They tried to kill him

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Children are born believers in God, academic claims

Children are "born believers" in God and do not simply acquire religious beliefs through indoctrination, according to an academic. 

Dr Justin Barrett, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Centre for Anthropology and Mind, claims that young people have a predisposition to believe in a supreme being because they assume that everything in the world was created with a purpose.

He says that young children have faith even when they have not been taught about it by family or at school, and argues that even those raised alone on a desert island would come to believe in God.

"The preponderance of scientific evidence for the past 10 years or so has shown that a lot more seems to be built into the natural development of children's minds than we once thought, including a predisposition to see the natural world as designed and purposeful and that some kind of intelligent being is behind that purpose," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"If we threw a handful on an island and they raised themselves I think they would believe in God."

In a lecture to be given at the University of Cambridge's Faraday Institute on Tuesday, Dr Barrett will cite psychological experiments carried out on children that he says show they instinctively believe that almost everything has been designed with a specific purpose.

In one study, six and seven-year-olds who were asked why the first bird existed replied "to make nice music" and "because it makes the world look nice".

Another experiment on 12-month-old babies suggested that they were surprised by a film in which a rolling ball apparently created a neat stack of blocks from a disordered heap.

Dr Barrett said there is evidence that even by the age of four, children understand that although some objects are made by humans, the natural world is different.

He added that this means children are more likely to believe in creationism rather than evolution, despite what they may be told by parents or teachers.

Dr Barrett claimed anthropologists have found that in some cultures children believe in God even when religious teachings are withheld from them.

"Children's normally and naturally developing minds make them prone to believe in divine creation and intelligent design. In contrast, evolution is unnatural for human minds; relatively difficult to believe."
 

Source: http://ow.ly/oZhMo

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‘I promised God that if he would save my baby, I would leave the homosexual lifestyle’

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February 6, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lisa Miller, an ex-lesbian who made national headlines during her battle to protect her daughter from a custody transfer to her former sex partner, is now telling the story of her struggle through a book by one of her attorneys, Rina Lindevaldsen.

“Only One Mommy: A Woman’s Battle for Her Life, Her Daughter, and Her Freedom” (New Revolution Publishers, 2011), gives readers new insights into Miller’s inspiring odyssey from abused and neglected child, through the horrors of sexual and chemical addictions, to redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.

Miller’s final act of bravery was her decision to enter into hiding with her child, Isabella, to escape her former lesbian partner Janet Jenkins, who was successfully seeking to transfer custody of Miller’s daughter, Isabella, to herself. Although Miller remains in hiding, she speaks to readers through journals and letters left with her attorney, and through Lindevaldsen’s own narrative.

At the root of Miller’s nightmarish childhood were two elements: contraception and divorce. Miller’s early memories are filled with the bitter reminder that her mother, who was using birth control at the time she conceived Miller, had not wanted her.

“Whenever my mother was mad at me, she would pull out the oval peach colored pack of birth control pills that she had saved all those years to show me that only one week was missing, and that was the week she got pregnant,” Miller writes.

At age seven, Miller’s parents divorced, leaving herself and her brother alone with an increasingly mentally ill, distant, and cruel mother. Miller’s isolation and lack of affirmation from her parents led her to seek solace in unhealthy fixations on food, diet pills, and pornography. In order to relieve herself of emotional pain, she began to cut herself, which added to the scars that her body already held from her mother’s beatings

However, Miller was also the recipient of positive influences through friendships with leaders in her church and schoolteachers, who took an interest in her and provided her with adult role models. Her religious education would come back to her in her darkest days, providing a way out of her seemingly impossible situation.

After entering a troubled marriage, and finally making a suicide attempt that left her in intensive care for days, Miller received another major blow. During her recovery in a psychiatric ward in Virginia, a counselor informed her that she was a lesbian and must seek the sexual companionship of other women.

“As part of my treatment, in order to be released, I had to meet with my immediate family, including my husband, and tell them I was a ‘lesbian.’ I complied, and not surprisingly, my marriage ended. Even though I had left behind all of my childhood addictions at that time, sadly, I entered into the addiction of homosexuality,” writes Miller.

Lisa eventually entered into a relationship and a Vermont “civil union” with a recovering alcoholic named Janet Jenkins. During that time she was artificially inseminated, resulting in the birth of her daughter. She recalls that in the misery of her sexually immoral and conflictive relationship with Jenkins, she almost lost Isabella before she was born. It was then that she made a special petition to God, promising him that “if he saved my baby, I would leave the homosexual lifestyle.”

Isabella was born healthy, and although Miller did not keep her promise immediately, she recalled it as her relationship with Jenkins continued to deteriorate. “It was then that God brought to mind the covenant that I had made with him just months earlier. I knew enough from my religious background that one does not make covenants with God and not keep them without suffering negative consequences. When my daughter was 17 months old, I left the homosexual lifestyle and moved with my daughter back to my home state of Virginia, where she had been conceived and born.”

Judicial tyranny and the struggle to save Isabella from her lesbian “other mother”

After Lindevaldsen’s summary of Miller’s victory over homosexual vice and her other addictions, the attorney leads readers through the maze of legal arguments that have been used to justify giving parenthood rights, and ultimately guardianship, of Isabella to Jenkins. In the process she shows that no state is truly safe from the effects of homosexualist legislation in other jurisdictions.

Although Miller was artificially inseminated while in a civil union with Jenkins, Isabella was never adopted by her, and Jenkins’ name does not appear on Isabella’s birth certificate. Moreover, Miller and Jenkins were residents of Virginia when they entered into their Vermont “civil union,” and Virginia’s constitution explicitly denies all recognition to such unions.

In sum, while Jenkins appears to lack all standing to make a claim of “parenthood,” that did not prevent judges in Vermont and Virginia from twisting the law like a pretzel to ensure that Jenkins had access to Isabella.

Miller’s legal nightmare began when a Vermont judge decided to literally create a law where one did not exist. Vermont had no law giving parenthood rights to the spouse of a woman who is artificially inseminated - the spouse had to adopt the child. But despite the fact that civil unions were to be treated like marriages under Vermont law, Vermont Judge Richard Cohen decreed from the bench that Jenkins was Isabella’s “mother.”

Noting that “the court admitted that the legislature still hadn’t answered the question of how a child born by artificial insemination by an anonymous sperm donor would gain the legal status of a child to the spouse who was not biologically related to the child,” Lindevaldsen observes: “To its credit, the court at least admitted what it was doing—creating new law in order to reach its decision.”

However, despite all of the protections inserted into the Virginia constitution against the enforcement of civil union or homosexual “marriage” legislation from other states, prosecutors managed to make use of a federal law that was designed to stop one parent from denying custody to another: the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (FKPA).

