetry of Leyla Josephine, a woman who got an abortion and declares she would die to protect her aborted daughter’s right to do the same. (Obviously, she will not have the opportunity to make good on that promise.)

Safe, legal, and rare is so 20 years ago. Now we’ve moved on to the in-your-face, “I wanted my baby dead and what do you have to say about it” phase.

Now, I understand why pro-abortion activism has taken this aggressive turn. “Abortion rights” advocates are frustrated with the way the argument has developed. I mean, sure, pregnant women can obtain legal abortions under almost any imaginable circumstances, but it’s just not respectable.

Abortion-seeking women are subject to shame and social pressure and nasty things like that. It’s just not fair...

Incest and pornography: more similar than we think
Incest remains taboo, but pornography also corrupts marriages and families.

Report: Obama Has Missed over Half His Second-Term Daily Intel Briefings

Praying in faith...

Praying in faith comes from an abiding faith in the Person prayed to—the confidence is in Him. It is based on a knowledge of who He is, and on a trusted conviction that He is worthy to be trusted. Praying in faith is the act of a simple-hearted child of God. ...Corrie ten Boom image

The Ohio State Marching Band: The Wizard of Oz

Sep 27, 2014
         

Ohio State's marching band performs during the Sept. 27 Buckeyes game versus Cincinnati. Theme: The Wizard of Oz.

Documentary Highlights Accounts of IRS Targeting Conservatives; Two Pastors among 46 Christians Killed in Nigeria; Former homosexuals and their faith...more

New documentaries tell stories of former homosexuals and their faith  I’m convinced that those driving the LGBT agenda don’t want to have an honest conversation. This fact is primarily seen in their efforts to silence ex-gay people who have left the homosexual lifestyle. Anytime a story of someone that once lived the homosexual lifestyle but chose to leave surfaces, it is attacked and ridiculed. This shows the intolerance of those asking us all to be tolerant as they vehemently deny that it’s possible to be a “former homosexual.”...

Days before the abortion of their ‘disabled’ baby, they said no, now he’s perfectly healthy

Documentary Highlights First-Hand Accounts of IRS Targeting Conservative, Christian Groups ...A documentary set to be released in October aims to show the American public exactly how the IRS is unfairly treating certain groups by sharing first-hand experiences from those "oppressed" by the IRS.

Bothered by the reports that the IRS was targeting conservative activist groups, Craig Bergman, a former Gulf War veteran and syndicated conservative talk show host, traveled across America to get to the bottom of how the IRS was targeting these groups.

In his travels, Bergam interviewed various leaders of conservative activist groups, religious groups, veterans associations, international adoption parents and other groups. His interviewees detailed on camera how the IRS either forced them to fill out "intrusive" paperwork while filing for tax exempt status, or stalled the paperwork, making it difficult for the groups to grow in size...

Kissing Corpses is Helping Spread Ebola, Expert Says Touching or kissing the corpses of Ebola victims at funerals is helping to spread the deadly virus, according to one of the world’s top scientists who was among the first to identify Ebola in 1976...

Two Pastors among 46 Christians Killed in Kaduna State, Nigeria ...Pastor Ezra Ibrahim of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) was killed, and the Rev. Julius Jako of the ECWA was slain alongside his wife and daughter, said 60-year-old Danjuma Awe, an elder of the ECWA congregation in Karshin Daji...

Anglican Unscripted Episode 125

Sep 29, 2014

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

00:00 No More Lambeth? Primates Meetings?

Adirondacks September 28, 2014

Reflection Beach

Golden Glow

Rocky Point

Rocky Adirondack Stream

Blue and Golden Waters

On the Moose river

Moose River morning

Fall Warp Drive

Impressionist Lily Pads

Kayaking near Old Forge

Moss Lake

Raymond took these wonderful photos yesterday during a day long session with Carl Heilman , a well known Adirondack photographer. (Click to enlarge)

(Added a few more: 8:40 pm)

Anglican Unscripted Episode 124

Sep 26, 2014    
    

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

Faculty strike at General Theological Seminary

Presiding Bishop to be deposed in Fort Worth case

Albert Mohler: Homosexuality as Dividing Line — The Inescapable Issue

September 24, 2014

The vote to declare that the New Heart Community Church of La Mirada, California “does not presently meet the definition of a cooperating church” came unanimously as the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention met this week in Nashville. It was a solemn moment and a moment perhaps to be repeated any number of times in coming months and years. Homosexuality was the dividing line.

The SBC Executive Committee was acting in its ad interim capacity on behalf of the Convention itself. Between the annual meetings of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Executive Committee fulfills its functions. When the SBC met earlier this year in Baltimore, Southern Baptists had just learned days before that the New Heart Community Church had affirmed its pastor in declaring a “third way” on the issue of homosexuality — in effect allowing for the affirmation of same-sex sexuality and relationships. In an hour-long video posted to the church’s website, Pastor Danny Cortez explained his personal change of mind on the question of homosexuality and traced his journey back to an August day in 2013 when “I realized I no longer believed in the traditional teachings regarding homosexuality.”

