Volgens vele Belgen over tien jaar in de problemen door te soepele asiel opnamen vandaag

Dit weekend werden zowel in verscheiden kranten als op de televisie stations resultaten voorgelegd van gehouden enquêtes omtrent de asielzoekers.

Opvallend daarbij is dat voor veel Belgen hun land zich veel te makkelijk opstelt voor diegenen die hier hun geluk komen zoeken. Een grote meerderheid denkt ook dat zij een gevaar inhouden voor ons land en meerderen vrezen dat wij hier over tien jaar problemen zullen hebben door de instroom die wij vandaag toestaan.


Een enquête van Ipsos op vraag van Le Soir en RTL-TVI geeft te kennen dat 74% van de ondervraagden bovendien voorstander is van de invoering van meer grenscontrole.
Uit de bevraging blijkt dat 55% van de Belgen vindt dat ons land te veel asielzoekers opvangt. Het gaat om 53% van de Vlamingen en 49% van de Brusselaars. In Wallonië is 60% van mening dat ons land te ver gaat in het dossier.
 Voor de enquête werden van 28 september tot 4 oktober 2.571 mensen ondervraagd.

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Who Celebrates Easter as Religious Holiday

The 2010 study by the Barna Group which explored Americans’ definition of the Easter holiday. (See: Eostre, Easter, White god, chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies and metaphorical resurrection)

They asked a nationwide, representative sample of American adults how they would describe what Easter means to them, personally.

Icon of the Resurrection (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Interestingly, those who articulate a resurrection-related concept of Easter are no more likely than other religiously oriented Americans to indicate that they will invite friends to worship with them on Easter.

The types of Americans who were most likely to express some type of theistic religious connection with Easter were evangelicals (93%), attenders of large churches (86% among those whose congregation has 500-plus adult attenders), born again Christians (81%), and weekly churchgoers (77%).
Republicans (77%) and Democrats (71%) were more likely than were independents (59%) and non-registered citizens (51%) to say Easter has religious meaning for them.

In terms of age, members of the Boomer generation (73%, ages 45 to 63) were among the most likely to describe Easter as a religious holiday for them, compared with two-thirds of Elders (66% of those ages 64-plus) and Busters (66%, ages 26 to 44). The youngest adult generation, the Mosaics (ages 18 to 25), were the least likely age segment to say Easter is a religious holiday (58%), reflecting the increasingly secular mindset of young adults.

Other population segments describing Easter with a non-religious bent were faith groups other than Christianity (just 31% said Easter’s meaning is religious), atheists and agnostics (36%), and unchurched adults (46%).

Those who identify Easter explicitly as a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus were most likely to be evangelicals (73%), large church attenders (60%), born again Christians (55%), active churchgoers (54%), upscale adults (54%), and Protestants (51%).

Showing a perceptual gap between political conservatives and liberals, those on the political “right” were nearly twice as likely as those on the political “left” to say that Easter is a celebration of the resurrection (53% versus 29%, respectively).

In terms of the audience that most Christian churches attempt to attract on Easter weekend – non-churchgoing adults – the research shows that while 46% of unchurched adults view the meaning of Easter to be religious, while just 25% connect the holiday to Jesus’ return to life.

As for denominational affiliation, most Catholics said they celebrate Easter as a religious holiday (65%).Still, just one-third of Catholics listed the resurrection as the meaning of the holiday (37%). In comparison, Protestants were more likely than Catholics both to view Easter as a religious holiday and to connect the occasion to Jesus’ awakening from death (78% and 51%, respectively).






