The Brutality of ISIS is Driving Yazidi Refugees to Jesus

News Staff : Christian Aid Mission

"We prayed with them. We said Jesus can heal, and they immediately give their hearts to the Lord. And Shirkhan was very touched by this ministry, and he said, 'How can I be a missionary like you and go help people? Shirkhan surrendered his life to the Lord and prayed with us."
(Iraq)-[Christian Aid Mission] An ethnoreligious community in Iraq was once inaccessible to native Iraqi missionaries, as members lived reclusively in distant mountains near the border with Turkey. Since Islamic State (ISIS) atrocities drove them from their mountain strongholds last year, however, Yazidis now account for most of the people who have turned to Christ through a local ministry. (Photo: Worshippers at a camp for Internally Displaced People in Iraq)

While ISIS terror tactics have contributed to many Muslims in Iraq and Syria coming to Christ, in the past six month about 70 percent of those displaced to the northern Iraqi cities of Erbil and Dohuk who have embraced Christ through one ministry's outreach are Yazidis, a native Iraqi ministry director said.
"When they were kicked out of their area, they all went south to Dohuk and Erbil," he said. "It was very far and very difficult for us to go there to reach these people, so the Lord just brought them to us."
With beliefs and rituals rooted in Zoroastrianism, mixed with elements of Christianity and Islam, Yazidis dwelled in the high-altitude Sinjar Mountain range stretching from Iraq's Nineveh Governorate to the lower, shorter segment in Syria. The Islamic State massacred as many as 500 Yazidis in an offensive last August in the Iraqi town of Sinjar and surrounding areas.
Among all displaced peoples the ministry has reached in the Erbil and Dohuk areas in the past six months, about 80 families have put their trust in Christ, he said. They are large families of seven to 10 people each. While more Muslims than Yazidis are coming to Christ among displaced people reached by other ministries, the director of this ministry (unnamed for security reasons) has seen Yazidis respond most. Among other converts, about 20 percent came from traditional churches where they had grown up with little knowledge of the Bible and had no relationship with Christ, and the remaining 10 percent came from Muslim families.
"Around Kurdistan there are so many churches and so many ministries, and I believe the number [of converts] is huge," the director said, adding that the total likely amounted to several thousand.
Among them was a Yazidi boy of no more than 15, named Shirkahn, who lost both of his sisters to ISIS kidnappers. When the ministry director met him in Dohuk, the boy was trying to help his mother and father survive by asking people if he could shine their shoes for the equivalent of less than 25 cents.
"He told me this story with tears," the director said. "His dad was paralyzed because of what happened to the family when ISIS kicked them out. Shirkahn told me that he hadn't eaten for four days."
Members of the ministry team prayed with him and asked if they could visit his family and pray for his father. He took them to their tent on the street.
"We talked to the mother; we talked to the father," he said. "We prayed with them. We said Jesus can heal, and they immediately give their hearts to the Lord. And Shirkhan was very touched by this ministry, and he said, 'How can I be a missionary like you and go help people? Shirkhan surrendered his life to the Lord and prayed with us." (Photo via Christian Aid Mission)
Ministries are able to bring the love of Christ into tents with supplies to meet the cold of winter.

Those who come to Christ are connected to tent churches, while some who live close enough to an established church might walk to its building for worship. Thus people of varied backgrounds and ethnicities meet together for worship and instruction in Kurdish and Arabic, he said. Yazidis are primarily Kurdish-speaking.
"With the Yazadis, most of the women were taken," he said. "So a lot of people went through hard times and are broken-hearted. We talked to them immediately."
Displaced Muslims, meantime, continue to be open to the message of Christ—including, in one case, an apparent ISIS sympathizer or associate. A team from the ministry assisted by Christian Aid Mission was distributing aid and strayed into an ISIS area. They realized their error when an area man began asking them what they were doing there.
"He was very extremist, you could see by his beard," the director said. "We said we were giving some help to these people. He said, 'Yes, but I see your car has Bibles in it and Christian materials.' We said, 'Yeah, we work with a church and we give these away. But we will leave now if you want.' He goes, 'Why do you give all these people Bibles, and you don't give one to me?' So we were surprised that this guy was extremist and he asked us for the Bible. We gave him a Bible, and we started to tell him stories about the Lord, and then immediately we left the area."

Read more at - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=15412

Invisibility Cloak One Step Further with Negative Refraction

by Joseph P. Farrell

While we're on the subject of three-d printing and "teleportation"(see yesterday's blog), we might as well talk about another thing that it is enabling to take one step closer to reality: invisibility through meta-materials engineering. This one is near and dear to my heart, because way back in my very first book, The Giza Death Star, I speculated on the possibility that special kinds of crystals could be grown, perhaps through the use of nanotechnology, which would effectively trap light inside the crystal, through a special kind of negative refraction, imagining a whole series of "dark crystals" - dark rubies, dark garnets, dark sapphires, and so on - that were brighter on the inside than they were on the outside, so to speak. And in the Giza Death Star Destroyed, in spent some time with the Bablyonian Enuma Elish epic, and Marduk's "invisibility" cloak.

It should come as no surprise that materials engineers and technicians are now entertaining very similar ideas:
Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak is a step closer to reality: 3D printed device that bends light could make objects disappear

"These objects are put together in precise geometrical patterns to bend waves of energy in unnatural ways.

"In particular, they reveal a property called 'negative refraction', meaning they can bend a wave backwards.

Thus far the problem with negative refraction is the weakening of the wave of light so refracted:

"But metamaterials with this negative refraction have presented a vexing physics problem: They reduce the strength of the wave.

"'One of the biggest problems with metamaterials is that they produce energy loss,' Professor Xin said.

"'The waves decay as they pass through the artificial material. We have designed a metamaterial that retains negative refraction but does not diminish energy.'

"In fact, the synthetic material not only prevented energy loss - it caused energy gain, with the microwave intensifying in strength as it passed through the material.

"Professor Xin achieved this by embedding battery-powered tunnel diodes – which is a type of semiconductor device - and into the new material.

"'Many people did not think it was possible to achieve energy gain along with negative refraction,' Professor Xin said.

"He first showed it was possible, with one-dimensional metamaterials, in a paper published in Physical Review Letters in 2011.

"His new findings, reported in Nature Communications, have broader implications, because they involve 3D metamaterials."

What bothered me then about my speculations, bothers me even more now, with this revelation, for note that Professor Xin's technique has resulted in an energy gain of the microwave so negatively refracted. Now imagine what they've probably already thought of at the Diabolically Apocalyptic Research Projects Agency(or DARPA as it is otherwise known[and a thank you, again, to Mr. J.B. for coining that version of the agency's name and allowing us to use it here on this website): with such a technique, one could conceivable design some version of my speculated "dark crystals," as a kind of optical or cohering cavity for various wavelengths of the spectrum: invisibility, in other words, meets the maser, laser, and graser. Couple that with phase conjugation and... well... here the high octane speculation runs into all sorts of apocalyptic implications that only a Hans Kammler could appreciate.

