Rare Biblical Works

This picture is AWESOME!!!

2009-11-13T18:58:00.001-08:00

This picture is AWESOME!!!

Look closely at this picture

The President of Argentina received this picture and called it 'junk mail', 8 days later his son died. A man received this picture and immediately sent out copies. His surprise was winning the lottery. Alberto Martinez received this picture, gave it to his secretary to make copies but, they forgot to distribute it. She lost her job and he lost his family.

This picture is miraculous and sacred.
Forward to 1O people.

Kseniya Simonova - Sand Animation (Україна має талант / Ukraine's Got Talent)

2009-10-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

Small church falls victim to economy

2009-10-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

The congregation sadly decides it can no longer afford to maintain its historic building.

By MECHELE COOPER, Kennebec Journal October 26, 2009

GARDINER — For more than 40 years, Mary and Percy Tibbetts have worshipped at Gardiner Congregational Church.

Now, since members of the 200-year-old church decided to close its doors, the Tibbettses – Mary, 92, and Percy, 97 – are looking for fellowship and prayer in another place.

The tiny congregation – 35 strong – can no longer afford the cost of maintaining the building at 46 Church St.

Mary Tibbetts said she and her husband have always been active in the church.

"Things are very different now and we have to accept that," she said last week. "It's going to be quite a blow when the doors close."

The Rev. Peggy Dunn said it is uncertain if the congregation will continue to meet, possibly in another location.

"It's sad to have come to this point and it's a walk we're trying to do with integrity for the congregation, the building and all the history of the church," Dunn said. "It's a really sad and serious time, and it largely has to do with the economy.

"We are a small body and can no longer>>>

R. Crumb Gets Religion

2009-10-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 4, 2009

The influential comics artist Robert Crumb, best known for such outré works as "Keep On Truckin' " and "Fritz the Cat," is exploring a surprising new topic in his latest work: the Bible. For "The Book of Genesis Illustrated," Mr. Crumb incorporated a variety of sources, including the King James Version, to re-create the Bible's first book.

and more here>>>

A Religious Element In The Health Reform Debate?

2009-10-11T03:40:00.000-07:00

By RAGHAVAN MAYUR

Posted 08/21/2009 07:21 PM ET

Americans are churchgoers, and religion has always played a large role in U.S. politics. Health reform is no different. A new IBD/TIPP Poll shows that, depending on their faith, Americans have differing opinions and differing intensity of opinion when it comes to including a public option in any overhaul plan.

Protestants, for example, oppose a public option by a 43% to 33% margin, but Catholics favor it 42% to 35%. The biggest support for a public option comes from those who identify themselves as "another type of Christian," with 49% in support and 30% opposed. A majority (54%) of non-Christians support the public option and 29% oppose.

It's also important to note that, generally speaking, one in five of those surveyed are undecided.

Overall, 26% of survey respondents identified themselves as Protestants, 23% as Catholics, 26% as another type of Christian and 22% as non-Christians or nonreligious.

The intensity of support for the public option also varies. Sixteen percent of Protestants "strongly support" the concept, while 35% "strongly oppose" it. Twenty-one percent of Catholics "strongly support" and 26% "strongly oppose."

Among those identifying themselves as "another type of Christian," the intensity tilts toward a public option: 36% "strongly support" and 25% "strongly oppose." Forty percent of non-Christians "strongly support" while only 20% "strongly oppose."

Departing from the traditional Democratic position>>>

Report: Nearly 1 in 4 People Worldwide Is Muslim

2009-10-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 08, 2009

The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly 1 in 4 people in the world practice Islam, according to a report Wednesday billed as the most comprehensive of its kind.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long has been subject to guesswork, with estimates ranging anywhere from 1 billion to 1.8 billion.

Click here for more information on the study.

The project, three years in the making, also presents a portrait of the Muslim world that might surprise some. For instance, Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon, China has more Muslims than Syria, Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined, and Ethiopia has nearly as many Muslims as Afghanistan.

"This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report," said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University who reviewed an advance copy.