Although the law was created to prevent parents from fleeing to another jurisdiction to get a better custody settlement through another set of courts, it was used in Miller’s case to claim that Virginia could not cancel the custody order issued by the Vermont court. Lindevaldsen argues that this is false reasoning because the federal Defense of Marriage Act protects states from the obligation of giving “full faith and credit” to homosexual unions formalized in other states, and even under the FKPA, states don’t have to enforce the decisions of other states’ courts. Nonetheless, the Virginia courts ruled in favor of Jenkins, and agreed to apply the Vermont decision.

Lindevaldsen goes on to discuss the destructive effects of the homosexual lifestyle, and documents the damage to children and teens caused by the movement’s influence in the school system.

The author, who is a an associate dean and professor of law at Liberty University, told LifeSiteNews that Christians need to be aware of the Obama administration’s relentless pursuit of Miller and her daughter, and the implications of their decisions at the voting booth with regard to family issues.

“I think certainly the current administration has obviously made a commitment that this is a high priority for them, that they are going to track down a biological mother and attempt to take this child away from her biological mother and I certainly think that there is some political pressure that could be taken,” Lindevaldsen said.

“I think the word needs to get out. Christians need to know that these things are happening, the idea that a woman apparently had to flee the country to protect her child, shouldn’t be happening in America, and I don’t think enough Christians know about that and don’t realize that the people they vote for in an election year, who they vote for has direct consequences on things like this.”

She added that, in addition to their involvement in the national political process, Christians can work at the state level to ensure that other children are not victimized by ant-family legislation. Lindevaldsen says she has handled dozens of other cases that are similar to Miller’s.

“We need to pass laws at the state level making it very clear that courts do not have the discretion to do this, to declare a child to have two parents, because we need to avoid these situations happening in the future, because they are happening on a regular basis.”

Click “like” if you want to defend true marriage.

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Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer

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June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

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A Conflict in the Bible?

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"From the Bible John 3:13: 'No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.' Also from the Bible 2 Kings:2:11 'As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.' Hmmm seems to be a conflict there. Iago

There's no conflict at all. The Tabernacle, spoken of so often in the Book of Hebrews, is an earthly representation of Heaven. As with Heaven, the Tabernacle had three parts to it. The first was the "Courtyard," then "the Holy Place," and finally "the Holy of Holies." If anyone entered the Holy of Holies (the very presence of God and the Ark of the Covenant) he would be instantly killed by the Justice of God because of his personal sins. There had to be a blood sacrifice to provide a temporary covering for his sin. The high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only enter that area once a year, on a prescribed day called "the Day of Atonement."

So anyone who died before the redemptive work of the Savior (the shedding of His blood on the cross), didn’t go into the presence of God in Heaven, but into the part of Heaven called "Paradise" (see Luke 23:43). If you study the death of Lazarus (Luke 16:20-31) you will see that he went to "Abraham’s Bosom" (another name for Paradise). The Apostle Paul spoke of actually seeing Paradise (see 2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

A thick curtain separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The Temple in Jerusalem was a replica of the tabernacle, having a massive 60 foot high, 30 foot wide, 4 inch thick curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The moment Jesus cried "It is finished," that curtain ripped “from the top to the bottom” (see Mark 15:38). The tearing of it from the top down, meant this act must have come from above, signifying that God Himself had provided a way for sinners to enter His presence, and thus live forever.

Each of those who entered Paradise didn't go there because they were good people. They were sinners who were saved by the grace and mercy of God, through the simplicity of faith (trust). They trusted that God would eventually provide a Savior, so that their sins could be completely forgiven (you can read all about this in Hebrews 11).

So Elijah would have gone into the first heaven (Paradise) until Jesus completed His redemptive work. Nowadays, all who die in Christ (trusting in His shed blood) go straight into the presence of God. Their sins are forever forgiven.

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Unborn twins interact with each other as early as 14 weeks

by Thaddeus Baklinski

Wed Jan 12 5:10 PM EST

PADOVA, Italy, January 12, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Unborn twin babies socialize as early as week 14 of gestation, a new study has shown.

Italian researcher Dr. Umberto Castiello of the University of Padova and associates used an advanced method of ultrasonography, which enables the movements of the babies to be recorded over time in 3D, to study five pairs of twins from a sample of low-risk pregnant women attending the Institute of Child Health I.R.C.C.S. Burlo Garofolo.

The purpose of the study was to see how twins interacted with each other in their mothers’ wombs and to determine if the interaction was intentional or accidental.

“Newborns come into the world wired to socially interact,” Dr. Castiello states in the preamble to the study report, then poses the question, “Is a propensity to socially oriented action already present before birth?”

Twin pregnancies provided the research team with a unique opportunity to investigate the social pre-wiring hypothesis.

“Unlike ordinary siblings, twins share a most important environment – the uterus. If a predisposition towards social interaction is present before birth, one may expect twin foetuses to engage in some form of interaction,” the researchers say.

“Although various types of inter-twins contact have been demonstrated starting from the 11th week of gestation,” Dr. Castiello said, “no study has so far investigated the critical question whether intra-pair contact is the result of motor planning rather then the accidental outcome of spatial proximity.”

The five pairs of twins were studied during two separate recording sessions carried out at the 14th and 18th week of gestation.

The first 20-minute recording sessions showed the unborn twins touching each other as well as themselves, and the uterine wall.

During the second recording, four weeks later, their interest in their twin was approximately three times higher, with almost 30 per cent of movements directed towards the sibling. Those movements were also more accurate and of longer duration then self-directed ones, the researchers reported.

“We demonstrate that by the 14th week of gestation twin foetuses do not only display movements directed towards the uterine wall and self-directed movements, but also movements specifically aimed at the co-twin, the proportion of which increases between the 14th and 18th gestational week,” the scientists stated.

The proportional increase in contact with the twin was reported to be consistent among the ten babies studied.

The researchers conclude that performance of movements towards the co-twin is not accidental.

“Starting from the 14th week of gestation twin foetuses plan and execute movements specifically aimed at the co-twin,” the authors wrote, stating that “when the context enables it, as in the case of twin foetuses, other-directed actions are not only possible but predominant over self-directed actions.” The findings provided quantitative empirical evidence that unborn babies are very much aware of their surroundings and of the presence of a twin with them in their mother’s womb, said the researchers.

The full text of the study, titled “Wired to Be Social: The Ontogeny of Human Interaction” is available here.

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BBC News: “Beetle Defence Inspires University of Leeds Research”

The amazing Bombardier beetle has long been a favorite of intelligent design advocates, who ask how the insect’s amazing self-defense mechanism could have arisen in stepwise fashion. Now, researchers have imitated that incredible mechanism.