And another super-duper-high octane speculation, while we're at it. I've long entertained the idea that perhaps the proverbial "they" were secretly scratching around the sands of the Middle East, looking for some of those lost "Tablets of Destinies", you know, the ones that the "Epic of Ninurta" indicated could not be destroyed. Perhaps they have not been found, because they might be invisible. One wouldn't know they were there, until one quite literally ran into them. And then(while we're still at it), there's all those stories of people just suddenly appearing or disappearing out of, or into, thin air. It does make one wonder...

Ok.. I've returned to Earth now.

 

Read this article at - http://gizadeathstar.com/2015/02/transhumanist-scrapbook-invisibility-cloak-one-step-negative-refraction/

The Last Sermon of John Calvin

On this day, February 6, 1564, an era came to an end. The man who had done as much as any other to forge the theology of the Reformation, preached his last sermon. Unable to walk, John Calvin was carried to church in a chair. His mouth filled with blood as he spoke and he had to leave.

John Calvin's mouth filled with blood as he preached his last sermon.

It was a significant moment. For twenty-three years he had led Geneva. In the process he planted the seeds of modern democracy and constructed a logical framework on which to interpret Reformation doctrine.

John Calvin first came to Geneva in July 1536, planning to spend only one night. He had already published the first edition of his famous theology, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Having received some training as a priest and then his BA as a lawyer, Calvin was equipped to write on the subject of moral law. William Farel, Geneva's most prominent preacher and the man most eager to improve the city's morals, saw in Calvin the helper he needed. He tried to persuade young Calvin to stay in Geneva. Calvin made excuses. Farel issued Calvin a stern warning which he said was from the Lord. Calvin gave in. That was the beginning of the partnership between Farel, Calvin and the people of Geneva.

Geneva was a fun-loving city. Like the other Protestants, Calvin taught that salvation is by the merit of Christ alone. At the same time, he insisted that the man who hopes for salvation must show a changed life. Farel and Calvin cracked down on the immorality of the city. Within a year, Geneva expelled them. When told he must leave, Calvin calmly replied, "If we had sought to please men, we should have been badly rewarded, but we serve a higher Master, who will not withhold from us our reward." He became the Professor of Theology at Strasburg.

With the two outspoken pastors gone, Geneva slipped into moral and political deterioration. The citizens changed their minds. They invited Calvin back. He hesitated to return, knowing that he might be in for years of tough opposition. In the end, his conscience made him go back. He proposed a new form of rule. As biographer Richard Taylor Stevenson writes: "Catholicism is a religion of priests, Lutheranism of theologians, Calvinism of the believing congregation."

Ideas of government created by Calvin found wider expression in Scotland and the United States when Calvinists brought them to those countries. Calvin's model of church government became the model for national governments. Thus millions of individuals, Christian and non-Christian alike, felt the influence of Calvin's theology even where his name was little known.

Bibliography:

1. Morgan, Robert J. On this Day; 365 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997.
2. Stevenson, Richard Taylor. John Calvin; the Statesman. Men of the Kingdom. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1907.
3. Various encyclopedia articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/the-last-sermon-of-john-calvin-11630007.html

Light beam seen during Michigan power plant explosion

I missed this a couple days back but it's too strange to pass up.  Just what happened does not seem clear, but it resembles some bizarre plant explosions from our recent past as seen in vids below.  Whatever happened was quite strange, and has some of the signature of a space based weapons test....

RJ Wolcott
Mlive

Images of light beam over Escanaba Power Plant, Michigan on February 2nd 2015

 

Many Escanaba residents awoke Monday to find themselves without power after an explosion at a nearby utility plant substation

Around 1:30 a.m. Feb. 2, an explosion at an Escanaba Power Plant substation caused widespread power outages across the city, according to the Escanaba City Electric Department.

With the failure of the substation's main transformer, officials noted the repairs are expected to require a significant amount of labor to fix .

As crews work to repair the damaged electrical equipment, city staff are warning residents to expect rolling blackouts the next few days. Residents are advised to keep their heat at elevated levels, but to conserve energy elsewhere whenever possible.

The Escanaba School District was forced to close today as well, due to a lack of power.

Those affected by the outage are invited to seek shelter at the Escanaba Civic Center, or to visit warming centers at Gladstone's Grace Baptist Church or the nearby Walmart.

At the moment, city crews are working to restore power along the north and south alleys of Ludington Street, as well on the south side of Escanaba. Areas along First Avenue South to Third Avenue North could see a return of power in the next few hours, officials stated.

Read more on this story at - http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/02/further_outages_expected_in_no.html
 

 

Also, for your consideration...the bizarre light show put on in Ft. Worth Texas about 3 years ago when dozens of transformers blew in just a few minutes...

 

First Spanish Auto da Fe

Spain's name is forever linked with the Inquisition. But the inquisition did not begin there. Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX established the dreaded institution in the thirteenth century to combat heretical groups. What made the inquisition so terrible was the severity of both the questioning and the punishment and the lack of rights granted to the accused. Those who "snitched" on them could do so secretly. A victim was not permitted to challenge the witnesses against him or her.

When Isabella and Ferdinand united Spain in 1479, they were almost paranoid with fear of revolt. This made them highly susceptible to the whispers of the queen's confessor, Tomas de Torquemada. Of Jewish origin himself, he told her that Christianized Jews were secretly practicing their Hebrew faith and corrupting good Christians. Isabella was horrified and frightened. She asked the pope for permission to establish the inquisition in Spain. This was granted.

Under sadistic torture, suspects incriminated other people. These in turn accused almost anyone they could think of just to please their captors and win a reprieve from their torment. Every confession added to the alarm of the Catholic king and queen, suggesting widespread corruption of the Christian faith. Soon Spain began burning "heretics."

"Auto da fe" means "Act of Faith." The first Spanish auto-da-fe was held on this day February 6, 1481, when six men and six women, who refused to repent of alleged backsliding, were burned at the stake. They were but the first. 13,000 "heretics" were tried in the first twelve years of the Spanish Inquisition. Hundreds perished at the stake. Dressed in a penitent's gown, they were marched in processionals to the stake and urged to repent even as they were bound for the ordeal. Those who confessed were strangled before the fire was lit. Those who refused to admit wrongdoing, or who defiantly clung to their "heresies" were burned alive.