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Please, also find to read:

Welcome to Easter 2014

Easter: Origins in a pagan Christ

Eostre, Easter, White god, chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies and metaphorical resurrection

High Holidays not only for Israel 

14-15 Nisan and Easter 

Ishtar the fertility goddess or Altered to fit a Trinity 

Peter Cottontail and a Bunny laying Eastereggs

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• The History and Origins of Easter (personalcreations.com)
  For Christians, Easter is associated with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ approximately 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, was crucified and resurrected at the time of the Jewish Passover. Lent, a 40-day period that leads up to Easter Sunday, is a time of reflection that represents the 40 days that Jesus Christ had spent alone in the wilderness before beginning his ministry. At this time, Christians believe that he had survived many temptations by the devil. The day before Lent starts, known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, is a final celebration of fun and food before the fasting begins. The week before Easter is known at the Holy Week. It includes several important days, including Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the last supper, Good Friday, which honors the crucifixion day, and Holy Saturday, which is associated with the transition time between the crucifixion and resurrection.
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  Like all religious celebrations, Easter has a complex history and there is debate about its origins. According to the Venerable Bede (672-735 CE), a Christian scholar, the word “Easter” came from the Old English eastre, which was probably from the Germanic Eostre, the Great Mother goddess of the Saxon people, who was associated with spring and new life.
  The symbols we associate with modern best Easter holiday in canada have more to do with spring than religion and hearken back to the traditions of ancient peoples. Eggs, chicks, flowers, and rabbits are all related to spring, and are associated with the renewal of life after the winter.
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  The practice of eating spiced buns at the time of the spring festival may have arisen from ancient Greek customs, but the English practice of having them on Good Friday appears to have been institutionalized during Tudor times when a bylaw was introduced in London forbidding their sale except on Good Friday or Christmas, or at burials.
  
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  “In some parts of Western Finland, people burn bonfires on Easter Sunday, a Nordic tradition stemming from the belief that the flames ward off witches who fly around on brooms between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In Rome, Mass is celebrated on the evening of Holy Saturday, and on Easter Sunday, thousands of visitors congregate in St. Peter’s Square to await the Pope’s blessing from the church’s balcony, known as “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and to the World).”
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  Being of German heritage I was fascinated to find out that the Easter bunny originated among German Lutherans. It was used to judge the behavior of children during the Eastertide season much like Santa Claus at Christmas. If the children were good throughout the year the Easter bunny brings candy and colored eggs.
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  Allow this Easter Holiday to become a time you seriously consider getting to know more about the one who came and died so that you can know how wonderful it is to be free, free indeed.
  

Eeuwenlange verkondiging van de hel als martelplaats

Eeuwen lang gingen predikers rond om mensen schrikbeelden voor te schotelen van plaatsen waar de mens na de dood zou toe gaan en gemarteld worden voor de begane zonden tijdens dit leven.

Door meeste christenen wordt er geloofd dat er een hemel die het verblijf van de gerechtvaardigde gestorvene is waar zij eeuwigdurende vreugde en geluk ervaren en daarnaast zou er dan de hel zijn, de eeuwige duurzame plaats van het kwaadaardige waar de mensen zouden gefolterd worden zelfs tot in de eeuwigheid. Er zou namelijk een nare nooit-beëindigende kwelling in zijn onblusbare vuren plaatsgrijpen.

Maar is die gedachte wel volgens de Heilige Schrift?

Wat denkt u hier over en wat denken anderen er over?

Deze maand is de vraag: Hemel en hel, wat leert de Bijbel er over?

Is the Bible's Hell a flaming torture chamber?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

- Yes. Unrepentant sinners deserve what they get!
- No. The word translated hell simply means the grave.
- The notion of a fiery hell is nothing but empty superstition.
- Hell is conscious eternal separation from God, not torture in flames.
- Don't know.

Ga naar > http://www.thisisyourbible.com/

41 percent expect Jesus by 2050

American Telephone

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- More than four out of 10 U.S. citizens expect Jesus Christ to return to Earth during the next 40 years, a poll suggests.

The Washington-based Pew Research Center said its telephone poll of 1,546 adults, conducted April 21-26, found 41 percent of respondents expect Jesus to return by 2050, while 46 percent said it would definitely or probably not happen.

The think-tank said 58 percent of respondents who identified themselves as white evangelical Christians agreed Jesus would be back by 2050, compared to 32 percent of Catholics and 27 percent of white mainline Protestants.