When threatened, the Bombardier beetle can expel stinky, toxic steam with high accuracy at a predator, giving the beetle time to escape. Scientists at the University of Leeds, with support from Swedish Biomimetics 3000, recently received an award for their work studying and copying the beetle’s defensive mechanism.

The researchers first endeavored to fully understand the method by which the beetle creates the toxic explosion. Then, a scaled-up man-made simulation was designed that uses special techniques to shoot liquids up to 13 ft (4 m) away. The technology in the simulation allows the researchers to precisely control various aspects of the spray, including droplet size, temperature, and velocity. The device is also environmentally friendly, as the sprays are based on water. (Most aerosol sprays are based on environmentally unfriendly propellants.)

Andy McIntosh, the professor of thermodynamics and combustion theory who headed the team, noted, “Nobody had studied the beetle from a physics and engineering perspective as we did, and we didn’t appreciate how much we would learn from it.” The team foresees potential applications for the device in everything from needle-free injections to fire extinguishers.

We often conclude our reports on scientists who are imitating God’s designs with the sad note that they attribute those designs to evolution, not God. But that isn’t the case this time. In fact, the name Andy McIntosh may sound familiar, because McIntosh is not only an award-winning scientist, but also a young-earth creationist. The research therefore provides not only another fascinating look at the incredible complexity and sophistication of biological creation, but also a reminder that one can be a Bible-believing young-earth creationist and a top-notch scientist at the same time.

(In other news of God’s creation inspiring engineer’s designs, scientists have developed a camera that can see like a trilobite!)

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Ants can lift weight 100 times heavier than their own body

Source.

The image above is not a fake, not photoshop contest or something. It's real! The photo above shows a real ant lifting weight 100 times heavier than his own body upside down with his jaws. The 500 mg marks on the weight is not a joke. Its mean that ant (weighted 5 mg) lifting 500 mg weight objects (100 times heavier). If the scale is equated, the circumstances is same as a man with 75 kg (150 lbs) lifting 7,500 kg (15,000 lbs) weight. That is impossible, right? Who the hell can lift 7.5 tons of weight with bare hand?

But ants does, they can lift something 100 times heavier than their own bodies. The more amazing fact is that ant can lift that kind of weight while they sticking on wall or something. On the picture above, that ant is carrying 500 mg weight while he stick on the glass upside down. He can sticking on the shiny and slippery glass surface while lifting weight. How the ants do that? According to Dr Endelin from Cambridge: "Ants can change the size and shape of the pads on their feet depending on the load they are carrying. If they have to carry heavy loads they increase the contact area, and when they need to run they decrease it."

The ant's legs also play a part in the insect's stickiness by making clever use of what scientists call "peeling forces". "If you think about peeling off sticky tape from a surface, it's easiest when you peel at a steep, rather than a shallow, angle. Ants use the same mechanism: when they want to stick, they keep their legs at a shallow angle relative to the surface, and when they want to release their legs they increase this angle and peel off easily," he says.

As well as shedding light on ants' seemingly gravity-defying feats, the Cambridge research could help scientists develop better glues. According to Dr Endelin: "The pads on ants' feet are self-cleaning and can stick to almost any type of surface. No man-made glue or adhesive system can match this. Understanding how animals can control their adhesive systems should help us come up with 'clever' adhesives in the future."

[Source: University of Cambridge]

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Poll: Most Americans Won’t Party or Go Out on New Year’s Eve, But They Will Say a Prayer

Wednesday, December 29, 2010
By Edwin Mora

Mary Magadalene praying. (Wikipedia Commons)

(CNSNews.com) -- A new Rasmussen Report poll shows that while most Americans are not planning to attend a party or go out to dinner on New Year’s Eve, a strong majority, 66 percent, say they will say a prayer before midnight that day.

The percentage of those who plan to pray (66 percent) on New Year’s Eve is larger than the respective percentage of those who are going to drink (42 percent), attend a party (21 percent), and go out for dinner with friends or family (18 percent) to celebrate the new year, the survey found.

“This New Year’s Eve, most Americans don’t plan on attending a party or even a dinner, but a sizable number intend to enjoy a drink. Even more will offer up a prayer as 2010 becomes 2011,” stated the poll , which was released today.

In contrast, 25 percent of Americans say they will not pray before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, according to the poll.

While men are more likely than women to party on New Year’s Eve, women are more likely than men to say a prayer that day, the poll revealed.

Furthermore, “Black Americans are also more likely than whites to say a prayer before 2011 begins,” the survey found.

The national telephone survey of 1,000 adults was conducted December 26-27. It has a +/- 3 percentage points margin of error with a 95% level of confidence.

Christmas is still rated the number holiday by most Americans, according to the poll.

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Prayer Relieves Mind in Many Ways, Study Finds

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Getting on your knees and looking to the heavens may really bring comfort during tough times, new research finds.

This will come as no surprise to many Americans, as 75 percent say they pray on a weekly basis in order to manage hard situations, including illness, and emotions such as sadness and anger, according to the study researcher citing Pew Research Center data. And most Americans also think God is involved in their everyday lives and concerned with their personal well-being.

The new study aimed to find out how prayer leads to mental relief. Results suggested prayer can serve as a distraction and even as sort of a punching bag.

Always available

Lead researcher Shane Sharp, a graduate student studying sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducted in-depth interviews with 62 victims of violent relationships with intimate partners. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 72 (averaging 41) and represented a wide swath of the United States in geographic, educational and racial terms, with largely Christian backgrounds.

Results showed that in general that God or another figure from religion acted as a support system for the participants. The figure had certain perceived characteristics, such as being loving, powerful and caring, that influenced why participants sought him or her out. But unlike a flesh-and-blood shoulder to cry on or an abusive partner to rail at, God was available whenever and wherever the participant reached out, Sharp said.

"If they vented their anger to that abusive partner, the result was likely to be more violence," Sharp told LiveScience. "But they could be angry at God while praying, without fear of reprisal."

For those who are not religious, Sharp said, the findings of the study may not apply unless they look to another "virtual" friend, such as a celebrity, in times of crises. [Thinking of God Calms Believers, Stresses Atheists]

Victims' stories

One participant, Monica, a white 25-year-old, said she used prayer to manage her anger over being abused by a loved one. It's "kinda like getting something off your chest, you know. I mean, you're kinda talking about it with somebody, you know. I mean, it's just a way to kinda voice your opinion, you know, about something, or, you know, let the Lord know, you know, how you would like something," she was quoted as saying.