When Pastor Cortez told his 15-year-old son about his change of mind, his son responded with the simple declaration, “Dad, I’m gay.” In short order, Drew Cortez, Danny Cortez’s son, posted a “coming out” video on YouTube and Pastor Cortez told his congregation of his change of mind on homosexuality. As he told his church, his change was a “radical shift” that put him at odds with the historic understanding of the Christian church and the SBC’s confession of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message...  the rest image

The church eventually split over the issue, with those remaining declaring their intention to affirm their pastor and to become a “Third Way church” that allows for disagreement on the question of the sinfulness of homosexual acts and same-sex marriage. 

But, as I argued at the time, there is no third way. A church or denomination will either believe and teach that same-sex behaviors and relationships are sinful, or it will affirm them. In short order, every single congregation in America will face the same decision — do we affirm same-sex relationships or not? Those who suggest that there is some way around this “binary” choice are fooling themselves and confusing the church. 

Consider this — the only way to construct a “third way” is to suggest that one can allow for the affirmation of homosexuality without affirming it. That simply does not work. To allow the affirmation is to affirm.

Come, weary one...

Come, weary one, use thy Lord's words as thy pillows, Lie down in peace. Dream only of Him. Jesus is thy ladder of light. See the angels coming and going upon Him between thy soul and thy God, and be sure that the promise is thine own God-given portion and that it will not be robbery for thee to take it to thyself, as spoken specially to thee. ...CH Spurgeon image

Gafcon's Chairman’s September Pastoral Letter

To the Faithful of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and friends
from Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya
and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council
September 23, 2014

‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who if of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the heart of the contrite.’ Isaiah 57:15

My dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings in the precious name of our Risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

Here in Nairobi, we have just concluded our Divine Conference. We have enjoyed four wonderful days of fellowship, worship and teaching as hundreds of people have been drawn daily to hear God’s Word at All Saints Cathedral. We have come to the Lord in repentance and we have experienced the truth of the great promise we have in Isaiah 57:15, that the God who dwells in the splendour of holiness also dwells with the contrite and lowly. God has indeed drawn near. He has saved the lost, brought back the wanderers, lifted our burdens and given us a new joy in Jesus the Son of God, in whom all His promises are fulfilled.

Many of us were also present last October for GAFCON 2013 and I have encouraged people to think of the Divine Conference as  ‘Continuing GAFCON’. In the Nairobi Commitment and Communiqué, we stated our intention to become much more than a big conference every five years.  As long as the Great Commission is at risk through the promotion and toleration of false teaching and immorality in the Anglican Communion, we must have ‘Continuing GAFCON’.

Our Divine Conference reflected the partnership we have with other Confessing Anglicans as we welcomed international guests and speakers from other nations, including Uganda, the UK and the Anglican Church of North America. My brother Archbishop Stanley Ntagali reminded us that true unity comes when Christ is at the centre of the Church and urged us to see that ‘GAFCON is a revival movement to revive the Anglican Communion’.

We were also delighted to receive greetings from Archbishop Foley Beach through his special representative, Canon Alan Hawkins, and a mission team of church planters from the Anglican Church of North America’s Greenhouse Movement came alongside parishes in Nairobi and joined us for the conference. All Saints Cathedral and Greenhouse have now committed to reciprocal mission visits and I rejoice to see the GAFCON vision for faithful global mission being put into practice in this very practical way between the great cities of Nairobi and Chicago. I hope this will be the first of many similar initiatives.

In the twenty first century, it is becoming clear that we must see the once missionary nations of the West as now themselves mission fields. The fact that the United Kingdom came close to breaking up last week is a symptom of the disintegration that follows when a once common Christian faith has been lost and I want to appreciate the work of the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) who are sharing with other mission minded Anglicans in England as they meet for the ‘ReNew’ Conference this week.

AMiE is authorised by the GAFCON Primates to work within and, where necessary, outside the structures of the Church of England as a missionary society. In my message of greeting to the conference I said ‘We understand the challenges that faithful Anglicans face in England.  At GAFCON 2013 here in Nairobi we recognised that the focus of the struggle for biblical faithfulness has shifted from North America to England. The temptation to dilute the message of Jesus Christ and compromise with the surrounding culture is strong, so it is vital for the gospel in England, and also for the world, that you continue as a beacon to the revealed truth of the Scriptures. The salvation of people from hell is at stake. So nothing could be more important.’

As Chairman of GAFCON I give thanks to God as I see brothers an sisters in Christ round the world standing firm and partnering together to make known the good news of our Lord Jesus in season and out of season.

