Friday 1 March 2013

Emotional pain and emotional deadness

We all experience pain at some time in our lives.
Physical pain can often be helped by medication but emotional pain is much more difficult to deal with. There are times we wish we could completely escape from such grief and hurt. We may even read books, take course or set boundaries in an attempt to find ways to reduce or eliminate this dreadful pain. This is good and may be helpful but there are a few points we need to bear in mind.
English: Hot bottle rash in a person with chro...
Hot bottle rash in a person with chronic abdominal pain who found some relief from the application of heat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


The opposite to pain is not joy but emotional deadness. If we never experience pain and grief it will be because we are also unable to experience love and joy. As a wise person said, ‘Pain is the price we pay for caring.’

God does not promise to take away our pain. He promises to be with us, comfort us and give us peace in the midst of our pain (Phil. 4:6,7). He shares and feels our pain and who better to do so. He experienced unbelievable pain on our behalf as the price of His caring.


“6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to god. 7 and the peace of god which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 MKJV)

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Find also:
  1. Meaning of life 
  2. Suffering
  3. Offer in our suffering
  4. God helper and deliverer
  5. God's instruction about joy and suffering
  6. God's promises to us in our suffering
  7. Suffering - through the apparent silence of God
  8. Suffering continues
  9. Suffering leading to joy
  10. Surprised by time in joys & sufferings

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English: Illustration of the pain pathway in R...
Illustration of the pain pathway in René Descartes' Traite de l'homme (Treatise of Man) 1664. The long fiber running from the foot to the cavity in the head is pulled by the heat and releases a fluid that makes the muscles contract. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



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Thursday 28 February 2013

Last day of Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI

For over two decades Joseph Ratzinger has dealt with the question if a pope resign. John Paul  considered retiring at 75, an ordinary bishop's retirement age, according to the best-selling book Why He Is a Saint, and discussed it with Ratzinger, but he eventually abandoned the idea of a papal retirement age,



Could it be that Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI has lost control?

Child abuse and the financial secret happenings should worry all believers as well as the protectionshield the Church of Rome is creating for Joseph Ratzinger. Namely, he will remain a permanent resident of Vatican City after his resignation. Doing so will offer him legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources said on Friday the 15th of February.

"His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless". announced Vatican officials.
Vatican City
Vatican City (Photo credit: @Doug88888)


This startling admission of guilt by the church is also a direct obstruction of justice, and lends more weight to the charge by the ITCCS and others that the Vatican has arranged with the Italian government to shield Ratzinger from criminal prosecution, in violation of international laws ratified by Italy.

The Vatican decided two weeks ago to give permanent sanctuary to a proven war criminal by allowing Joseph Ratzinger to obstruct justice and evade prosecution for crimes against humanity. And the government of Italy is colluding in this abrogation of international law.
This decision validates the claims of International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) – Brussels, about the criminal conspiracy surrounding Ratzinger and his Vatican co-conspirators. It also makes it clear that the Vatican is a rogue power that is flaunting every law to conceal its own criminality.

Fifteen countries have now become  part of the movement against abuse, trafficking, torture and murder of children and historic genocide of indigenous peoples at the hands of European Christendom.

Kevin Annett of ITCCS says:

Protecting Ratzinger within the walls of the Vatican may halt justice for a moment, but it violates a basic rule of warfare, which is to never give your enemy a permanent focus for their attack. Ratzinger, the evil Emperor, now a permanent fixture in the Vatican? The absurdity of offering such an ongoing focus to the civilized world's hatred of catholic criminality is also a sign that the church is adrift and improvising. But it also shows how genuinely worried is the Vtaican about the legal offensive mounted by our affiliates, lawyers for torture survivors, and the International Criminal Court.
Ratzinger non aprirà l'anno accademico. The st...
Ratzinger non aprirà l'anno accademico. The students told "No Pope in the University!". The Pope won't go to the Rome's university. (Photo credit: Zingaro. I am a gipsy too.)