Sharp added that prayer seemed to help self-image. "During prayer, victims came to see themselves as they believed God saw them. Since these perceptions were mostly positive, it helped raise their senses of self-worth that counteracted their abusers' hurtful words," Sharp said.

Marianne, a white Southern Baptist in her early 50s who had been married to an abusive man for nearly 20 years, sighed as she said: "I guess the number one thing for me would be the realization that there's, there was, the God out there the whole time where I'm out thinking, well, 'This is my life so screwed up. I need to get drunk. No, I need to take drugs. No, I need to kill myself.' ... And just to, to be able to just sit down and think that God wanted to communicate with me and that I'm not a scumbag in front of his eyes no matter what. Wow, how cool is that?"

Prayer also served as a handy distraction for some, Sharp found. Folding one's hands and focusing on this conversation provided a reprieve from the anxiety of an abusive relationship.

Yet the consequences of prayer weren't always positive. "For some, through prayer they told me they learned to forgive their abusive partners, to let go of their anger and resentment," Sharp said. "But that's a double-edged sword. It's good for those who are out of that violent relationship to let go of it to a certain extent. But if they're still in their violent relationship, it may postpone their decision to leave, and that can be bad."

Religion is complicated

That double-edged sword highlights the complexity of religion and its effects. "Religion is often pointed to as a mostly positive or mostly negative thing. It's way more complicated than that," said Sharp, whose results are detailed in the current issue of the journal Social Psychology Quarterly.

Other research out this month shows that religious people are happier because of the social networks they build by attending religious services. Past research has shown that teen birth rates are higher in highly religious states, and another study suggested kids with religious parents are better behaved than others.

The findings have practical implications for mental health experts and researchers who study well-being. Sharp said future research should consider prayer as an interaction instead of a one-sided act.

In addition, "psychotherapists and other mental health professionals can try to develop similar, non-prayer ways to accomplish these tasks," Sharp told LiveScience. "Since one way that prayer helps is by providing another who will provide positive, self-esteem-boosting feedback, mental health professionals can develop therapy programs that will be sure to include positive, self-esteem-boosting feedback that can counteract negative feedback in patients' lives."

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Eric Clapton, In the Presence of the Lord

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The bluesman has been haunted by God through his early years, his born-again period, and his recovery.

John Powell

If testimony and evidence mean anything, Eric Clapton is in a good place. In February, he earned his 19th Grammy (for The Road to Escondido) and reunited with Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood for three widely acclaimed concerts at Madison Square Garden. The North Korean government invited Clapton to become the first rock musician to play the last bastion of true Communism; he has yet to decide whether to accept the invitation.

In 2007, Clapton completed a 133-date world tour, hosted the second Crossroads Guitar Festival to raise money for his substance abuse center in Antigua, and hit The New York Times bestseller list with Clapton: The Autobiography. He's been happily married to Melia McEnery Clapton for six years, and they have three little girls who think the world of their daddy, without a thought for his troubled past.

This all seems pretty sedate for the man whose work with a Gibson Les Paul led counterculture enthusiasts to declare on subway walls that "Clapton is God," the man "adopted" by Muddy Waters and commissioned to carry on the legacy of the blues. But his road has seldom been smooth.

From the age of 9 when he learned that he was born out of wedlock to his "auntie" and an unknown Canadian soldier, he struggled to find a safe place. Feelings of isolation and insecurity haunted him throughout life, drawing him to the gritty alienation of the blues. But there is a spiritual side of Clapton that was scarcely known. It almost always influenced what he thought and did, and the kind of music he wrote and played.

Clapton never set himself up as a model of Christian faith, and admits as much. He grew up in rural Surrey attending a local congregation of the Church of England, and in his autobiography, wrote that he "grew up with a strong curiosity about spiritual matters, but my searching took me away from church and community worship to the internal journey." The foundation of his minimalist faith is reflected in the favorite hymn of his youth, "Jesus Bids Us Shine":

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

That implicit recognition that we serve God individually — in our own "small corner" — made sense in a working-class neighborhood where Clapton found little spiritual encouragement.

By 1969 he was drawn to the genuine warmth of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, who opened for Blind Faith on their 1969 tour. Delaney's "persona of a Southern Baptist preacher, delivering a fire and brimstone message … could have been off-putting," observed Clapton, "if it wasn't for the fact that when he sang, he was … absolutely inspiring." One night, Bramlett challenged Clapton to start singing: "God has given you this gift, and if you don't use it he will take it away." Clapton, always unsure of himself, followed his advice.

Just days later, two Christians came to Clapton's dressing room after a show, probably drawn by the performance of "Presence of the Lord," the showstopper on the Blind Faith tour. To young believers, the song seemed like a tentative response to 1 Samuel 6:20 — "Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this Holy God?":

I have finally found a place to live
Just like I never could before
And I know I don't have much to give
But soon I'll open any door.
Everybody knows the secret,
Everybody knows the score.
I have finally found a place to live
In the presence of the Lord.

The two Christians asked Clapton to pray with them. As they knelt, he saw "a blinding light" and sensed God's presence. His testimony was open and honest; he told "everyone" he was "a born-again Christian." But the nature of his faith was tinged with a kind of superstition that would remain suspect in light of any systematic theology.

As Clapton's legend grew, so too did his destructive behaviors. Within a year of his conversion he became addicted to heroin, kicked it, but moved on to alcohol, sexual promiscuity, and a string of failed relationships. "Bad choices were my specialty," he said. In 1987 he hit the bottom. Failing through a month of rehab, he fell to his knees and finally "surrendered" to God, dedicating his sobriety to his newborn son, Conor.

Four years later, when Conor died in a fall from the window of a 53rd floor of a Park Avenue apartment, Clapton admitted, "There was a moment when I did lose faith." Still, he found the strength to present a session to his Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on "handing your will over to the care of God." Afterward, a woman confessed that he had taken away her "last excuse" for drinking, a confirmation to Clapton that "staying sober and helping others to achieve sobriety" is "the single most important proposition" in his life.

In his autobiography, Clapton elaborates on the beginnings of his prayer life — that 1987 rock-bottom moment at the rehab treatment center.

"I was in complete despair," Clapton wrote. "In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether … and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered. Within a few days I realized that … I had found a place to turn to, a place I'd always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in.

From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray, and with my ego, this is the most I can do. If you are asking why I do all this, I will tell you … because it works, as simple as that."

John Powell is associate professor of history at Oklahoma Baptist University.

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God vs. Prozac : Prominent scientists show the efficacy of trust in God to treat anxiety.

	http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/48964651.html

God vs. Prozac
by Sara Yoheved Rigler

Prominent scientists show the efficacy of trust in God to treat anxiety.