Pew officials call the report the most thorough on the size and distribution of adherents of the world's second largest religion behind Christianity, which has an estimated 2.1 billion to 2.2 billion followers.

and much more here>>>

Zakir Naik - Questions and Answers (Urdu) (5/26)

2009-10-02T04:09:00.000-07:00

Questions and answers about moment of death

2009-10-02T04:03:00.000-07:00

AWARE project uses technology to investigate ‘out-of-body experiences’

TODAY

updated 7:56 a.m. ET, Mon., Sept . 28, 2009

Editor’s note: Founded by Dr. Sam Parnia, the AWARE (Awareness During Resuscitation) study seeks to discover whether “out-of-body experiences” really happen and, if so, how resuscitation practices can be improved so that more people can be revived after being clinically dead. Here are answers to questions about the AWARE study and the Human Consciousness Project of which it is part.

What is the Human Consciousness Project?

It is a multidisciplinary collaboration of international scientists and physicians who have joined forces to research the nature of consciousness and its relationship with the brain.

What is the purpose of the AWARE study?

AWARE is the world’s largest study that will investigate what happens to the human mind and consciousness during clinical death and the relationship between consciousness and the brain. This project is currently being coordinated among 25 major medical centers in Europe and the United States and will be expanded to more centers in the future.

What does it hope to prove?>>>

Palestinians at Ramadan prayers in Quds, Israel arrests 5 / PHOTO

2009-08-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Israel arrested 5 Palestinians who wanted to pray in Islam's third holiest site as they had to suffer age bans for their first Ramadan Friday prayers at the Al Aksa Mosque.

Israel arrested 5 Palestinians who wanted to pray in Islam's third holiest site as Palestinians had to suffer age bans to be able to enter for praying their first Ramadan Friday prayers at the Al Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem (Al-Quds), reports said.

The prayers were held amid heavy presence of thousands of Israeli soldiers deployed in Jerusalem. Police estimated the people at 90,000.

Israeli authorities still kept access bans for Palestinians from the West Bank, only allowing men aged 50 and over and women of 45 and over to enter the site.

and much more here>>>

Birthday Bible Verse

2009-08-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

THE BIBLE AND YOUR BIRTHDAY
> THIS IS NEAT...
>
>
>
> I haven ' t seen this before. Did you know that the Bible has a special
> verse for everyone ' s birthday? Look up your verse now...
>
> http://WWW.birthverse.Com/mybirthverse.cfm

The Space Station

2009-08-18T18:40:00.001-07:00

Click here: USATODAY.com feature

"The Space Station"

The most complicated construction project of all time! This is so cool!!! I've wondered for a long time what it looked like today, now I can see it very clearly! This shows the development in stages. Very educational.

2009-08-15T02:39:00.001-07:00

Radical Science

President Obama's "science czar," John Holdren, floated a number of lethal policies -- including compulsory abortions and other Draconian measures -- to shrink the human population in science textbooks he published in the 1970s.

John Holdren is the director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, focusing on energy independence and global warming. Holdren has degrees from MIT and Stanford and won the unanimous approval in the Senate to be the president's chief science adviser, but some of his controversial early writings may have escaped the senators' notice.
and much more>>>

May The Force Be With You

2009-08-14T02:46:00.000-07:00

BUCHANAN TO OBAMA

2009-08-14T02:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 4:51 AM

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America . Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.. This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ' 60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude???

Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks. Let him go to Altoona ? And Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids.? Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena . And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.
We are a Christian Nation even if Mr. Obama says we are not.
This needs to be passed around because, this is a message everyone needs to hear!!!

Shocking Facts About Our National Debt

2009-08-03T01:21:00.000-07:00

This is Shocking Information compliments of the Obama Administration.

Click here: U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time

Thanks to all of our irresponsible Congressional people who pass legislation with reading any of it.

Let's vote them out of office in the next election cycle. Remember, we voted them in and now, lets vote them out.

Changes on the horizon for the airport chapel

2009-08-03T00:44:00.000-07:00

Posted by Janet Fillmore/Plain Dealer Religion Editor May 23, 2008 19:58PM

What makes the chapel at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport unique also makes it endangered.

Most of the 30 or so airport chapels in the nation are tucked in a corner or on a second floor that isn't well-traveled, said the Rev. Charles Doerpers, a deacon and director of Catholic services at the chapel. And most are small and plain.

The Regina Caeli Chapel is different.

It's in a prominent place, on Concourse B past the security checkpoint and just steps from the food court.

It's large, with room for 120 people in the gleaming oak pews with maroon cushions.

And it looks like the inside of a church -- albeit a Roman Catholic Church, with statues of Mary, Jesus and several saints; the Stations of the Cross; papal flag; vigil light; and the Blessed Sacrament.

Last week, airport officials met with a representative of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, which rents the space, to discuss the chapel's future.