As hard as it is to believe, the Spanish Inquisition ran for 327 years. It was not abolished until 1808, during the brief reign of Joseph Bonaparte. In those three centuries, close to 32,000 people perished in the flames. About 300,000 others were forced to make some kind of reconciliation with the church. Even the 1808 "end" to the Spanish Inquisition wasn't really the end. Incredible as it may seem, King Ferdinand VII reestablished the dreadful apparatus in 1814! But six years later, revolution swept it away, hopefully forever. However, this is by no means assured; some defenders of the Roman Church were still excusing and justifying the practice in the twentieth century although it is impossible to see Christ winning followers by such means. Jesus turned away those who were not serious about following him.

The apparatus of the inquisition was not restricted to Europe. Spain exported it to the new world, where Mexican and Peruvian authorities burned men and women to death, starting in the sixteenth century. Portuguese priests also operated an inquisition in Goa, India.

Bibliography:

1. Blotzer, Joseph. "Inquisition." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
2. Haskins, Charles Homer. Studies in Mediaeval Culture. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1960.
3. Kamen, Henry Arthur Francis. The Spanish Inquisition : an historical revision. London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997.
4. Sabatini, Rafael. Torquemada. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1924.
5. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/first-spanish-auto-da-fe-11629890.html

Angels - A Brief Study - Part 1

This is a brief overview of angels and some of the things we may learn about them from the Bible.  This is in no way meant to be an exhaustive study, but one that should be a good start down the angelic path.

 The word used for angel in Hebrew is malawk.  It literally means messenger.  While this highlights one of the primary tasks of angels, it is only the beginning of what they do.  Let’s start with the angels the Bible tells us about by name. 

 

                             THE ANGEL OF THE LORD   

The Angel of the Lord is mentioned many times in the Old Testament.  It is apparent that this is sometimes a generic term for a messenger of God, but at other times describes the most unique of all the angels.  The features of this angel include speaking not only for God, but as God.  Some examples of this include Gen. 16:6-13, where Hagar is fleeing from Sarah.  The Angel of the Lord appears to Hagar and speaks for God in verse 9, then speaks as God in verse 10.   Again in Gen. 18:1-14 we see three angels appear as men to Abraham.  Abraham actually prepares food for them which they eat!  (vs. 10)  In verse 1 of this chapter one of the men is actually identified as Yahweh, the Lord Himself.  In Gen. 22:9-18 Abraham again encounters the Angel of the Lord as he is taking his son, Isaac, up to Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice.  In verse 12 the angel speaks both for God and as God in the same verse.  Furthermore, in vs. 15-18 the Angel again speaks as God, pronouncing the great blessing upon Abraham as though the Angel Himself were God.  In Gen. 28 and 31 Jacob interacts with the Angel of the Lord in dreams.  In Gen 32:23-31, Jacob wrestles with a man (vs. 24), but this man goes on to rename and bless Jacob, giving him the new name of Israel (ruling with God or God prevails vs. 28).  In verse 30 Jacob renames the place Peniel, meaning the face of God, as Jacob had “wrestled with God” face to face and prevailed, at least to the extent of receiving the blessing of the Lord.  This is confirmed in Hosea 12:4-5.   

So we have here an example of an angel (messenger) of God speaking for God but also as God.  This is called a theophany, meaning an appearance of the Son of God before His incarnation through the Holy Spirit and Mary.  This being necessary because as we read in Jo. 1:18 and 5:37, no one can look upon God or hear Him directly.  God is holy, and we who are unholy would not survive being in His presence.  The Angel of the Lord was a necessary intermediary in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, with the incarnation of the Son of God in Jesus Christ, His appearing as the Angel of the Lord became no longer necessary.  We now have the face and voice of God available to all believers.  Jesus Christ in the flesh is now our intermediary.  We see similar encounters in Ex. 3:1-6 with Moses at the burning bush, and Josh. 5:13-15 where Joshua encounters the Angel of the Lord in the appearance of a man before the fall of Jericho.  We see the Angel again in Jud. 6:11-24, where He appears to inspire and direct Gideon in the deliverance of his people.  There are other passages referring to the angel of the LORD in the Old Testament, but it’s not certain that all of these are referring to theophanies.

                                                MICHAEL 

Michael is an archangel (chief) of God.  His name means “Who is like God”.  (Dan. 10:13, 21, 12:1, Jude 9 and Rev. 12:7.)  Michael appears in scripture to be the head of God’s armies of angelic beings (see Rev. 12:7) and has personally contended with Satan (Jude 9).    In Hebrew tradition and alluded to in Dan. 12:1, Michael is the “Prince of Israel”, or the spiritual defender of Israel.  We read of other angelic princes in Daniel 10:13 and 20, those of Persia and Greece.  We can deduce from those passages that these Princes are the spiritual authorities ruling over those areas of the world. 

It should be added here that the idea of “principalities” or angelic princes reigning governing the earth, with different angels covering different parts of the world is mentioned in scripture.  In Deut. 32:8 we are told that God set the bounds of the people on earth according to the angels of God.  While the KJV of this verse says “sons of Israel”, the Septuagint, the scriptures Jesus used, has rendered this accurately.  This tells us that spiritual governance of this world is divided amongst “principalities”, powerful angels of God.  The bad news for us in this is that most of these angels are fallen.  

Getting back to Michael, in Dan. 12:1 we are told that in the last days “shall Michael stand up”.  The word for stand up here is amad, and is used twice in verse 1.  It means to stand, or take a stand.  This is the explicit meaning the first time it’s used in verse 1, but the second time it’s used it would mean to “cease” from standing.  We are told in the second half of Daniel 12:1 that after Michael ceases from his activity which initiates the “time of Jacob’s trouble”, centered on Israel, which has never been seen before.  This verse explains “the restrainer” or the one who holds back (Satan in this case) in 2 Th. 2:6.  Michael is the only angel who has been shown to engage and eventually defeat Satan (Rev. 12:7), and he is the spiritual protector of Israel.  Dan. 12:1 indicates that when Michael ceases to restrain Satan, then the time of great tribulation or Satan’s wrath (Rev. 12:12) begins.  Michael is the one who restrains.  It has become popular for those supporting  the pre-tribulation view of prophecy to claim the Holy Spirit is the Restrainer who is removed, but there is no scriptural basis for this claim.  It should be noted that restraining humanity in not listed as a function of the Holy Spirit anywhere in scripture.
 

                                                             GABRIEL

Gabriel interestingly means “man of God”, and apparently appears and speaks like a man.  He also seems to be a herald of God, that is, one who is sent before the King to announce His coming.  (Dan. 8:16, 9:21, Lk. 1:19, 26).  He not only appears to announce prophecies relating to the coming Messiah to Daniel, but also appears to Mary to announce that she would soon be pregnant by the Holy Spirit with the Savior of the world.                                               

                                                  CHERUBIM 

The cherubim are powerful angels usually mentioned as being in the immediate presence of God.  They first appear in scripture as guardians of the way into the Garden of Eden after the fall of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:24).  In scripture they bear the throne of God (Ps. 18:10, 2 Sam. 22:11-12), and the Lord sits between them (Ps. 99:1).  God communed with Moses from between the cherubim on the Mercy Seat (Ex. 25:22).    They have four faces, those being a man, a lion, an eagle and a ox/bull.  The ox is said to be the face of the cherub in Ezek. 10:14.  Satan is called the “anointed cherub” in Ezek. 28:14.  