The poll, which had a 3 percent margin of error, found 59 percent of respondents with no college experience believed Jesus is coming, while 35 percent with some college experience and 19 percent of college graduates agreed with the same statement.



Copyright 2010 by United Press International

Dutch version/ Nederlandse versie: 41 ten honderd verwacht Jezus terug tegen 2050

41 ten honderd verwacht Jezus terug tegen 2050

41 percent expect Jesus by 2050

Volgens United Press International verwachten meer dan vier op tien burgers van de VS Jezus terugkeer op de aarde gedurende de komende 40 jaar volgens een telefoon enquête.


De Washington-gebaseerde Pew Research Center zei dat haar telefoon enquète, uitgevoerd van 21-26 april, van 1546 volwassenen aangaf dat 41% van de respondenten Jezus terugkomst verwachten tegen 2050, terwijl 46% dan weer vond dat dit helemaal of waarschijnlijk niet zou gebeuren.

De denktank zei dat 58% van de respondenten die zich opgaven als blanke evangelische christenen er mee akoord gingen dat Jezus zou terug zijn tegen 2050, tegenover 32% van de Katholieke gelovigen en 27% van de belangrijkste protestantse groeperingen.

De enquête welke een 3% fout marge had, vond dat 59% van de beantwoorders zonder humaniora ervaring geloofde dat Jezus zou terug komen, terwijl 39% met enige college ervaring en 19% van de gegradueerden er mee akkoord gingen met dit zelfde standpunt.

Engels origineel / English original: 41 percent expect Jesus by 2050

Kijk van jongeren en ouderen naar de Bijbel

Slechts 30 procent van de Amerikaanse jeugd vindt de Bijbel volkomen betrouwbaar. Van de ouderen onderschrijft 58 procent deze uitspraak.

Ook in onze contreien kan men stellen dat hoe jonger iemand is, hoe minder vaak hij of zij de Bijbel leest. In een een peiling onder ongeveer 5000 personen in vijf leeftijdscategorieën heeft het onderzoeksbureau The Barna Group gevonden dat ruim de helft van de personen die ouder zijn dan 64 jaar per week gemiddeld vijftien minuten besteedt om de Bijbel te lezen en te bidden. Bij de jongeren is dit bijna 30 procent.

Meer dan de helft van de jeugd zou de Bijbel wille

David Kinnaman, voorzitter van The Barna Group, concludeert dat toekomstige generaties zich meer van de Bijbel zullen distantiëren. „Over het algemeen staan jongeren sceptisch ten opzichte van de Bijbel. Ze trekken de historiciteit ervan in twijfel, evenals de relevantie van de Bijbel voor hun eigen leven. Ze zien de Bijbel niet als het Boek dat alles bevat om een betekenisvol leven te leiden.”

Volgens Kinnaman is de houding van de jeugd een uitdaging voor ouderen om nieuwe manieren te vinden om de Bijbel uit te leggen.

n samenvoegen met andere geschriften, terwijl hier slechts 40 procent van de 26- tot 44-jarigen en 33 procent van de ouderen mee instemt.

Ruim 50 procent van de jongeren gelooft dat de Bijbel dezelfde geestelijke waarheid bevat als andere heilige boeken. Van de ouderen stemt een derde hiermee in.

De enquête vraag van de maand: Bestaat God?

Deze maand is de de vraag voor de enquête : Bestaat God?

Find it in English version > This month's survey question: Does God Exist?

Van tijd tot tijd worden enquêtes ondernomen om mensen te vragen of ze in God geloven. Verrassend genoeg zeggen ongeveer 60% meestal dat ze dat doen, maar als je hen over hun God vraagt krijg je vaak niet veel meer informatie over die persoon en moeten wij constatateren dat ze niet te veel lijken te weten over hun God of zijn er verschillende gedachten die niet altijd overeenstemmen met wat er geschreven is in de Heilige Schrift. Hun algemeen beeld van God weerspiegelt hun mening over zichzelf. De meeste mensen zijn geneigd toegeeflijk te zijn naar hun eigen tekortkomingen.