Todd Payne, chief of marketing and>>>

Airport Chapels: Shifting from Denominational to Interfaith (2005)

2009-08-03T00:41:00.000-07:00

Interfaith
Website: Religious Diversity News
Example of Airport Interfaith Chapel: Phoenix Sky Harbor Interfaith Chaplaincy
Example of Airport Interfaith Chapel: Interfaith Airport Chapels of Chicago

Approximately fifty years ago, the first airport chapel in the United States was built in Boston’s Logan International Airport. This chapel, along with the few others established at this time, was Catholic. Over the past few decades, as the religious landscape of America has changed, so has the orientation of these chapels. Now one can walk into almost any major U.S. airport and expect to find an interfaith space where people of all faiths are welcome to pray and worship. Most significantly, these chapels include features that cater specifically to the needs of Muslim worshippers. These adaptations have been made possible by airport chaplaincies forming their own nonprofit organizations, separate from the government funded transit authorities that run the airports.

History of Airport Chapels in the United States>>>

Redemption Venture

2009-08-03T00:37:00.001-07:00

By GREG BLUESTEIN (AP) – Jul 22, 2009

ATLANTA — Ralph Reed was once a powerful force in Republican politics, able to marshal millions of religious conservatives to the polls while leading the Christian Coalition.

Then his political career took a tumble in 2006 when he was clobbered by a lesser-known opponent in the Republican primary for Georgia lieutenant governor, leading some to conclude Reed's days as an influential GOP figure were over.

But Reed is searching for a dose of redemption. He's launched a new venture that supporters hope will bolster a Republican Party struggling to find its footing after the 2008 election and a recent string of embarrassing scandals.

"I don't view it as a comeback," Reed said in a recent interview. "I view it as something I've always done — trying to be part of the solution and trying to build at the grass roots (level)."

The startup, known as the Faith and Freedom Coalition, is little more than a Web site, but Reed hopes to turn it into a strident new force that uses social media to capture a broader, younger and more diverse audience.

Perhaps most telling, the man who helped cement religious conservatives into a solid GOP voting bloc said he won't focus his group on social issues, but rather the economic crisis.

"This is not the Christian Coalition redux,">>>

Report: North Korea Publicly Executes Christian Woman for Distributing Bible

2009-07-25T04:05:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 24, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea publicly executed a Christian woman last month for distributing the Bible, which is banned in the communist nation, South Korean activists said Friday.

Ri Hyon Ok, 33, was also accused of spying for South Korea and the United States and organizing dissidents. She was executed in the northwestern city of Ryongchon near the border with China on June 16, according to a report from an alliance of several dozen anti-North Korea groups.

Ri's parents, husband and three children were sent to a political prison camp in the northeastern city of Hoeryong the following day, the report said, citing unidentified documents it says were obtained from North Korea. It showed a copy of Ri's North Korean government-issued photo ID. It is virtually impossible to verify such reports about secretive North Korea, where the government tightly controls the lives of its citizens and does not allow dissent.

On Thursday, an annual report from a state-run South Korean think tank on human rights in the North said that public executions, though dropping in number in recent years, were still carried out for crimes ranging from murder to circulating foreign movies.

North Korea claims to guarantee freedom of religion>>>

Our Government Is Here To Help Us!

2009-07-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

> Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused residents often to be

> challenged with the task of tracing home titles back potentially

> hundreds of years.

>

>

> With a community rich with history stretching back over two

> centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of

> family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish ownership.

>

>

> Here's a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a

> client:

>

> A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told

> the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a

> parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the

> property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to

> track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received

> the following reply.

>

> (Actual letter):

> "Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan

> application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of

> Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have

> prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you

> have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to

> 1803.

> Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear

> the title back to its origin."

>

> Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:

> (actual letter):

>

> "Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I

> note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years

> covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated

> person in this country, particularly those working in the property

> area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S. ,

> from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our

> application.

>

> For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the

> land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France , which had

> acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain . The land came into the

> possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a

> sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the

> privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch,

> Isabella. The good queen, Isabella, being a pious woman and almost

> as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing

> the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance

> Columbus ' expedition.

>

> Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus

> Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created

> this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also

> made that part of the world called Louisiana .. God, therefore,

> would be the owner of origin and His origins date back, to before

> the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope

> you find God's original claim to be satisfactory.

>

> Now, may we have our damn loan?"

>

> The loan was approved.