The cherubim are part of an amazing vision that Ezekiel relates in chapters 1 and 10.  Part of this vision mentions the ophan, or wheels.  The ophanim would be yet another class of angels if they are indeed separate from the cherubim.  These amazing “wheels within wheels” are described in Ezek. 1:15-21 and 10:9-13.  The wheels and the cherubs move in connection with the Throne of God, and we are told this is because the spirit of the living creature (cherub) was in the wheel.  We are also told these ophan are dreadful to look at and are covered with eyes! 

We have briefly mentioned the Cherubim, but there are two other classes of angels mentioned in scripture.  The Seraphim (fiery, burning ones) and the Nephilim (fallen ones).    The Seraphim are mentioned in Is. 6:2, where they are described as having six wings, two with which they cover their eyes, two with which they cover their feet, and two with which they fly.  The cry Holy, Holy, Holy in the Presence of the Lord.  These same beings appear to be described in Ezek. 1:13 as part of the moving angelic throne of God, also consisting of the cherubim and ophan.  Rabbis called this angelic combination that makes up the throne of God the “merkabah”.   

We also read of fiery chariots and horseman, the “chariot of Israel” that carries Elijah away in 2 Ki. 2:11-12.  In 2 Ki. 6:17, Elisha’s servants eyes are opened so that he may see a “mountain full of horses and chariots of fire”.  These may be a general class of angels, most likely the Lord’s attendants as it is written in Ps. 104:4.  He “makes His angels spirits, His ministers (attendants) a blazing fire”. 

There are also several verses mentioning the “saraphs” that are “fiery flying serpents” (Num. 21:7, Deut. 8:15, Is. 14:29, 30:6).  These serpents are a curse to the murmuring Israelites in the wilderness, and a prophetic warning to the areas of Palestine (Is. 14:29) and Egypt (Is. 30:6).  These verses do not make these seraphim evil, but rather instruments not only of God’s immediate service but also of judgment to the wicked.  They also appear to be of the same angelic class as the worshipping angels in Is. 6:2.

 

 

Gallup CEO Fears He Might “Suddenly Disappear” for Questioning U.S. Jobs Data

Yes, the truth that unemployment runs 20 to 30% or higher could be quite troubling to the average unemployed person looking for non-existent jobs...

 Clifton eviscerated legitimacy of cheerful spin given to unemployment data

by Pam Martens and Russ Martens

 

Years of unending news stories on U.S. government programs of surveillance, rendition and torture have apparently chilled the speech of even top business executives in the United States.

Yesterday, Jim Clifton, the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, an iconic U.S. company dating back to 1935, told CNBC that he was worried he might “suddenly disappear” and not make it home that evening if he disputed the accuracy of what the U.S. government is reporting as unemployed Americans.

The CNBC interview came one day after Clifton had penned a gutsy opinion piece on Gallup’s web site, defiantly calling the government’s 5.6 percent unemployment figure “The Big Lie” in the article’s headline. His appearance on CNBC was apparently to walk back the “lie” part of the title and reframe the jobs data as just hopelessly deceptive.

Clifton stated the following on CNBC:

“I think that the number that comes out of BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] and the Department of Labor is very, very accurate. I need to make that very, very clear so that I don’t suddenly disappear. I need to make it home tonight.” After getting that out of the way, Clifton went on to eviscerate the legitimacy of the cheerful spin given to the unemployment data, telling CNBC viewers that the percent of full time jobs in this country as a percent of the adult population “is the worst it’s been in 30 years.”

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT - http://www.infowars.com/gallup-ceo-fears-he-might-suddenly-disappear-for-questioning-u-s-jobs-data/

 

Roger Williams, a Square Peg in a Round Hole

We have not always enjoyed the religious rights we now have. Christian theology, by making men conscious of their worth to God, who sacrificed his Only Begotten Son for them, made them important as individuals. In struggling for religious freedom, our forefathers won civil rights for us.
An important actor in that struggle was Roger Williams. England in the seventeenth century knew few religious rights. In that century George Foxe, the founder of the Quakers and John Bunyan, the Baptist author of Pilgrim's Progress, languished in English prison for daring to differ from the majority in their religious views. Some Christians fled to the newly-founded American colonies to escape persecution at home.

Roger was one of them. He arrived in New England on this day, February 5, 1631, a day remembered by many as "Freedom's Cause Day."

A brilliant scholar, Williams was ordained in the Church of England while at Cambridge. His liking for Puritan views, however, soon forced him out of the established church. So he migrated to New England. There he was offered the congregation at Boston but turned it down, because its people had not broken with the Church of England. The "godly" must separate from the "ungodly" if they were to stay pure, he said.

Salem and Plymouth, his next stops, soon tired of Williams. He was like a square peg in a round hole, for he told them that it was wrong for them to take Indian land without paying for it. He also insisted that the government of the colony had no right to set up a "civil power and officers to judge the convictions of men's souls..." This was too much for New England's Puritans. They believed government was required to enforce godliness and protect true religion as they defined it.

The government expelled Roger Williams from Massachusetts. After wandering for fourteen weeks in the bitter cold of winter, he settled at Narragansett Bay, in territory that would become the colony of Rhode Island. Putting into practice his beliefs, he purchased his land from the Indians and founded a town which he named Providence. He learned the Indians' language and wrote a key to it.

In 1644 he wrote a defense of religious freedom. That same year he secured a charter for his new colony, Rhode Island. This small region became a haven for those whose beliefs differed from the majority. Williams himself abandoned Puritanism and the Baptist church he had helped found (the first in America), opposing all sects and creeds.

But Rhode Island became a model of toleration and of the separation of church and state. If Roger Williams had not been willing to suffer for his beliefs, we might not now enjoy the liberties we do. Three hundred and fifty years later we must sometimes wonder whether we will keep the freedoms men like Roger Williams won with such struggle.