Veel mensen die geloven in God hebben nooit de kans waargenomen om hun God beter te leren kennen, door de Bijbel te lezen. Ze lijken te zijn vergeten dat doorheen de wet, de Psalmen en de profeten van het Oude Testament, en vervolgens door de evangeliën en de brieven van het Nieuwe Testament we een beeld krijgen van wie God is en wat Hij wil van ons. Het beeld van God is niet ingewikkeld of verward, want er ontstaat een markante persoonlijkheid met Zijn eigen beslissende karakter, die nauw betrokken is bij de loopbaan van het menselijk ras en de toekomst van de wereld. Hij kan niet worden overgelaten aan de rand van de menselijke aangelegenheden, noch "ergens" in de verre hemel geduwd worden , om gemakkelijk genegeerd te worden . Als mannen en vrouwen dat doen, zullen de gevolgen rampzalig zijn voor zichzelf.


Gisteren hebben wij op dit Forum in het artikel Kunnen we het kwaad voorkomen door te bidden vermeld hoe we denken van een Schepper die belast is met goed en kwaad. Afgelopen zaterdag was het onderwerp van onze bijeenkomst Bestaat er een God die goed en kwaad gecreëerd heeft of toelaat. (God meester van goed en kwaad )

Het was aan Israël, dat  de grote openbaring van Gods heerschappij over alle goden van de mensheid werd toegekend in de roerende gebeurtenissen van hun uittocht uit Egypte. God had verschrikkelijke dingen over het land gebracht . De Israëlieten zagen de gevolgen van de plagen over de Egyptenaren en waren getuige van hun eigen bevrijding op de kruising van de Rode Zee. Mozes heeft het 40 jaar later zeer opvallend beschreven:

"Vraag nu over de dagen die voorbij zijn ... of er zoiets als dit grote ding heeft voorgedaan? ... Hebben ooit mensen de stem van God gehoort , sprekende uit het midden van het vuur, zoals gij gehoord hebt en leeft? Of heeft God kwantitatief bepaald te gaan en hem een volk uit het midden van een andere natie te nemen, door proeven (RV marge), door tekenen, en door wonderen ... naar alles wat de Here, uw God voor u heeft gedaan in Egypte voor uw ogen? " (Deuteronomium 4:32-34).

Op deze open demonstratie van Zijn macht en zaligheid in hun naam, baseerde God Zijn verzoek voor hun diensten tot Hem:

"Gij hebt gezien wat ik deed tot de Egyptenaren, en hoe ik u droeg op kale adelaars vleugels ', en u bracht tot Mij. Nu dan, indien gij inderdaad mijn stem zal gehoorzamen , en aan mijn verbond zult houden, dan zult gij een eigenaardige ( bijzondere) schat voor mij zijn  uit alle volken ... "(Exodus 19:4,5).

Merk vooral hier op dat het beroep van God voor het geloof in zichzelf stevig niet gebaseerd was op Zijn morele voortreffelijkheid (waarvan zou Hij later veel aanwijzingen zou geven), maar op de demonstratie van Zijn heerschappij over het grootste heiden systeem op aarde op dat moment (de Egyptische). Dit wordt nog versterkt wanneer God Zijn Wet openbaart door Mozes voor Israël, waar deze met de eerste clausule begint:

"Ik ben de Here, uw God, die u uit het land Egypte, uit het huis van de slavernij heeft gebracht" (Exodus 20:2).

Volg dan de Tien Geboden, de kern van Gods wet voor hen.

Mensen krijgen de manieren voorgeschoteld hoe hun God eer te brengen en er wordt hen verteld hoeveel goden er kunnen worden aanbeden.


Gelooft u in een unieke God?

Heeft u een idee over de persoonlijkheid van uw God en hoe Hij wil worden bekeken? Hoe ziet u de relatie tussen Hem, u en Christus Jezus?