Finally, let us not forget those who are suffering. The terrible barbarities of ISIL have focussed our minds on the evil that has befallen many believers in the Middle East and those facing similar threats in other parts of the world.  Let us be steadfast in prayer for them and trust God that the ancient Churches of their lands will, by God’s grace and power, rise from the ashes. And may their suffering strengthen our resolve to be faithful soldiers and servants of Jesus Christ wherever we are, knowing that nothing can separate is from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

                           

Here

A.S. Haley: The Unraveling of the Anglican Communion

September 25, 2014

For some time now—ever since ECUSA’s unilateral decision to consecrate V. Gene Robinson as a bishop—the Anglican Communion has been unraveling, but since it was such a loosely based agglomeration of churches to begin with, hardly no one has noticed. And yet, there were warnings aplenty.

From the October 2003 statement of the Primates who gathered specially in London before the consecration scheduled for November:

If [V. Gene Robinson’s] consecration proceeds, we recognise that we have reached a crucial and critical point in the life of the Anglican Communion and we have had to conclude that the future of the Communion itself will be put in jeopardy. In this case, the ministry of this one bishop will not be recognised by most of the Anglican world, and many provinces are likely to consider themselves to be out of Communion with the Episcopal Church (USA). This will tear the fabric of our Communion at its deepest level ...

From the Windsor Report of a year later:

In terms of the wider Communion, and our wider relationships with a number of key ecumenical partners, the consecration [of V. Gene Robinson] has had very prejudicial consequences. In our view, those involved did not pay due regard, in the way they might and, in our view, should have done, to the wider implications of the decisions they were making and the actions they were taking….
...
There remains a very real danger that we will not choose to walk together. Should the call to halt and find ways of continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart.

the rest

Bp. Andrus offers prayer of "Earth and Cosmos; Villanova Prof. Mocked Catholicism; Europe’s Anti-Semitism...more

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to step down
Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. plans to resign, a White House official said Thursday..

Holder has served in President Obama’s Cabinet since the start of his presidency.

Holder had been rumored to be mulling an exit for months --and many expected him to have already departed -- but Obama, a longtime friend, reportedly made a personal appeal for him to stay on...

Incest a 'fundamental right', German committee says
Anti-incest laws in Germany could be scrapped after a government-backed group said relationships between brothers and sisters should be legal

Nigerian Army Says It Killed Man Acting as Boko Haram Leader ...The man, identified as Mohammed Bashir, died when government troops defending the northeastern town of Konduga killed some top Boko Haram commanders in an attack on a convoy of rebel vehicles on Sept. 17, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters said late yesterday in an e-mailed statement...

Bishop Marc Andrus Offers Prayer of “Earth and Cosmos” at Climate March
Who calls the clouds of Monarch Butterflies to their annual 4,000-mile migration?”
“The Earth!”

“Who prompts the Arctic Tern in the air, and the Blue Whale in the Ocean to make their 12,000-mile migration?”
“The Earth!”

“Who starts the 500-mile Serengeti Migration, beginning with 250,000 Zebras, then 1.7 million Wildebeasts, and 400,000 Gazelles?”
“The Earth!”

Villanova Prof. Mocked Catholicism
A professor at Villanova University in a lecture that is ostensibly about the use of Native American sports mascots mocks the Catholic Church by swinging around a cross, tossing about pretend communion wafers, making jokes about a pregnant nun. And this is all in the first few minutes...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Poor People Should Have Abortions, Not Children
“It makes no sense as a national policy to promote birth only among poor people,” Ginsburg says.

Europe’s Anti-Semitism Comes Out of the Shadows
From the immigrant enclaves of the Parisian suburbs to the drizzly bureaucratic city of Brussels to the industrial heartland of Germany, Europe’s old demon returned this summer. “Death to the Jews!” shouted protesters at pro-Palestinian rallies in Belgium and France. “Gas the Jews!” yelled marchers at a similar protest in Germany.

The ugly threats were surpassed by uglier violence. Four people were fatally shot in May at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. A Jewish-owned pharmacy in this Paris suburb was destroyed in July by youths protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. A synagogue in Wuppertal, Germany, was attacked with firebombs. A Swedish Jew was beaten with iron pipes. The list goes on.

 

The scattered attacks have raised alarm about how Europe is changing and whether it remains a safe place for Jews. An increasing number of Jews, if still relatively modest in total, are now migrating to Israel. Others describe “no go” zones in Muslim districts of many European cities where Jews dare not travel...

The Words of Canon Andrew White

by Mark Bauerlein
9.24.14

We can’t go out into the streets and do evangelism and tell them what the gospel is, but we can show it.” So said Canon Andrew White last week addressing a small group of local Christians in New York City. A couple of days earlier, he gave the opening prayer in the U. S. Senate, which you can watch at C-SPAN.

The streets are in Baghdad, and the “showing” mainly takes the form of a medical clinic, humanitarian relief, and reconciliation of hostile factions in the country. (The clinic treats 150 people each day—Canon White trained in the U.K. as a “gas man,” one who administers anesthesia.) His organization is The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East whose home page today has a video labeled “Iraqi TV Host Breaks Down in Tears at Plight of Christians.” Beneath it reads, “DON’T BE SILENT AS A NEW HOLOCAUST UNFOLDS!”