Bibliography:

1. Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Scribner, 1958-1964.
2. Covey, Cyclone. The Gentle Radical; Roger Williams. New York: Macmillan, 1966.
3. Gaustad, Edwin S. Liberty of Conscience; Roger Williams in America. Library of Religious Biography. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991.
4. Kunitz, Stanley. American Authors, 1600-1900: a biographical dictionary of American literature. New York: The H. W. Wilson company, 1938.
5. Miller, Perry. Roger Williams, His Contribution to the American Tradition. New York: Atheneum, 1962.
6. Gammell, William. Roger Williams" in Makers of American History. New York: Unversity Society, 1904.
7. Roger Williams: Freedom's Forgotten Hero [Videorecording] Freedom Research Productions Fair Oaks, CA.
8. Wood, James E. editor. Baptists and the American Experience. Judson Press, Valley Forge, PA.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/roger-williams-a-square-peg-in-a-round-hole-11630088.html

Object (UFO) Passes Sun & 10th Lunar Wave Filmed In Germany

Thinking out the lunar waves, the causes can only be here on earth, which should then cause the effect to continue through the stars and night sky, or near the moon, above it's atmosphere, which is what we seem to see on the videos.  The amazing thing is, if it's moon based, some technology or power is sending a wave that is visible across the entirety of the moon. like a visual correction.  So what is it?....

This clip captures an object (UFO) passing in front of the sun. I also give a chemtrail update (there is an orb in the footage I did not see) and announce the coming footage of the 6th person to film the 10th capture of the lunar wave. This will be the second capture from Germany; all others have been shot in the US. Please follow my articles on the Examiner.com and click the link below to subscribe the author. I will send notifications as new articles are published.
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Genesis 3D Movie Official Mega Trailer

CreationToday.org is in the process of producing a Biblically based movie about Genesis.  Here's the trailer.

 

Donate to the film so we can get in all the theaters of the nation! And Reach this Skeptic generation! Here: http://www.genesismovie.com/
Genesis 3D Movie is a feature-length documentary film based on the first book of the Bible, featuring stunning 3D visual effects accompanied with expert scientific research!

Here are some highlights:
1) Impacts lost
2) Insights from top creation scientists
3) Stereoscopic 3D animation
4) Literal Biblical precision
5) Teaches the significance of our origins
6) Enriches understanding of the Creator God
7) Answers to two biggest Questions in life: Where did we come from? And why are we here?
Check out my site here: https://sites.google.com/site/servisc...

Unusual Geological Events | Mysterious Booms And Shaking

A surge of booms, bangs and shaking explodes in 2015. But why?
Links Are Provided Below..
This video does not mean the world is ending.. It's just changing right before our eyes.....
For More Extremes Check out my The Signs Of Change Series
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A Deadly Mix Leads to Martyrdoms in Japan

Mix together arrogance, greed, shipwreck, earthquake, Portuguese-Spanish rivalries, and Japanese fears and you have a recipe for the crucifixion of twenty-six Christians. On this day, February 5, 1597 General Toyotomi Hideyoshi crucified six Franciscan friars, seventeen Japanese converts, and three Jesuits because of that mixture of elements.

Hideyoshi rose from humble origins to complete the unification of Japan. As his strength increased, so did his ambition. It did not seem impossible to him that he might even bring China under his heel. He attacked Korea to gain a foothold on the mainland. But China entered the war, and Hideyoshi's troops were beaten. He needed more money if he was to finance his campaign. About that same time, earthquake ruined his lovely new palace.

When Franciscan friars came from the Philippines, Hideyoshi was happy to talk with them and allow them to operate an open mission in Japan although Christianity was illegal. His reasoning was simple. He hoped that the Spanish in the Philippines would be able to offer the Portuguese some competition. The Portuguese had a lock on Japan's trade with China. Their great ships sailed from Macao, bringing silk and gold--but at a high mark- up. Like most of us, Hideyoshi preferred to pay less for more. If he allowed the Franciscans to stay, they would facilitate Spanish trade, just as the Jesuits facilitated trade with the Portuguese. With competition, prices would fall, he hoped.

The Jesuits urged the Franciscans to walk softly and convert Christians quietly. Through hard experience, they had learned that the Japanese were not to be won by brashness. The Franciscans, however, rejoiced aloud over their success with Hideyoshi, celebrated mass openly, and accused the Jesuits of cowardice for wearing Japanese clothes. The Jesuit father Valignano warned that trouble must follow.
No one could have foreseen the exact circumstances that would prove his words true. A typhoon drove the San Felice off course, a Spanish galleon leaving Manila with a cargo valued at more than a million and a half silver pesos. The ship broke up off the coast of Japan and a local samurai appropriated the cargo. The Franciscans, presuming on what they thought were their excellent relations with Hideyoshi, took the matter up with the general.

Hideyoshi coveted the treasure for himself. But he did not want to seize it outright and risk negotiations with the Spaniards. So he did what many governors do when faced by a difficult decision. He smiled, made promises, and waited. His indecisiveness was to prove costly to the Christians.

While Hideyoshi procrastinated his mood changed. According to the Portuguese the Spanish pilot of the San Felice boasted of Spain's many conquests and said local Christians had supported them. The Spaniards say a Portuguese Jesuit denounced them and got them killed.

Whatever his reason, Hideyoshi ordered the execution of all Christians, including the Jesuits. After he thought it over, however, he decided the Jesuits were too useful for trade to be killed, and spared most of them.

During thirty days of torments, which included having their left ears cut off, the Christians were marched to Nagasaki. On this cold February morning, the twenty-six brave martyrs were publicly humiliated and crucified.

Some sang hymns. From his cross, Paul Miki, a Japanese convert, preached: "I have committed no crime, and the only reason why I am put to death is that I have been teaching the doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am very happy to die for such a cause, and see my death as a great blessing from the Lord. At this critical time, when, you can rest assured that I will not try to deceive you, I want to stress and make it unmistakably clear that man can find no way to salvation other than the Christian way."

Bibliography:

1. Boxer, C. R. The Christian Century in Japan, 1549-1650. Berkeley: University of California, 1967.
2. Harper, Howard V. Days and Customs of All Faiths. New York, Fleet Pub. Corp. 1957.
3. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge. Danbury, Connecticut, 1991.
4. Various internet articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/a-deadly-mix-leads-to-martyrdoms-in-japan-11630043.html

Germans Take Another Step Toward Teleportation in Conjunction with 3-D Printing

The question posed at the end of the article is the frightening one.  If this is what they are telling the public about now, what have they already developed and likely been using?

by Joseph P. Farrell

... If the U.K.'s The Guardian is reporting this story accurately, there's been another quiet little breakthrough on the road to real teleportation of objects via 3-d printing (or additive manufacturing as it is also known). Only this time, the breakthrough is a real "whopper doozie":
Beam me up Scotty: German scientists invent working teleporter, of sorts