David Rosmarin was a sophomore in college in 1999 when he began to feel anxious. His nervousness -- about academic stresses and social woes -- was probably typical of all college students everywhere, but when David experienced difficulty falling asleep at night, he considered going to the campus psych to get medication.

After one of his weekly Torah learning sessions, David consulted Rabbi Nissan Applebaum about the sleep he was losing. "Rabbi, would it be a good idea for me to speak to a mental health professional like a psychologist or psychiatrist about my anxiety?"

Without replying, Rabbi Applebaum rose from his seat and ran out of the room. Confused yet intrigued, David followed him. "I watched," recalls David, "as he proceeded to photocopy pages from a book, preparing a sheath of papers for me that would change my life."

When he was finished, Rabbi Applebaum placed a copy of a 61-page document into David's hands. The first page read: "The Gate of Trust in God." The pages were an excerpt from the book Duties of the Heart, written by Rabbi Bachaya Ibn Pekuda in 11th Century Spain. "I don't know if you should speak to a mental health professional about your anxiety," the rabbi said to David, "but I do know that reading these pages will help you. Learn them for 10-15 minutes each night before you go to bed, and contemplate deeply what is written here."

David followed the rabbi's "prescription." As he recalls:

To my surprise, within 8 weeks, not only was I able to fall asleep without difficulty, but my anxiety had almost completely vanished. Even more remarkable was that the improvement in my psychological state had occurred despite the fact that none of the anxiety-producing factors in my life had been ameliorated. In actuality, at this later period of time, I was faced with a grueling exam schedule, worse social woes than before, and I remained completely uncertain about my future! What had changed was my attitude towards my difficulties and towards life in general. I had increased my level of trust in God, and had gained the spiritual acumen necessary to navigate through the world of anxiety. In the same way that a medical patient faithfully places himself in the hands of a highly skilled and competent physician, I had realized that the events of my life were ultimately controlled by God's highly capable hands and that at the end of the day, I had little to worry about.

This ancient piece of Jewish wisdom elucidated a secret method of eliminating human anxiety based on spiritual wisdom.

After graduation, David entered an MA program in psychology. When faced with preparing a Master's Thesis, David remembered his own experience contending with anxiety. He started re-reading "The Gate of Trust in God," this time analyzing the text from a psychological perspective. "Less than three pages into my reading," David remembers, "I realized that the text could be understood as a complete psychological theory of the etiology of human anxiety. This ancient piece of Jewish wisdom elucidated a secret method of eliminating human anxiety based on spiritual wisdom. I presented the material to my academic supervisors who were equally impressed by Rabbi Bachaya's insights."

DO RELIGIOUS BELIEFS HELP HANDLE STRESS?

In fact, David had stumbled into the growing field of the psychology of religion, which has published almost 1,800 psychological studies in the past two decades, investigating questions such as:

• Can religious beliefs/practices be a source of coping in times of stress?
• Is weekly attendance of religious services linked to levels of anxiety and depression?
• Do religious individuals have better or worse outcomes in psychological treatment than non-religious individuals?
• Can spirituality and religiousness be integrated into clinical practice for the treatment of psychological problems?

A recent example of one such study was reported in Canada's National Post on March 4, 2009. The study, led by Michael Inzlicht, a University of Toronto psychology professor, had been published in the journal Psychological Science. The researchers measured activity in the part of the brain - the anterior cingulate cortex - that registers stress. Subjects were asked to perform a stressful exercise, called a "Stroop task."

Prof. Inzlicht said that initially they were simply trying to understand what factors would activate these brain waves, not investigate religious belief. At first, they asked people to describe themselves as being liberal or conservative. Then they asked others to describe their level of self-esteem. Neither of those parameters correlated with the activation of the "stress brain waves." Only when the researchers asked about a belief in God and religiosity did a pattern develop. Those with the deepest religious belief were more likely to let mistakes roll off their backs, while those who tend toward atheism were more likely to suffer stress and anxiety after committing an error. Prof. Inzlicht reported that no atheist in the study showed low anxiety and no religious person showed high anxiety.

Prof. Inzlicht called the study "statistically significant," and said that the results could act as a predictor to how people might react to real-world stress situations, such as today's crumbling stock markets.

THE SCIENTIFIC TRUTH ABOUT RELIGION AND PSYCHOLOGY

Freud insisted that religion was inversely associated with positive psychological health. Esteemed psychologist Albert Ellis, ranked by his peers as the second most influential psychotherapist in history, in the 1980s claimed that people who have strong religious convictions are going to have less tolerance to uncertainty, be less resilient, suffer more from anxiety, and be more prone to neuroses.

In the 1990s, psychologist Kenneth Pargament faced off with these giants and suggested testing their claims scientifically by conducting actual psychological experiments, without a religious or anti-religious agenda. Dr. Pargament made an empirical science of the psychology of religion, and has published two books and over 150 scientific papers. He has received numerous awards from the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association. In general, his studies have shown that spirituality is an important resource for people in times of stress, and connection with God can be ameliorative for symptoms of stress, worry, and depression. After reviewing Dr. Pargament's research, Dr. Ellis publicly retracted his statements and grudgingly admitted that, from a psychological standpoint, religion is "not necessarily a bad thing."

"The average child today between the ages of 11 to 13 is as anxious as the average psychiatric patient was in the 1950s."

In truth, as secularization in society has increased, so have the levels of anxiety and depression. As Robert Leahy, clinical professor in psychiatry at Cornell University, recently pointed out in an interview with Dennis Prager: "We're experiencing a major historic trend In the increase in anxiety... The average child today between the ages of 11 to 13 is as anxious as the average psychiatric patient was in the 1950s." Dr. Leahy also noted: "There is research that shows that people having a belief system and a community that supports that have actually a better and happier life."

For the past five years, David Rosmarin has worked in a PhD program with Dr. Pargament, and recently received an appointment at the Harvard Medical School as a Clinical Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry. Rosmarin has published numerous studies in academic peer-reviewed journals and presented at several national conferences on the relationship between religion/spirituality and anxiety, stress, and depression. [See http://www.jpsych.com] Although many such studies have been done among Christians, Rosmarin has pioneered studies in the Jewish community. Consistently, his research has found that trust in God as well as religious practices (e.g., prayer, religious study, attending services) is associated with lower levels of psychological distress.

SKY ROCKETING PRESCRIPTIONS

Prescription rates for all psychotropic [mood-altering] medications among non-institutionalized adults in the U.S. have steadily increased over the past 20 years. In fact, their use doubled in less than a decade between 1994 and 2002. The use of multiple psychotropic medications almost tripled in the same short period.

These anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications have side effects such as sexual dysfunction, nausea, and -- ironically -- nervousness and insomnia. Other common medications for mood/anxiety disorders such as tri-cyclic anti-depressants and MAOI's can have much more serious side effects, such as coma and death.

While medication may sometimes be necessary to help people in distress, in light of these dangers, David Rosmarin wondered whether his own experience with increasing trust in God could help others. "I decided that I must try to use the knowledge I have to help people to reduce the amount of anxiety they experience in their lives."

Together with Rabbi Leib Kelemen, Rabbi Noach Orlowek, and Dr. Pargament, David Rosmarin developed a program for treating stress and worry in the Jewish community. The program is a spiritually-based intervention founded on the same "Gate of Trust in God" that helped him so much as a nervous college student, as well as other classic Jewish texts. The program is done through the Internet, so it can be completed anonymously by anyone at any location and at any time. It requires no therapist, just the commitment of a half hour every day for two weeks.

For his dissertation, David Rosmarin has built a free, online portal that is testing the program's efficacy against an established and well-utilized intervention called Progressive Muscle Relaxation (See www.jpsych.com/dr for information). Currently, about 60 people have completed their involvement with the study, and many of the individuals receiving the spiritually-based treatment have attested to the benefit they received from it. I did the first half-hour segment, and personally found it life-changing.

To test the efficacy of the program by statistical analysis, David Rosmarin needs another 30-50 Jewish people to participate in his study. If you are interested in participating, please visit: http://www.jpsych.com/dr/

BELIEF IN GOD AND THE EXODUS

The "trust in God" fostered by this program has three key components:

1. Belief that God is all-knowing (and therefore knows what you need)
2. Belief that God is all-powerful (and therefore can change physical reality)
3. Belief that God loves you (and therefore acts for your benefit)

As Mr. Rosmarin points out, it makes sense that a person who believes in an omniscient, omnipotent, and loving God will not be consumed by worry or depression.

Or does it? Isn't it possible to believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, and loving God who created the world, but doesn't care if I lost my whole pension fund in the meltdown? Isn't it possible to believe that God loves the world, but isn't going to intervene in my unemployment troubles?

Here's where the Exodus comes in. As any observer will notice, Judaism is obsessed with the Exodus. While the salvation from Haman's genocidal scheme is mentioned only once a year at Purim, and the salvation from the Syrian-Greeks is mentioned only once a year at Chanukah, the redemption from Egypt is mentioned not only at Passover, but every Shabbat in the Kiddush and every day in the morning prayers. In fact, it is a mitzvah to remember the Exodus every day. Why?

The Jewish belief in God has two essential parts:

1. God created the world.
2. God intervenes in human history.

God intervenes not only in epic global events, but also in the daily circumstances of your life.

Just as the first principle means that God created not only the Himalayas, but also your fingernails, so the second principle means that God intervenes not only in epic global events, but also in the daily circumstances of your life. In Judaism, the Exodus is a code word for the far-reaching concept that God micro-manages the world, that Divine Providence oversees and intervenes, that God is a hands-on God Who cares.

From the human side, the Exodus is a testimonial to the Jewish People's trust that God would indeed take care of them. Between Egypt and the Promised Land was nothing but a vast desert, without sufficient water or food to sustain a multitude. Exiting from slavery in Egypt was like escaping Alcatraz by jumping into the shark-infested ocean. As God would say to Israel centuries later through His prophet: "I remember the love of your youth, how you followed me into the wilderness, into an unsown land." Thus, on Passover, we recall not only how God intervened to save us, but how we trusted that the mega-miracles of the Exodus would be followed by God's protracted daily sustenance.

Passover is indeed the holiday of faith in God. The matzah represents both "the bread of affliction" and "the bread of freedom." The Seder is full of symbols of both suffering and redemption. The message we must imbibe is that suffering and redemption are inextricably linked, that God gives us suffering in order to make us spiritually fit to receive redemption. On Seder night, we rise to a level of faith where each one of us affirms: "You know our suffering, You can act to redeem us, and I trust that because You love us, You will do what is for our ultimate good."

As David Rosmarin declares: "With the financial markets in crisis and with growing security concerns around the world, stress and worry have gone through the roof -- particularly in the Jewish community. Increasing belief in God may help to decrease a lot of distress."

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This article can also be read at: http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/48964651.html

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Dozens come to Christ in Malawi as a result of two flat tires

Photo via jesusfilm.org

Sometimes it's certain that we are where God wants us. For one film team, this was clear in Malawi, reports MNN.

The JESUS Film Project team was traveling through Malawi when they got a flat tire. And then another. The time it took to recover brought the group late into the afternoon. They would need to spend the night nearby and finish their journey the next day.

The team stayed in a nearby community for the night. Recognizing the opportunity they had been given to perhaps reach even more people with the Gospel of Christ, the group asked the area leaders if they could show the "JESUS" film. The leaders and community were thrilled, especially since none of them had viewed a film in quite some time.

With a captive audience of 1,800 people, the film team showed the film about the life and death of Jesus Christ. By the end of the viewing, 27 people had openly decided to give their lives to Christ.

And this was only the beginning of God's work in the village.

At the end of the film, a young woman with a 2-year-old baby asked the team to pray for sleep. She said she had not slept through the night for over four years, and her baby never had in his lifetime. The team prayed with the woman.

The next day, the woman came to the team proudly proclaiming that she had slept through the night, and so had her child. She considered this a direct answer to prayer and committed her life to the Lord right then.

Still, the Lord's work was just getting started. Later that day, a group of twelve adults came to the team. They explained how the night before they had been deeply convicted by the film but had been nervous to make their profession of faith public. The team walked the group through the Gospel message, and twelve more were added to the Kingdom.

Clearly the event was orchestrated by the Most High God. Praise the Lord for putting the film team in the right place at the right time to bring the Good News to at least 1,800 people. Pray that the Lord would continue to work in this community and strengthen His new followers.

The "JESUS" film has been the catalyst for thousands of people coming to Christ.

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Study: Having Church Friends Makes You Happy

Are you going to church regularly? Do you have a few good friends in the congregation? A new study concludes those are two keys to a happier life.

Just how important is the friend factor at church? A study released in the December issue of the American Sociological Review finds that even going to church services several times a year can boost your sense of well-being—if you have a circle of friends there who you identify with belief-wise.

“Our study offers compelling evidence that it is the social aspects of religion rather than theology or spirituality that leads to life satisfaction,” says Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who led the study titled Religion, Social Networks and Life Satisfaction. “In particular, we find that friendships built in religious congregations are the secret ingredient in religion that makes people happier."