After an opening prayer and the greeting, “It’s wonderful to come together with my sisters and my brothers who love Jesus,” Canon White proceeded to detail some of the abominable conditions faced every day by Sunnis, Shiites, and, most of all, Christians... the rest-First Things

And as the persecutions continue, “We are becoming MORE Christian.”

Anglican Unscripted Episode 123

Published on Sep 24, 2014 
         

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

00:00 Remarriage in the Roman Catholic Church
08:30 Behind the Anglican Unscripted Webcams.

Anglican Unscripted Episode 122

Sep 23, 2014

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

00:00 BREAKING NEWS: Jefferts-Schori will not run again.

Anglican Unscripted Episode 121

Sep 22, 2014
         

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

00:00 Saving the Soul of the Anglican Communion

In the garden...

Bee on Autumn Joy sedum 



Red dragonfly on our raised vegetable bed

 

Yesterday was simply beautiful and Raymond and I spent the time outside-actually cleaning out the garage.  The insects were out too, so Raymond followed them around the yard trying to capture them on camera.  Here are two of the photos.  We have not seen the red dragonflies in a couple of years, so it was neat to see them again. (Click to enlarge)



Boko Haram Attacks Nigerian College; Ebola aid workers reportedly killed 'in cold blood'; Scots stay put...more

God may not be dead, but considering the imago Dei in philosophical discourse and public policy certainly is.  ...Today’s dominant cultural voices argue that an individual’s moral worth should be predicated upon his or her individual capacities of the moment. This view is most acutely expressed in bioethics, the field that wields tremendous influence over health-care public policies and in the ethical protocols of medicine...

At least 8 Ebola aid workers reportedly killed 'in cold blood' by villagers in Guinea  ...These deaths are believed to be the first resulting from resistance to international efforts to curb the Ebola outbreak in the region, Reuters reported. Other aid teams have been forced to turn back by crowds in several locations, and a treatment center in Monrovia, Liberia was attacked and looted.

"The eight bodies were found in the village latrine," Albert Damantang Camara, a spokesman for Guinea's government, told Reuters on Thursday, adding that they had been "killed in cold blood by the villagers."...

Not Even Close: Scots Reject Independence, For Now -- 55%-45%  ...The decision prevented a rupture of a 307-year union with England, bringing a huge sigh of relief to Britain's economic and political establishment, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who faced calls for his resignation if Scotland had broken away...

Colleges say: “We’re doing great!” Employers: “No you’re not!”  ...In the Lumina survey, only 33 percent of business leaders agreed that colleges are producing graduates with the skills their organizations need.

On the other survey, though, nearly all academics (99 percent) claimed their institutions were “at least somewhat effective at providing a quality undergraduate education, with 72 percent saying they are very effective in this area.” Oh, they know something’s wrong overall—38 percent of college leaders admitted that academic rigor has fallen in higher education generally—but not at home: Only 10 percent admitted it had fallen at their own schools. While 44 percent agreed that grade inflation has affected higher education generally, only 14 percent said so for their own schools...

Eric Metaxas on 'The New Witch Hunt'
Eric Metaxas has written best-selling biographies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce, and is one of the most popular speakers in America. The headline of his recent BreakPoint commentary caught my eye: "The New Witch Hunt." Here's the story.

Boko Haram Suicide Bombers Attack Nigerian College, 15 Dead ...The Christian Post reports that the militants stormed the school; two of the terrorists were wearing explosive vests. When the militants started shooting, one of the vests detonated, killing the wearer instantly.

Kano State police commissioner Adelere Shinaba said, "They were obviously suicide bombers. One of our officers shot at one of the gunmen and the explosives on him went off, killing him on the spot."...

Satanist Group in Orlando Plans to Provide Public School Students with Activity Books A Satanist organization in New York is planning to distribute activity books to children in Orange County, Florida public schools. The books, provided by The Satanic Temple, feature a variety of activities that are intended to teach children about Satanism and counteract the teachings of Evangelical Christians in the region.

 

Orange County Public Schools allows Christian groups to provide students with Bibles and other religious materials, which prompted the Satanist group to push for an alternative... (Get your kids out now)

GAO Abortion Findings a Wake-Up Call for Lethargic Chrisitans  ...Caught red handed, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Americans’ tax dollars are subsidizing abortions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. ObamaCare. At least 1,036 plans cover abortions despite President Barack Obama’s promise that “under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.”

Are we really shocked? Christian citizens cannot expect honesty, morality and courage from our elected leaders and their policies if we refuse to elect honest, moral and courageous leaders at the polls. Don’t forget that in 2012, 6.4 million Evangelicals voted for President Obama, an outspoken supporter of abortion on demand, tax-payer funded abortions, partial-birth abortions, and the list goes on...