"Scientists from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam have invented a real-life teleporter system that can scan in an object and “beam it” to another location.
"Not quite the dematerialisation and reconstruction of science fiction, the system relies on destructive scanning and 3D printing.
"An object at one end of the system is milled down layer-by-layer, creating a scan per layer which is then transmitted through an encrypted communication to a 3D printer. The printer then replicates the original object layer by layer, effectively teleporting an object from one place to another.
“We present a simple self-contained appliance that allows relocating inanimate physical objects across distance,” said the six person team in a paper submitted for the Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction conference at Stanford University. “Users place an object into the sender unit, enter the address of a receiver unit, and press the relocate button.”
"The system dubbed “Scotty” in homage to the Enterprise’s much beleaguered chief engineer, differs from previous systems that merely copy physical object as its layer-by-layer deconstruction and encrypted transmission ensures that only one copy of the object exists at any one time, according to the scientists."(Emphases added)

While 3-d printing has been advancing by leaps and bounds, to the point that there are now even "3d scanners" that scan an object, allowing it to be replicated in a 3d printing, this new technique is another small but significant step to the "Star Trek" transported, in that, as the article indicates, the object is not scanned (a process which inevitably introduces "errors" into the copy), but actually "milled down" or taken apart layer by layer, and reassembled, layer by layer, at the receiving end. Add the ability to scan the materials composition of an object as it is being "milled down", transmit that data along with the physical dimensions of the object, and one has a simple sort of de facto transporter.

The Star Trek transporter, of course, took this to the ultimate degree, for the transported scanned an object (or person), broke it (or him or her) down to their constituent molecules, atoms, and particles, beamed these through space, and reassembled the whole thing at the other end. In other words, it was a real transporter. Milling an object down is a far cry, one is tempted to say, from that kind of capability. After all, we're nowhere near being able to scan something at that minute atom-by-atom and molecule-by-molecule level, much less, reassemble it.

Except... one would do well to recall that in Eric Drexler's now classic study of the emerging field of nanotechnology, Engines of Creation, published in 1986, he mentioned that IBM had successfully given a stunning display of the ability of engineers, even then, to engineer things on an extraordinarily small scale, by spelling out the corporate logo using a small number of xenon atoms, and that AT&T's Bell Laboratories had gone one better, by constructing humanity's first artificially created atom. It is now almost 29 years later, and one wonders just what such techniques, in conjunction with 3D printing, might have already been covertly accomplished, but if it's anything even close to being able to disassemble your favorite coffee cup and beam it to the hotel you're staying at on your vacation, then a transportation, energy, manufacturing, and financial revolution will inevitably follow.

Read this article at - http://gizadeathstar.com/2015/02/transhumanist-scrapbook-germans-take-another-step-toward-teleportation-conjunction-3d-printing/

John Rogers, 1st of Many Martyrs

John Rogers burned to death at a stake at Smithfield, England on this Monday morning, February 4,1555. Among the onlookers who encouraged him were his own children. What monstrous crime had earned him this cruel death?

Born about 1500, Rogers was educated at Cambridge. He became a Catholic priest and accepted a position in the church at the time that the Protestant Reformation was in full swing. His conscience told him that certain teachings of his established Church were wrong and he resigned, moving to Antwerp, Holland, where he ministered to English merchants.

In Holland, he became friends with William Tyndale, a reformer who was translating the Bible into English. Tyndale converted Rogers to Protestant views and Rogers married. Nine months later, Tyndale went to prison; he would be executed as a heretic. But Tyndale left a precious manuscript in John Rogers's keeping. This was his English translation of the books from Joshua to Chronicles which had not yet been printed.

Rogers was determined to see that Tyndale's valuable work was not lost. For the next twelve months he labored to put together a complete Bible. Its text was based on Tyndale and Coverdale, and its two thousand notes were borrowed from the writings of dozens of different reformers who were active on the Continent.

Tyndale had been declared a heretic, and his name could not go on the Bible. Rogers could not honestly claim the work as his own, and so he used a pseudonym--Thomas Matthews. When Bishop Cranmer saw a copy of the new Bible, he was so excited that he asked Chancellor Thomas Cromwell to see if the king would license it. Henry VIII did, and the Matthew Bible became the first officially authorized version in the English language.

After sickly Edward VI became king of England, John Rogers returned from the continent, fetching his wife to England. He was given high positions in the Church of England. Regretably, he was one of those who agreed to burn poor, insane Joan of Kent to death (some of her claims were blasphemous). He was urged to show her mercy because some day he might need it himself, but did not listen.

Edward VI died. Mary, a Roman Catholic, became queen. John Rogers preached a stirring message, urging his congregation to remain loyal to Reformation principles. Mary's Catholic bishops questioned him about this sermon, but he answered well and was released.

However, when a Catholic was appointed to speak at Paul's Cross, churchgoers rioted. The Mayor was present and could not restore order. The mob attacked Bishop Bonner, an eminent supporter of Queen Mary. Rogers shouted to the crowd to calm down and helped hustle Bonner to safety.

Although no harm was done, the Queen's council was upset. They instructed the Mayor to prove he could keep order, or said he must give up his office. The Mayor arrested Rogers, the one who had saved Bonner's life. Rogers spent over a year in prison, questioned several times about his beliefs by Lord Chancellor Stephen Gardiner.

According to Foxe's Book of Martyrs, when the sentence of death was passed, Rogers begged Gardiner to let him speak a few words to his wife. Gardiner refused, telling Rogers he was not legally married because he had once been a priest. However, as Rogers walked to the stake, singing psalms, he saw his wife at the roadside, holding their youngest baby, whom he had never met.

At the stake, Rogers was offered a pardon if only he would recant his beliefs and return to the Catholic church. He refused. The fire was lit and Rogers washed his hands in the flames as though he did not feel them. He was the first of many martyrs in Mary's reign.

Bibliography:

1. Chester, Joseph Lemuel. John Rogers; the compiler of the first authorized English Bible... London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, 1861. Source of the image.
2. Foxe, John. Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Various editions.
3. Loane, Marcus L. Pioneers of the Reformation in England. London: Church Book Room, 1964.
4. "Rogers, John." Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921 - 1996.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/john-rogers-1st-of-many-martyrs-11629985.html

As Pastor Faces Lifetime in Prison, Supporters Argue Persecution

How does the federal government shut down an outspoken pastor?  It's easy, once the IRS gets involved.

Written by  Alex Newman

Pastor Kent Hovind (shown), a powerful advocate of biblical creationism who has already served almost 100 months in federal prison as part of what his supporters say amounts to a ruthless government campaign of religious persecution, is now potentially facing up to 100 years behind bars. As federal prosecutors prepare to make their case for keeping Dr. Hovind incarcerated for the rest of his natural life, however, a growing grassroots campaign across America is demanding that he be set free — and that those responsible for allegedly railroading him be held accountable, including potentially the judge, who has developed a reputation among those following the case as having a strong anti-Christian bias. 