Lim’s study reveals that 33 percent of people who attend church every week—and have between three and five close friends—are “extremely satisfied” in life. By contrast, only 19 percent of people who attend church every week—but don’t have close friends there—are extremely satisfied. Meanwhile, 23 percent of people who limit churchgoing to several times a year—but have between three and five close friends there—are extremely satisfied with their lives.

“To me, the evidence substantiates that it is not really going to church and listening to sermons or praying that makes people happier, but making church-based friends and building intimate social networks there,” Lim says.

“One of the important functions of religion is to give people a sense of belonging to a moral community based on religious faith,” Lim continues. “This community, however, could be abstract and remote unless one has an intimate circle of friends who share a similar identity. The friends in one’s congregation thus make the religious community real and tangible, and strengthen one’s sense of belonging to the community.”

Read more: http://charismamag.com/index.php/news/29714-study-having-church-friends-makes-you-happy#ixzz17rUsZ4LU

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AN ATHEIST IS SOMEONE WHO BELIEVES THE SCIENTIFIC IMPOSSIBLITY, NOTHING CREATED EVERYTHING:

By Ray Comfort

1. "It is now becoming clear that everything can -- and probably did -- come from nothing." Robert A. J. Matthews, physicist, Ashton University, England

2. "Space and time both started at the Big Bang and therefore there was nothing before it." Cornell University "Ask an Astronomer."

3. "Some physicists believe our universe was created by colliding with another, but Kaku [a theoretical physicist at City University of New York] says it also may have sprung from nothing . . . " Scienceline.org

4. "Even if we don't have a precise idea of exactly what took place at the beginning, we can at least see that the origin of the universe from nothing need not be unlawful or unnatural or unscientific." Paul Davies, physicist, Arizona State University

5. "Assuming the universe came from nothing, it is empty to begin with . . . Only by the constant action of an agent outside the universe, such as God, could a state of nothingness be maintained. The fact that we have something is just what we would expect if there is no God." Victor J. Stenger, atheist, Prof. Physics, University of Hawaii. Author of, God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist

6. "Few people are aware of the fact that many modern physicists claim that things -- perhaps even the entire universe -- can indeed arise from nothing via natural processes. Creation ex nihilo -- Without God (1997), Atheist, Mark I. Vuletic

7. "To understand these facts we have to turn to science. Where did they all come from, and how did they get so darned outrageous? Well, it all started with nothing." --"Fifty Outrageous Animal Facts,” Animal Planet

8. To the average person it might seem obvious that nothing can happen in nothing. But to a quantum physicist, nothing is, in fact, something." Discover Magazine “Physics & Math/Cosmology”

9. "It is rather fantastic to realize that the laws of physics can describe how everything was created in a random quantum fluctuation out of nothing, and how over the course of 15 billion years, matter could organize in such complex ways that we have human beings sitting here, talking, doing things intentionally." (Alan Harvey Guth theoretical physicist and cosmologist). Discover Magazine, April 1, 2002

10. Richard Dawkins: "The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years AFTER THE UNIVERSE EVOLVED OUT OF LITERALLY NOTHING is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.""From tail to tale on the path of pilgrims in life", The Scotsman (April 9, 2005)

11. "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing...Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. "Stephen Hawking: God did not create Universe." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11161493

12. "To be fair, I actually think Ray won this round. He was challenged to show where atheists say 'everything comes from nothing', and he did ... There ARE atheists who say 'everything came from nothing', regardless of the details of the specific definitions in use." Whateverman (from WEARESMRT--atheist website).

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Communism Is The Religion Of the Godless

Source

The basic concept of Communism is that the idea of God is irrelevant and only to be "tolerated" as an accommodation to those of "low mentality". That explains the contempt that the Left has for Christians or right-wing nuts as we are routinely described. It explains the elitist mentality of our Communist-in-Chief, who had the unmitigated gall to say that America is not a Christian nation. Communism and communist deny the existence of any form of deity, believing that only matter in motion is eternal and the only divinity is a directive force inherent in matter which is why they worship the Earth. These Leftist worship the "created things" rather than the Creator.

Yes, I maintain that communism is the religion of the Godless and it even has it's own plan of salvation which is Utopia. The Communist vainly believes that he'll transform the heart of man by providing for all of man's material needs for him. Think back to October 31, 2008 when then President Elect Barack Obama proclaimed before an enthusiastic congregation crowd "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming America". Which read to the sychophantic drones as "our help" "our saviour" has come.

Communist even have a doctrine of conversion...indoctrinate the youth. In fact our colleges and universities are veritable alters of conversion. I can tell you that for me that was the case as an undergraduate. I was Godless and wanted and in point of fact sought out righteousness, goodness and justice as long as no diety was involved. Communism was perfect.

Communists also have a standard of consecration, and self-discipline. It was Lenin who said, "Few and better." and "We won't accept into membership anybody with any reservations whatsoever. We won't accept into our membership anyone unless he is an active, disciplined, working member in one of our organizations." Now remember Michelle Obama saying "Barack will require you to work". Have you noticed how the state run media has begun to call Americans "workers"?

It's a shame that drones are so busy protecting and defending the "first black president" that they are complete oblivious to the forces at play in our nation.

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A Conflict in the Bible?

Original

"From the Bible John 3:13: 'No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.' Also from the Bible 2 Kings:2:11 'As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.' Hmmm seems to be a conflict there. Iago

There's no conflict at all. The Tabernacle, spoken of so often in the Book of Hebrews, is an earthly representation of Heaven. As with Heaven, the Tabernacle had three parts to it. The first was the "Courtyard," then "the Holy Place," and finally "the Holy of Holies." If anyone entered the Holy of Holies (the very presence of God and the Ark of the Covenant) he would be instantly killed by the Justice of God because of his personal sins. There had to be a blood sacrifice to provide a temporary covering for his sin. The high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only enter that area once a year, on a prescribed day called "the Day of Atonement."

So anyone who died before the redemptive work of the Savior (the shedding of His blood on the cross), didn’t go into the presence of God in Heaven, but into the part of Heaven called "Paradise" (see Luke 23:43). If you study the death of Lazarus (Luke 16:20-31) you will see that he went to "Abraham’s Bosom" (another name for Paradise). The Apostle Paul spoke of actually seeing Paradise (see 2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

A thick curtain separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The Temple in Jerusalem was a replica of the tabernacle, having a massive 60 foot high, 30 foot wide, 4 inch thick curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The moment Jesus cried "It is finished," that curtain ripped “from the top to the bottom” (see Mark 15:38). The tearing of it from the top down, meant this act must have come from above, signifying that God Himself had provided a way for sinners to enter His presence, and thus live forever.