The Irony of California's Ousting of Campus Christian Groups
A disturbing story came and went, barely noticed a few weeks ago. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is being unceremoniously booted off the campuses of California's 23 state universities. This begins with a process of "derecognizing" these as legitimate campus groups.

Why? Though everyone is welcome at their ministry events, ICVF reserves leadership only for those committed to their goals and creed, just as a homosexual group would presumably reserve leadership for gays or those who affirm its pro-gay agenda. Or a Muslim group for Muslims...

Cases of Enterovirus EV-D68 Confirmed in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut Officials Wednesday confirmed cases of enterovirus EV-D68 in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut as the unusual and potentially severe respiratory illness continues to sweep across the U.S.

Officials said that at least one of the 12 confirmed cases of the virus previously confirmed in New York state is in New York City, and another case is on Long Island. Cases have been reported in more than a dozen states nationwide...

Alibaba Overtakes Amazon as Most Highly Valued Online Retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is knocking Amazon.com Inc. off its perch as the world’s largest online retailer by market capitalization, signaling the ascendance of a global rival for investor and consumer dollars.

Alibaba begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange today after pricing its initial public offering yesterday at $68 a share, putting the Hangzhou, China-based company’s valuation at $167.6 billion. That exceeds Amazon’s market capitalization of $150.2 billion, as of its closing price in New York yesterday of $325...

Albert Mohler: Biblical Theology and the Sexuality Crisis

September 16, 2014

Western society is currently experiencing what can only be described as a moral revolution. Our society’s moral code and collective ethical evaluation on a particular issue has undergone not small adjustments but a complete reversal. That which was once condemned is now celebrated, and the refusal to celebrate is now condemned.

What makes the current moral and sexual revolution so different from previous moral revolutions is that it is taking place at an utterly unprecedented velocity. Previous generations experienced moral revolutions over decades, even centuries. This current revolution is happening at warp speed.

As the church responds to this revolution, we must remember that current debates on sexuality present to the church a crisis that is irreducibly and inescapably theological. This crisis is tantamount to the type of theological crisis that Gnosticism presented to the early church or that Pelagianism presented to the church in the time of Augustine. In other words, the crisis of sexuality challenges the church’s understanding of the gospel, sin, salvation, and sanctification. Advocates of the new sexuality demand a complete rewriting of Scripture’s metanarrative, a complete reordering of theology, and a fundamental change to how we think about the church’s ministry.... the rest image

Biblical theology is absolutely indispensable for the church to craft an appropriate response to the current sexual crisis. The church must learn to read Scripture according to its context, embedded in its master-narrative, and progressively revealed along covenantal lines. We must learn to interpret each theological issue through Scripture’s metanarrative of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. Specifically, evangelicals need a theology of the body that is anchored in the Bible’s own unfolding drama of redemption.

What’s Behind Germany’s New Anti-Semitism; ISIS' workplace accident; We’re All Subsidizing Abortion...more

The spread of Rocky Mountain jihad
Something’s fouling Colorado’s crisp air — and I’m not talking about the pot smoke.

In my adopted home state, the toxic fumes of Islamic jihad have penetrated the most unlikely hamlets and hinterlands. Obama administration officials are vehemently denying plots by ISIS operatives to cross our borders. But the lesson here is clear: Thanks to laptop recruitment, reckless visa policies and homegrown treachery, the U.S.-based jihad export-import business is and has been thriving.

Don’t Kid Yourself, We’re All Subsidizing The Abortion Industry  ...There was a time, you’ll probably remember, when contending that Obamacare subsidies would cover elective abortions was considered a “myth”– pure fear mongering, cooked up by the fringiest crackpots of the right. Well, as with some other alleged conspiracy theories about the administration, annoying facts keep popping up to bolster them.

In a report requested for by eight Republicans House members, the GAO found that 18 insurance providers in 28 states made no attempt to limit access to abortion coverage. And though the Office of Personnel Management is theoretically tasked with making sure at least one insurance plan in each exchange does not cover abortions at all, in states like Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont, every insurance plan on the exchanges offered elective abortion. Yes, it’s against the rules. What are you going to do about it?

Much like the administration, it seems the private sector is free to interpret the law in a way it feels comfortable...
Feds: Obamacare covers elective abortions

Watering Down Religious Freedom to ‘Freedom to Worship’ ...Perhaps the most egregious example of this whittling away of religious liberty is Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate. The legal showdown over the now famous rule entered a new round last week. The federal government continued its fight to force the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic charity dedicated to caring for the elderly poor, to cover abortion-inducing drugs and contraception in violation of their faith. While the Supreme Court stopped enforcement of the mandate against some family businesses, non-profit religious organizations like the Little Sisters remain in danger of devastating fines for not complying with the coercive rule.

Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s HHS mandate is hardly the only assault on religious freedom and the right of conscience in the United States.