Hoe interpreteert u: "We weten dat een afgod niets is in de wereld, en dat er geen andere God is dan één. Want hoewel er zijn die worden aangeroepen als goden ... is er voor ons maar één God, de Vader, van wie alle dingen zijn ... en een Heer, Jezus Christus "(1 Korintiërs 8:4-6).?

Deze maand is de enquête vraag:

Bestaat God?

Mogelijke antwoorden:

- Welke God we ook  verzinnen zal deze waar zijn en gelden voor ons. Iedereen is gelijk.

- Nee, de kosmos is het product van toeval en de wetten van de fysica.

- Ja. Hij is de schepper. Hij heeft een doel. Zijn wil is geopenbaard in de Bijbel.

- Ja. Toch is hij niet bijzonder geïnteresseerd in ons of de aarde

- Weet niet.

Ga naar www.thisisyourbible.com uw antwoord in te dienen!

Vind meer over God op:

http://belgianchristadelphians.googlepages.com/home

This month's survey question: Does God Exist?

Dutch version / Voor Nederlands ga naar > De enquête vraag van de maand: Bestaat God?

From time to time surveys are undertaken asking people whether they believe in God. Surprisingly about 60% usually say they do, but when you wuestion them about their God often you get not much information and have to constatate that they seem not to know much about their God or have various thoughts which not always can be according what is written in the Holy Scriptures. Their general view of God reflects their view of themselves. Most people are inclined to be indulgent towards their own failings.

A lot of people who believe in god never took the opportunity to get to know their God better by taking up the Bible and reading it. They seem to have to be forgotten that all through the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets of the Old Testament, and then through the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament we are given a picture of whom is God and what He wants from us. The picture of God is not complicated or confused, for there emerges one outstanding Personality with His own decisive character, closely concerned with the career of the human race and the future of the world. He cannot be relegated to the fringes of human concerns, nor pushed away "somewhere" in the distant heavens, to be conveniently ignored. If men and women do that, the consequences for themselves will be disastrous.


Yesterday we mentioned on Bijbelonderzoekers Forum in the article Can we avert evil by praying how we think of a Creator who is in charge of good and evil. Last Saturday the subject of our meeting was Does there exist a God who created or allowes good and evil. (God master of good and evil => God meester van goed en kwaad)

It was to Israel that was granted the great revelation of God's supremacy over all the gods of mankind in the stirring events of their Exodus from Egypt. God had brougth terrible things over the country. The Israelites saw the effects of the plagues upon the Egyptians and witnessed their own deliverance at the crossing of the Red Sea. Moses put it very strikingly 40 years later:

"For ask now of the days that are past ... whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is? ... Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials (R.V. margin), by signs, and by wonders ... according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?" (Deuteronomy 4:32-34).

Upon this open demonstration of His power and salvation on their behalf, God based His appeal for their service towards Him:

"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar (special) treasure unto me from among all peoples ... " (Exodus 19:4,5).

Notice particularly here that God's appeal for faith in Himself was solidly based not upon His moral excellence (of which He would give plenty of evidence later on), but upon the demonstration of His supremacy over the greatest pagan system on earth at the time (the Egyptian). This is reinforced when God reveals through Moses His Law for Israel, for the very first clause begins:

"I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:2).

Then follow the Ten Commandments, the kernel of God's Law for them.

People are given the ways how to honour their God and they are told how many gods there may be worshipped.


Do you believe in a Unique God?

Do you have an idea about the personality of your God and how He want to be looked at? How do you see the relation between Him, you and Christ Jesus?

How do you interpret: "We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods ... yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things ... and one Lord, Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 8:4-6).?

This month's survey question:

Does God Exist?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

- Whatever God we invent will be true for us. Everyone is right.

- No. The cosmos is the product of chance and the laws of physics.

- Yes. He is the creator. He has a purpose. His will is revealed in the Bible.

- Yes. However, He is not interested particularly in us or the earth

- Don't know.

Go to www.thisisyourbible.com to submit your answer!

Find more about God on:

http://belgianchristadelphians.googlepages.com/home