With the IRS now embroiled in escalating scandal surrounding politically motivated attacks against conservatives and Tea Party groups, analysts say Hovind’s case is now especially important and ought to be probed by Congress. There are also a number of irregularities in every step of the process that resulted in the pastor landing behind bars, his supporters say. Meanwhile, a Justice Department attorney who helped secure Hovind’s original conviction was arrested for attempting to rape a child shortly after he won the case against the pastor. Critics of the prosecution cite that, and other facts, as further evidence that Hovind was targeted for his beliefs and his effectiveness in challenging the evolution theory and other key elements of the secular faith, rather than for actual tax violations.  

Dr. Hovind’s original case, which resulted in the first 10-year prison sentence, had raised eyebrows nationwide long before the latest twist in the ordeal. After reportedly going through multiple grand juries to finally get to a trial, with a judge whom critics said displayed blatant hostility against Christians, Hovind was convicted of a number of “financial crimes.” Taxation-focused analyst Peter Reilly, following the case in Forbes, suggested Hovind may have followed bad advice from a “tax protester.” Hovind, though, has consistently maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal, and growing numbers of supporters across America agree with him. Even if he were in fact guilty of the charges, which Hovind and his supporters deny, critics of the prosecution and court case have been pointing out that the average jail time for those convicted of tax-related crimes in 2013 was 14 months. Many simply pay a fine.

Obama ally and race-monger Al Sharpton, for example, who still owes millions in back taxes, has visited the White House dozens of times in recent years. Timothy “TurboTax” Geithner, who failed to pay his taxes despite signing an agreement indicating that he needed to and understood that, was even selected to be Obama’s Treasury Secretary. Democrat Representative Charlie Rangel, who for years served as the chairman of the congressional committee in charge of writing the federal tax code, came under major fire after failing to pay taxes on rental income from a villa he owned in the Dominican Republic. As of September 2013, over 318,000 federal employees owed some $3.3 billion in back taxes. Not one of them is in prison for failure to pay.   

Read the rest of this article at -

Rhabanus Maurus Wrote an Encyclopedia

Ever wonder why in public schools (at least in the U.S.) they simply skip over known history from about 500 to 1200 A.D.?  It's not because we don't have the historical accounts of these ages, usually called the "Dark Age".  We have them. Why don't we teach them?


Imagine writing an encyclopedia by yourself. In an age when books were scarce and learning low, Rhabanus Maurus did just that, laying a foundation of knowledge for German monks to build on. Rhabanus was a scholar and monk in Charlemagne's empire, trained by the famous Alcuin himself.
Rhabanus didn't invent the encyclopedia. A Greek named Speusippos compiled the first known encyclopedia about 370 years before Christ was born. Pliny issued another in the first century. A Christian statesman and monk named Cassiodorus wrote another, favoring Christian knowledge, in the sixth century. This is considered one of the formative books of the middle ages.

The first attempt at an impartial digest of all knowledge was by Isidore, Bishop of Seville. However, he drew heavily on inaccurate pagan sources, which reduced the value of his work. Rhabanus imitated Isidore. His work was twenty-two manuscript volumes long. It was called On the Universe (De universo). Beginning with a study of the Trinity, it ended with an examination of garden tools.
Rhabanus was a busy man. The encyclopedia was only one of his projects. He wrote a major work on the training of clergy which covered all kinds of things from church doctrine to mathematics. Nearly every book of the Bible received a commentary from his pen. The scholar also wrote a text on grammar. He oversaw translations into early German.

Elected abbot of Fulda, he completed its renovation and saw it emerge not only as the Christian mission center of Germany but as a leading center of learning. Rhabanus' determination to write an encyclopedia was the result of two beliefs: the first was that Europe's heathen could be converted through Christendom's superior knowledge of science and the arts; the second was that monks should be well-educated so they could understand and interpret the Bible better.

When Louis battled his way to supremacy after Charlemagne's death, Rhabanus fled for his life. He had given political advice to Lothair I. Louis later forgave the scholar and made him Bishop of Mainz. There Rhabanus showed genuine concern for the poor, feeding hundreds during the famine of 850.

When Rhabanus Maurus died on this day, February 4, 856, he left an indelible mark on his world. Not only did his books live on, but so did the scholars he trained and the schools he founded. He was a major figure of what is called the "Carolignian renaissance."

Bibliography:

1. Collison, Robert Lewis. Encyclopaedias: Their History Throughout the Ages; a bibliographical guide with extensive historical notes to the general encyclopaedias issued throughout the world from 350 B.C. to the present day. New York, Hafner Pub. Co., 1964.
2. Johnson, Paul. History of Christianity. New York: Atheneum, 1976.
3. Ott, Michael T. "Blessed Maurus Magnentius Rabanus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
4. "Rhabanus Maurus." New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1954.
5. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/rhabanus-maurus-wrote-an-encyclopedia-11629763.html

Would These People Be Allowed to Serve in Your Church Today?

Just trying to bring the eternal truths of the Bible today into our churches and even more into our way of thinking.  Ask yourself, if you had any authority over who could or could not play a role in the work of the local church, would you allow any of these people in? 

 

 

This man fell for the wife of one of his servants.  He sent his servant to the front of a battle so he would be killed, and he could take the man’s wife as his own.  This was necessary because she had become pregnant in this adulterous affair.  Could this man serve in your church?  (2 Sam. 11)

 

This man, ruler of a great kingdom that God had richly blessed, proceeded to marry hundreds of wives and concubines, and place altars for other gods on the Mount of Olives across from the Tabernacle of the Lord.  Could this man serve in your church? (1 Kin. 11)

 

This man conceived twins by his daughter-in-law, who had posed as a prostitute, and after the act admitted she had been more righteous than he.  Could this man serve in your church?  (Gen. 38)

 

This man pretended to be his brother, so that his aging father would give him the blessing over his brother, whose right it was as the firstborn.  Through deception he gained the blessing that started with Abraham and is passed down to us today.  Could he serve in your church?  (Gen. 27)

 

This man, after seeing historic miracles of God, led the anxious masses to take their gold, and fashion it into a calf and altar for the people to worship.

Could he serve in your church? (Ex. 32)

 

This man spent three years walking naked and barefoot through Egypt and Ethiopia as a sign to the peoples of those nations.  Could he serve in your church?  (Is. 20)

 

This man, after having spent three years walking with Jesus, denied knowing Him publicly three times.  Could he serve in your church?  (Matt. 26)

The Encoded Sun & Its Relationship To The Zodiac

This clip is about the zodiac and how the sun is encoded all over the planet by the ruling class to include movies and maps. If you would like to follow my article on the Examiner.com click the link below and subscribe the author.
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Why did it take NASA & ESA 8 years to release the Venus Vortex photo?