Obamacare is finding new ways to force individuals and families to pay for health plans that cover elective abortions. The law’s lack of transparency about abortion coverage, coupled with a mandatory abortion surcharge, is so serious an affront to conscience that it has led at least one family to file a federal lawsuit.  The health care law also only includes limited protections for medical professionals who decline to participate in, perform, or refer for abortion because of their moral or religious beliefs...

What’s Behind Germany’s New Anti-Semitism
...Until recently, Germany has been unwilling to discuss this trend. Germans have always seen Muslim anti-Semitism as a less problematic version of the “original” version, and therefore a distraction from the well-known problem of anti-Jewish sentiment within a majority of society.

And yet the German police have noted a disturbing rise in the number of people of Arabic and Turkish descent arrested on suspicion of anti-Semitic acts in recent years, especially over the last several months. After noticing an alarming uptick in anti-Semitic sentiment among immigrant students, the German government is considering a special fund for Holocaust education...

Satanic Temple To Open 15 New Chapters Across the United States The Satanic Temple says it will open 15 new chapters nationwide, as well as several internationally.

In an interview with Aleteia, Jex Blackmore, a leader of the Satanic Temple’s new Detroit chapter and a member of the group’s executive ministry team, said her organization’s view of Satan is not the same one presented in the Bible as the “Father of Lies.”

“Satan, to us, is not a deity or entity, but rather a symbol of the ultimate revolutionary iconoclast exemplified by Milton, William Blake and Anatole France," Blackmore said, likening her group’s variety of satanism to a humanist philosophy that hopes to give its followers a sense of identity, community, and shared values.

Blackmore added that her group is a “non-theistic religious organization” that does not subscribe to “supernaturalism,” and does not participate in animal sacrifices and other rituals often attributed to satanic groups....

Fourteen ISIS Terrorists Die in Workplace Accident Trying to Load Chlorine Gas Into Rocket  ...At least 14 members of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group were killed Tuesday near Baghdad when a rocket whose warhead they were filling with chlorine gas exploded.

Iraqi security officials said seven more IS militants were injured in the incident, which occurred near the town of al-Dhuluiya, about 90 km north of Baghdad...

Agnus Dei!

The cross for the first time revealed God in terms of weakness and lowliness and suffering; even, humanly speaking, of absurdity. He was seen thenceforth in the image of the most timid, most gentle and most vulnerable of all living creatures—a lamb. Agnus Dei! ...Malcolm Muggeridge image

Math is ‘the domain of old, white men’; CDC issues Ebola checklist; Porn Use Among Christians...more

Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress
Once a week, members of a Wellington, New Zealand, book club arrive at a cafe, grab a drink and shut off their cellphones. Then they sink into cozy chairs and read in silence for an hour.

The point of the club isn't to talk about literature, but to get away from pinging electronic devices and read, uninterrupted. The group calls itself the Slow Reading Club, and it is at the forefront of a movement populated by frazzled book lovers who miss old-school reading.

Slow reading advocates seek a return to the focused reading habits of years gone by, before Google, smartphones and social media started fracturing our time and attention spans. Many of its advocates say they embraced the concept after realizing they couldn't make it through a book anymore...

Teacher group: Math is ‘the domain of old, white men’
...The site, Culturally Responsive Teaching, Teach for America, says that because math is seen as a domain for old, white men, many students cannot identify with it. Therefore, educators should find ways to relate math to the lives of their students.

Judging from the math curriculum recommended, this TFA group, like all other social justice educators, wants minorities to believe that what relates most to their lives in America is racism and oppression.

For example, the site recommends “Critically Conscious Mathematics” and “Radical Math.”...

Porn Use Among Christians Higher Than Non-Christians
No sooner had I finished writing about the connection between Christians supporting homosexuality and supporting other forms of immorality and I come across a new study showing the epidemic porn use among Christians...

The Great Unraveling
It was the time of unraveling. Long afterward, in the ruins, people asked: How could it happen?

It was a time of beheadings. With a left-handed sawing motion, against a desert backdrop, in bright sunlight, a Muslim with a British accent cut off the heads of two American journalists and a British aid worker. The jihadi seemed comfortable in his work, unhurried. His victims were broken. Terror is theater. Burning skyscrapers, severed heads: The terrorist takes movie images of unbearable lightness and gives them weight enough to embed themselves in the psyche.

 

It was a time of aggression. The leader of the largest nation on earth pronounced his country encircled, even humiliated. He annexed part of a neighboring country, the first such act in Europe since 1945, and stirred up a war on further land he coveted. His surrogates shot down a civilian passenger plane. The victims, many of them Europeans, were left to rot in the sun for days. He denied any part in the violence, like a puppeteer denying that his puppets’ movements have any connection to his. He invoked the law the better to trample on it. He invoked history the better to turn it into farce. He reminded humankind that the idiom fascism knows best is untruth so grotesque it begets unreason... Don't miss this...

 

CDC issues Ebola checklist: 'Now is the time to prepare'

...While the CDC does not believe that there are new cases of Ebola in the United States, the assumption in the checklist is that it is only a matter of time before the virus hits home...