Each of those who entered Paradise didn't go there because they were good people. They were sinners who were saved by the grace and mercy of God, through the simplicity of faith (trust). They trusted that God would eventually provide a Savior, so that their sins could be completely forgiven (you can read all about this in Hebrews 11).

So Elijah would have gone into the first heaven (Paradise) until Jesus completed His redemptive work. Nowadays, all who die in Christ (trusting in His shed blood) go straight into the presence of God. Their sins are forever forgiven.

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The video that proves Intelligent Design

Source

Seeing is believing, and they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Over at Creation.com, Brian Thomas has posted a fascinating article entitled, ATP synthase: majestic molecular machine made by a mastermind. ATP synthase is an enzyme that synthesizes an energy-rich compound, ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is used by almost every biochemical process in the body. ATP synthase is also the world’s tiniest rotary motor, and it operates at near 100% efficiency, which is far greater than that of any man-made motor. In his article, Brian Thomas does an excellent job of describing the workings of this enzyme and of exposing the inadequacies of proposed evolutionary explanations for its origin.

But don’t take my word for it. Have a look at this video by Creation.com, and you’ll see at once that ATP synthase is the product of design. It’ll only take 86 seconds of your valuable time.

As Jonathan Sarfati explains in another video, entitled Evolution Vs ATP Synthase – Molecular Machine:

You couldn’t have life unless you had this motor to produce the energy currency, so it looks like this motor must have been there right from the beginning, and I’d say that because this motor is so much better, so much tinier and more efficient than anything we can design, … the Designer of the motor is far more intelligent than any motor designer we have today too.

My sentiments exactly. Judge for yourself. You might like to have a look at these links here and here, on Uncommon Descent, where ATP synthase has been highlighted previously, as evidence for Intelligent Design.

I’d like to thank Bornagain77, a regular contributor to Uncommon Descent, for bringing this video to my attention, and also Ashby Camp of True.Origin.

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Democrat/Socialist Party Road Map

Liberal-progressivism is a long step on the road toward the totalitarianism of communism, National Socialism, and Fascism.

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Liberal-progressives, giving them the benefit of doubt, are motivated by sincere faith that their secular materialist religion can transform human nature and perfect political society. To force everyone into equality of income and station, liberal-progressives employ mainly heavy taxation and strangling regulation. When voters inevitably resist, stronger measures must be brought to bear (for example, making it a crime not to buy Obamacare’s nationalized health insurance).

Liberal-progressivism, communism, National Socialism, and Fascism all are manifestations of the same underlying secular religion that rejects faith in our Creator God and substitutes worship of the political state (which amounts to liberal-progressive self-worship). Dependents on the welfare state are obviously more easily herded by the collectivized political state, as the German Empire’s Chancellor Otto von Bismarck observed when he created the world’s first welfare state in the 1880s.

President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are firmly persuaded that nationalizing health care is an essential component of Franklin Roosevelt’s so-called Second Bill of Rights, which substituted “security” in the arms of Big Brother for freedom from arbitrary government power limned in the original Bill of Rights. Liberal-progressives equate individualistic self-reliance with greed. Liberal-progressives, confident that they alone know what is best for society, aim to bring the masses under as nearly complete regulation of their everyday lives as possible.

Our present-day welfare-state servility differs only in degree, not in substance, from government under Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot. Liberal-progressives, looking down from their academic ivory towers, express their plans in vast computer models covering entire industries at one shot, abstractions entangled in 2,000± pages of incomprehensible legislation, implemented through tens of thousands of regulations promulgated by hundreds of new bureaus. That separation from reality affecting individual people, cramming everyone into one-size-fits-all regulatory boxes, too easily becomes the cold-heartedness of Stalin, who allegedly said, “One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is just a statistic.”

Guy Sorman, on the City Journal website, reminds us of the hideous results stemming from this mode of thinking.

Communism’s Nuremberg
The crimes of the Khmer Rouge are inextricable from Marxist/Leninist ideology.

Quote:

The true explanation, the meaning of the crime, can be found in the declarations of the Khmer Rouge themselves: just as Hitler described his crimes in advance, Pol Pot (who died in 1998) had explained early on that he would destroy his people, so as to create a new one. Pol Pot called himself a Communist; he became one in the 1960s as a student in Paris, then a cradle of Marxism. Since Pol Pot and leaders of the regime that he forced on his people referred to themselves as Communists—and in no way claimed to be heirs of some Cambodian dynasty—we must acknowledge that they were, in fact, Communists.

What the Khmer Rouge brought to Cambodia was in fact real Communism. There was no radical distinction, either conceptually or concretely, between the rule of the Khmer Rouge and that of Stalinism, Maoism, Castroism, or the North Korean regime. All Communist regimes follow strangely similar trajectories, barely colored by local traditions. In every case, these regimes seek to make a blank slate of the past and to forge a new humanity. In every case, the “rich,” intellectuals, and skeptics wind up exterminated.

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Twenty two chilean miners gave their life to the Lord JESUS

Photo via palau.org

The 33 Chilean men who were trapped thousands of feet underground when the San Jose mine collapsed are still making headlines, but this time for a slightly different reason. One of the now-rescued miners recently joined an evangelistic campaign, reports MNN.

During the 69-day period that the men were stranded deep in the earth's crust, Jose Henriquez was known as "the pastor." He continuously asked for Luis Palau audio biblical messages to be sent down while underground, and he frequently spoke with the other victims about his Lord. By the time the men were rescued, 22 of them had professed faith in Christ.

The Luis Palau Association was in Chile from October 25 to 30 for an evangelistic campaign in Santiago and Viña del Mar. They invited Henriquez to speak.

When Henriquez told his testimony at one of the large gatherings, people were clearly moved. God used the combination of Henriquez's testimony and Palau's message, eventually leading thousands to Himself.

Every event throughout the week was packed to the limit. Andrew Palau spoke one night in Viña del Mar at the popular Quinta Vergara Amphitheater; it was the first time the theater had ever been filled to capacity on a weeknight. Over 145,000 people directly heard the Gospel message throughout the rest of the week-long festival, along with potentially millions more through media broadcasts.

The people of Chile have had a rough year. Between a severe earthquake that took hundreds of lives, and a mining crisis that kept the country in agonizing anticipation for weeks, many are clearly ready to hear some good news. In this case, the overwhelming response to the Good News makes that clear. These tragic circumstances have apparently not been enough to stop the Gospel.

22 miners, and now 13,000 more Chileans, have professed faith in Christ. Pray that each one of them would continue to seek the Lord and grow in their faith. Pray that that their choices would not just be temporary reactions to stress or turmoil, but true, life changing surrender to follow the only One who can consistently be their hope.

Source

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