Reviving faith with ritual bath in Montana

2009-07-19T01:09:00.000-07:00

7/18/2009

Rabbi and group establish a mikvah in one of the least Jewish states in the nation

The Associated Press

BOZEMAN, Mont. - In one of the least Jewish states in the country, a traditional Jewish group working to revive religious observance has built a mikvah, a ritual bath for spiritual purification.

The bath opened several months ago in an extension built on the Bozeman home of Rabbi Chaim Bruk and his wife, Chavie, who came here with the Hasidic movement Chabad Lubavitch.

Chabad sends couples around the world,>>>

Episcopal bishops agree to bless same-sex weddings

2009-07-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

7/17/09

From Staff and Wire Reports

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Progressives in the Episcopal Church were on the verge of claiming another victory late Wednesday as denomination leaders endorsed the creation of blessing liturgies for same-sex unions one day after they ended a de facto ban on the ordination of gay bishops.

The action by bishops at the church’s General Convention in Anaheim left conservatives with little to celebrate. They said the twin measures would further divide the 2.1 million member denomination and strain an already fragile relationship with the global Anglican Communion, of which the church is a branch.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly, with 104 bishops, including Maine’s Episcopal Bishop Stephen Lane, voting yes, 30 voting no and two abstaining after a failed attempt by some bishops to kill it. The measure still must be approved by clergy and laity in the church’s other legislative body, the House of Deputies, a step widely viewed as considered all but certain. The convention ends today.

Those who championed the blessings measure>>>

Water of Life Lutheran Church

2009-07-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Water of Life Lutheran Church!

Are You Looking for something to quench the thirst in your life?
Are You in need of spiritual refreshment and renewal?
Are you tired of going round and round on the merry go round of life?
Perhaps You are searching for a place of belonging, a place to call home?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, we would like to help you on your journey.

Water of Life Lutheran Church is a new>>>

From Amish to vampires, Christian fiction expands

2009-07-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

By ERIC GORSKI (AP) – 3 days ago

DENVER (AP) — The Christian book business, optimistic that a little literary escapism might be an antidote for readers in hard times, is turning to bonnets, buggies and bloodsuckers.

Even as Christian publishing suffers during the recession — one study found net sales for Christian retailers were down almost 11 percent in 2008 — several publishing houses are adding or expanding their fiction lines with both the tame (Amish heroines) and boundary-pushing (Christian vampire lit).

The undisputed industry leader is so-called Amish fiction — typically, romances and family sagas set in contemporary Amish communities. They're a surprise hit with evangelical women attracted by a simpler time, curiosity about cloistered communities and admiration for the strong, traditional faith of the Amish.

The success of the genre has spawned not just new Amish fiction authors but spinoff series about other cloistered communities. If you want to sell it, as one literary agent put it, put a bonnet on it.

But not all new Christian fiction is prairie wholesome. There's building buzz — and some trepidation — about upcoming titles that bring a Christian perspective to tales of vampires and the undead.

Hong Kong Christens an Ark of Biblical Proportions

2009-07-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

APRIL 14, 2009

By JONATHAN CHENG

HONG KONG -- This city's three billionaire Kwok brothers have just the answer for the rising waters threatening the global economy: the world's first life-size replica of Noah's ark, built to biblical specifications off the coast of this recession-struck Chinese financial center.

The message in its 450-foot-long hull, its rooftop luxury hotel and 67 pairs of fiberglass animals: "The financial tsunami will be over," says Spencer Lu, the Kwoks' project director at Noah's Ark, which is opening soon.

The land-bound ark wasn't built in response to the current global turmoil; it has been in the planning for 17 years. But the financial storm provides a nice marketing hook for the Kwoks' ambitious project, which will probably need to lure visitors from beyond Hong Kong's city limits to be an economic success.

Latter-Day Noahs Build Arks

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Greenpeace

It also ups the ante in the competition to build a big ark. Middle brother and ark champion Thomas Kwok insisted that it be constructed according to biblical specs, in part to distinguish it from one in the Netherlands that actually floats and boasts real farm animals but is just one-fifth the size of the biblical original.

Minders of the Dutch ark say they were in touch with the Hong Kong team and don't see it as competition. "We stand for the same goal as far as I can tell," said Jacky Baken, a 35-year-old gardener who quit her business to work full time on the ark. She says the group is at work on a full-size water-going version. And, she says, "We're still the first one with the floating ark."

These are just the latest additions to a veritable>>>