I've got a news update for Thornews and anyone else who believes that NASA or any other government agency is "funded by the public".  NASA is funded by the DOD, that standing for Department of Defense.  In other words, if they give you some info, it's been filtered about a dozen times before it reaches us poor commoners.  Anyway, I would like to see the Venus photos taken from the original landers, most of them Russian, but I don'r foresee them popping up on the net anytime soon.  Thornews watchers beware, foul language from a frustrated "astonisher" ahead.

 

NASA & the ESA took a photo of the Venus Vortex in 2007. They released it in 2015. Why would they need to wait 8 years to release a photograph? WTF is going on with the modern state of governments, corporations, space agencies, spy agencies and corporations?
Life was kind of OK in 1999, in about 16 years everything feels subverted and perverted. As the Technology curve & Science take giant leaps forward the people's quality of living is going down.
We are spoon fed divide & conquer 24/7 through the media, we're engaged in many endless wars of terror and fear, we've been trained to dehumanize and hate people we've never met and will never meet. And the debt of all countries continues to sky rocket.
WTF is up with this lame shit?
Who benefits from everything being sketchy?
At the very end, Humanity does not.
It would seem only Aliens or Artificial Intelligence
would stand to gain from plunging the whole world into madness and unhappiness.
Well, fuck that shit, man.
Avoid the Gray Goo.
100 year Truce can lead us all to a 1000 years of Peace and Prosperity.
Jubilee & Global Forgiveness
can lead to a fresh start for all men, women and children
of planet Earth.
Everyone wins.
It's our only hope.
God Bless Everyone,

He Know Something You Don’t? Petrus Romanus Recommending Everybody Read “Lord Of The World” Novel About The Rise Of Antichrist, The Vatican, And The Coming Of Armageddon

If the headline is that long, you know it came from the newly launched skywatchtv.com.  They are one of the best newsgathering sites for articles of prophetic (and immediate) interest to Christians, so worth checking in on from time to time.

From the day he became pope, NTEB has always maintained that Pope Francis was a man on a mission and destined to fulfill end times bible prophecy in a big way. Evidentially, he would seem to agree with our assessment. The book he wants everyone to read is centered around two main people – the Antichrist and the Catholic pope. Seriously, we couldn’t make this stuff up. It’s not the first time Pope Francis has mentioned the 1907 novel by Robert Hugh Benson, but his recommendation appears to be due to the daunting warning that is contained in the novel’s plot line. “Lord of the World” portrays a dystopian vision of the future and culminates in the final battle between humanism and Catholicism, which eventually leads to Armageddon.

In an airplane news conference on his way back from the Philippines, Pope Frances referenced a 1907 book entitled “Lord of the World” and advised all of those in attendance to read it

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Revelation 17:5 (KJV)
From the day he became pope, NTEB has always maintained that Pope Francis was a man on a mission and destined to fulfill end times bible prophecy in a big way. Evidentially, he would seem to agree with our assessment. The book he wants everyone to read is centered around two main people – the Antichrist and the Catholic pope. Seriously, we couldn’t make this stuff up.

It’s not the first time Pope Francis has mentioned the 1907 novel by Robert Hugh Benson, but his recommendation appears to be due to the daunting warning that is contained in the novel’s plot line.

“Lord of the World” portrays a dystopian vision of the future and culminates in the final battle between humanism and Catholicism, which eventually leads to Armageddon. The author depicts a Marxist world in which a charismatic senator from Vermont named Julian Felsenburgh promises world peace if world’s citizens follow him obediently.

Read the rest of this article at - http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=30358

Anskar, Apostle of the North

Are bells magical? When Bishop Anskar introduced them in Denmark, the pagans resisted their use, probably thinking that their gods would be angered or frightened by their pealing.
Anskar wouldn't give up.

Born near Amiens, France in 801, he became a Benedictine monk. Following visions which seemed to call him to missionary work, he dedicated himself to living a holy life. Denmark's King Harold had been exiled by his people. During his exile, he converted to Christianity and was baptized. Now he was going home and asked Anskar to come with him. In that way, Anskar began his missionary work in Scandinavia.

His task was not easy and he saw many setbacks in his lifetime. Bishop Ebbo of Rheims had already tried to convert the north of Europe and failed. Part of the problem was that the Vikings prided themselves on oath-breaking and revenge. Imagine trying to convince them that truth and forgiveness were virtues! Anskar's approach was to establish a school at Schleswig with the help of another monk, Autbert. This proved successful.

King Harold, however, did not know how to manage people. He pushed them so hard to become Christians that they threw him out of the country again. Anskar and Autbert had to leave, too.
But King Bjorn of Sweden had heard of the success of Anskar's school. He invited the monk to Sweden. In the company of a French embassy, Anskar headed north. The embassy was attacked and robbed. Even Anskar's religious books were taken, but although his companions wanted to turn back, he would not. He pressed on to Sweden, where he converted Herigar, the chief royal counselor, who then built Sweden's first church in 832.

A year and a half later, Anskar left Sweden. The pope had appointed him bishop (and later Archbishop) of Hamburg. Now he was responsible to oversee most of Northern Europe, including Iceland and Greenland. An abbey in Flanders was given him. He opened a school there.

In 845, King Eric of Jutland (northern Denmark) attacked Hamburg with 600 ships, destroying the city. Anskar became a fugitive. Rather than moan over all that he had lost--including his library--he said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"

Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, took away Anskar's abbey school. But the gallant evangelist would not give up. He went to Jutland, won Eric's friendship, convinced the king to treat slaves more kindly and got permission to start a church. That's when he introduced the bells.

Anskar himself never ate, unless some poor person could be brought in to share the meal with him. While he worked, he could be heard chanting psalms. He built hospitals, gave alms freely and ransomed captives. Many sick sought him out, convinced that he could heal them. He took no credit for any success, laying it to the account of others.

The archbishop died on this day, February 3, 865. He spent the night before in prayer for his mission. On the morning of his death, "he lifted up his hand and prayed that God in His goodness would forgive whoever had done him any wrong. Then he began to say over and over again the verses: 'According to Thy mercy think thou upon me, according to Thy goodness, O Lord,' [Ps 25: 6] and 'God be merciful to me a sinner,' (Luke 18:18) and 'Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.'" (Luke 23:46 ) When he could not speak for lack of breath, he ordered one of the brethren to continue saying the same words for him. "And so, with his eyes fixed on heaven, he breathed forth his spirit which had been commended to the grace of the Lord."

Unfortunately, his death brought the worst setback of all. The faith he had labored so hard to spread had evidently not been firmly grounded; Christianity virtually disappeared from Scandinavia. Those who came after him had to rebuild almost from scratch.

Bibliography:

1. "Anskar; Bishop and Missionary to Denmark and Sweden." http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Anskar.htm
2. Campbell, T. J. "St. Anschar." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1907).
3. Rimbert. "Life of Anskar." Medieval Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html
4. Various other internet and encyclopedia articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/anskar-apostle-of-the-north-11629769.html