Meriam Ibrahim: 'I knew God would stand by my side'  ...
She said she was given three days in prison to renounce her faith, while imams visisted her in an "intervention" to help her recant by reciting the Qur'an to her.

"My faith was the only weapon that I had in these confrontations with imams and Muslim scholars," she said.

Interviewer Megyn Kelly asked: "Did you believe they would kill you?"

To which Ibrahim responded: "Faith means life, if you don't have faith, you're not alive."
She highlighted that there are many Christians suffering the same persecution. "I am not the only one suffering from this problem," she said. "There are many Meriams in Sudan and throughout the world. It's not just me. I'm not the only one."...

Re-creating Campus Ministry; Yale Episcopal Chaplain Resigns...more

Obama Admin Sends $500,000 to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz to Promote Obamacare  When Democrats in Congress railroaded Obamacare through the House and Senate, pro-life groups warned that the government takeover of health care would result in taxpayer funding of abortions and the abortion industry. The Obama administration has already sent large sums of taxpayer monies to Planned Parenthood and new reports show that is continuing...

The Islamic State's global reach
...The following is a partial list of reported or suspected ISIS/Islamic State activity outside Iraq and Syria since Jan. 1, 2013. It does not include many reports that referred only to "an Islamist group"; authorities in a number of countries have been reluctant to specify the nature and extent of extremist activity within their borders. The list below, organized by continent and then alphabetically by country, is not exhaustive. Nonetheless, its extensiveness indicates the global reach of the IS, even if the reported activity does not consist of spectacular attacks...

Yale Episcopal Chaplain Resigns After Anti-Jewish Comments The chaplain of the Episcopal Church at Yale has resigned from his post this week after his letter to the editor of the New York Times sparked controversy. In the letter, Rev. Bruce Shipman seemed to imply that the blame for anti-Semitic violence ought to lie with Israel.

When an Emory professor of Jewish studies Deborah Lipstadt wrote about the recent rise in European anti-Semitic violence, Shipman wrote in to complain that she hadn’t focused enough on Israel. “The trend to which she alludes parallels the carnage in Gaza over the last five years, not to mention the perpetually stalled peace talks and the continuing occupation of the West Bank. As hope for a two-state solution fades and Palestinian casualties continue to mount, the best antidote to anti-Semitism would be for Israel’s patrons abroad to press the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for final-status resolution to the Palestinian question.”

Critics, particularly those in the Jewish communities, attacked the letter almost immediately. They pointed out that by linking anti-Semitic violence with Israel’s actions, Shipman shifted the blame for the violence from the actual perpetrators to the Jewish state. “Next on Rev. Shipman’s bucket list,” snarked Jewish-American blogger David Bernstein, “blaming women who dress provocatively for rape, blaming blacks for racism because of high crime rates, and blaming gays for homophobia for being “flamboyant.” The author of the original article denounced Shipman’s comments as “beyond contempt.”...

Re-creating Campus Ministry
The California State University (CSU) system has issued a nondiscrimination policy that requires InterVarsity to allow non-Christians to be chapter leaders. InterVarsity has always required chapter leaders to agree to our Doctrinal Basis, a summary of basic, historic Christian beliefs. While InterVarsity invites and welcomes all students as participants, we believe a Christian group should have the right to expect and even require their leaders to be Christian—just as any student group, club or Greek organization should be able to require their leaders to be like-minded.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is now developing a new style of campus ministry on CSU campuses where we have been banned from participating in campus life as a recognized student organization. In order to maintain a ministry presence with 23 chapters on 19 CSU campuses, InterVarsity is introducing creative new ways to connect with students and share the gospel message—though doing so as an “unrecognized” student group will prove considerably more costly.

Because we are no longer allowed to participate in campus organization fairs, InterVarsity will make contact with students by deploying new tools such as mobile banner stands, interactive displays, social media, and other techniques that don’t rely on established campus structures...

U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data The U.S. government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad demand to hand over user communications — a request the company believed was unconstitutional — according to court documents unsealed Thursday that illuminate how federal officials forced American tech companies to participate in the National Security Agency’s controversial PRISM program.

The documents, roughly 1,500 pages worth, outline a secret and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle by Yahoo to resist the government’s demands. The company’s loss required Yahoo to become one of the first to begin providing information to PRISM, a program that gave the NSA extensive access to records of online com­munications by users of Yahoo and other U.S.-based technology firms...

Bishop Julian Dobbs: Why Christianity Is Vital to the Middle East

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17, verse 26.
September 11, 2014

Christianity is intrinsically linked to the Middle East. It is in the Middle East that Christianity was birthed in the backwaters of the Roman Empire and from where the message of the Christain gospel spread throughout the Roman Empire, to Ethiopia, and to the Persian Empire. The missionary endeavors of the Church of the East brought Christianity even further, beyond Persia and Arabia, to Central Asia, India, and China. The Greek language was initially the main vehicle and then also the Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic. The latter language allowed the development of strong literary traditions in Syrian Christianity; particularly poetry and liturgy [that remains in use today], and also teaching on theology.[1]

Last week, a series of unprecedented meetings and events were held in London, England where Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Justin Welby, hosted leaders and representatives of churches of the Middle East and the wider Christian Church in Britain, at Lambeth Palace. After discussing the plight of Christians and minority communities in Iraq, Syria and the wider Middle East, the Archbishop read from an agreed statement expressing solidarity with, and advocating for, all those who continue to suffer gross violations of the fundamental right and freedom to practice their chosen faith. He said “The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity, and home to indigenous Christian communities that have been an indispensable part of its history. Despite the challenges, Christians in the region were and are a stabilising and reconciling presence.”[2]

The Archbishop of Canterbury is to be commended in his advocacy for the right of religious freedom and the important place of Christianity in the Middle East. However, today as in history, the existence of Christians in the Middle East, the birth place of Christianity, is being threatened by the rise of a resurgent Islam... the rest

Anglican Unscripted 9-11 Special

Published on Sep 11, 2014
         

Kevin and Father Argo talk Islam, America, 9/11 and the ultimate solution.

 READ MORE HERE: Out of Kurdistan

"Tell the world of our suffering! You might not have luck with the White House. But tell the Christians in America!"

Bless the Lord, O My Soul-Rachmaninoff

May 31, 2008
Performed by the Robert Shaw Festival Singers.

Lyric Translation:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
blessed art Thou, O Lord.
O Lord my God, Thou art very great.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord.
Thou are clothed with honor and majesty.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord.
The waters stand upon the mountains.
Marvelous are Thy works, O Lord
The waters flow between the hills.
Marvelous are Thy works, O Lord.
In wisdom hast Thou made all things.
Glory to Thee, O Lord, who hast created all!

Isis and Boko Haram; Women’s College Redefines “Women”...more

Syria’s Cultural Artifacts Are Blood Diamonds for ISIS

The destruction of Syria’s cultural heritage could have even more widespread ramifications than we realize, the Wall Street Journal reports. Christian C. Sahner takes a close look at the motivation behind the widely reported destruction of religious, historical, and cultural sites, arguing that “the nation’s heritage has been used as a weapon to finance bloodshed, to settle sectarian scores, and to erase entire chapters of the country’s past in the expectation of radically reshaping its future.”

 

As such, Syria’s cultural heritage is not a casualty of war, but a direct target of the ongoing attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Looted antiquities from museums and archaeological sites are being traded much like blood diamonds, providing ISIS with millions of dollars in funding to train and arm its fighters, supplementing its even greater income from selling oil and robbing banks (see “Is ISIS Bankrolling Terrorist Activities with Stolen Antiquities?“). ISIS then ups the profits by heavily taxing looters and smugglers...

First Things: We Must Fight ISIS with More than Missiles
The following testimony was given before Sub-Committees of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, September 10, 2014.
...Instead, these groups—from Al Qaeda to the extremist Ayatollahs in Iran—are motivated by a common belief that God is calling them to brutality and violence against the enemies of Islam, and to control territory in order to carry out this divinely-ordained mission. Over the long-term, while the use of military force will doubtless be necessary, stable self-government, grounded in religious tolerance and ultimately religious freedom, is the only reliable antidote to the toxic religious convictions of Islamist terrorists...

ISIS Giving Nigeria's Boko Haram Advice on Establishing African Caliphate "Unless swift action is taken, Nigeria could be facing a rapid takeover of a large area of its territory reminiscent of ISIS's lightning advances in Iraq," The Nigeria Security Network warned.

Nigerian Church leaders report Boko Haram Islamic terrorists killed 350 Christians in One Week   ...“Boko Haram violence has been getting worse every day, and our members are fleeing the area by the thousands,” Dali said. “Recent attacks in Borno and Adamawa states where are our churches are located have seen Boko Haram take over the Army base. As a result, about 350 Christians have been killed.”...

Prayer Services Held Across the Nation as 9/11 Anniversary Approaches

Women’s College Redefines “Women”
Biologically born female; identifies as a woman.
Biologically born female; identifies as a man.
Biologically born female; identifies as other/they/ze.
Biologically born female; does not identify as either woman or man.
Biologically born male; identifies as woman.
Biologically born male; identifies as other/they/ze and when “other/they” identity includes woman.
Biologically born with both male and female anatomy (Intersex); identifies as a woman.

Obama Admin Renews Attempt to Force Little Sisters of the Poor to Obey HHS Mandate The Obama administration has renewed its attempt to force a Catholic religious order, the Little Sisters of the Poor, to comply with the HHS abortion mandate. The mandate compels religious groups to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions.

The Obama administration announced today it will continue its legal battle against the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order of nuns dedicated to serving the neediest elderly in society. This comes despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby and another company in their bid to stop the HHS mandate...