The Vatican is pulling out all stops to keep Ratzinger out of court. Their loyal, one-man owned Italian media is assaulting the crap out of yours truly and our ITCCS these days, playing the "Deny, Distract and Discredit" strategy of any damage-controlling corporation.
This Friday, California Public Television will broadcast the complete Proceedings, Evidence and Verdict of our Common Law Court of Justice, to a viewership of millions of people.
This Saturday, the ITCCS global online radio program will feature some of the Citizen Jurors who found the Pope, Queen Elizabeth and Canada guilty of Genocide – On March 2 at 4 pm EST, 9 pm GMT on www.blogtalkradio.com/wethejury

The top Catholic official in England, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, suddenly resigned this week and announced he would not vote at the Vatican Conclave on March 15 to elect a new Pope. This unprecedented defiance may indicate a collapse in the disciplinary chain of command within the church, since Cardinals' attendance at the Papal Conclave is normally mandatory.
Meanwhile, Common Law Court officers have begun to serve the Order of Compliance to the thirty officials found guilty of Crimes against Humanity last Monday, including Joseph Ratzinger, Elizabeth Windsor, top Roman Cardinals and Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada. All of the accused parties seem to be in hiding.

The Vatican has forever been an organization that is mainly, not to say only, interested in its own power and preserving its own reputation and its own finances. Already in early times it was clear that lots of people in charge prefered to be on good terms by those in power. For that reason they agreed even to Constantine and his successors to come to terms with certain Greek and philosophical teachings. Soon the so called 'Apologists' arose with the goal to blend Christianity and Greek philosophy. They said that although God was one, which Moses, Jesus and Paul unite in their testimony and can be found in many books of the Bible (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; Galatians 3:20; 2 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6 just to give some examples). Also on the mortality of man the church gave a twist to confirm with the powerful Roman Emprie. Genesis 2:7 and 3:19 clearly tell us that man is a material and mortal thing. Our body is corruptible and mortal (1 Corinthians 15:47,53-54) but the men in power wanted to give in into tradition and other favoured beliefs that the 'soul' and 'body' were separate things, the 'soul' being immortal. Thus Christendom, became virtually a Christianized Greek philosophy.

Throughout history the Roman Catholic Church used its power to get more power and to get more money in their banks, doing everything to secure  their power of having something to say and to dictate in the world. today nothing has changed, but some may think there is moving a lot, and even in the own ranks there is a contra movement.

Keith Porteous Wood:

The Vatican has forever been an organization that is only interested in its own power and preserving its own reputation and its own finances - it has always been thus. But with the kind off communications we have today, they can’t get away with that any longer.
I’m certainly aware of two major issues over child abuses that are going to come up and are going to be very, very hard for the Vatican to swallow. Because it is not like it is the child abuse, bad though that is, is the issue - it is actually that the finger of blame is going to be pointed at the Vatican for having obstructed justice and all the secret files that it won’t release.
So, that is going to look very, very bad, and I think people will get less and less tolerant about that. And the Vatican has shown no real sign of actually coming to terms with this, of putting its hands up and really atoning for its past sins, and being much more open and dealing more properly with victims and actually getting the people who perpetrated these crimes turned over to the police.
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives on St Peter's square for his last weekly audience on February 27, 2013 at the Vatican. (AFP Photo / Tiziana Fabi)
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives on St Peter's square for his last weekly audience on February 27, 2013 at the Vatican. (AFP Photo / Tiziana Fabi)




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Read also:

  1. John Paul to Ratzinger: Should I resign?
  2. Roman Church admits the Pope’s Guilt: Joseph Ratzinger to Evade Justice and Hide out in the Vatican for his own legal immunity and “protection”
  3. Celebrating a Pope-Free World
  4. Vatican policies ‘catastrophic in their implications’
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Wednesday 27 February 2013

Steibis Young People's Study Week May 26th to June 1st

The Christadelphian Young People of the Esslingen Ecclesia cordially invite all late teenagers and young adults between 18 and 35 to a Bible Study Week in the beautiful surroundings of the German Alps from May 26th to June 1st, 2013.
 
Steibis is a Bible School hosted in the beautiful Alps of southern Germany. 
English: Personal bible study Português: Estud...
Personal bible study (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 
This week has been going for over twenty years now and it certainly is a very special event. The speaker for the week will be Bro. Jonathan Hale (Crewe) and his theme will be 'People Jesus Met'€.
 
 The price for the week will be ‚€ 215. If you are interested in going, you will obtain any further information on the website www.christadelphian.me . You will also be able to book in via the register function on the page. If you have any remaining questions, please get in touch with Sis. Hanna Imhof (Miss) under Hanna.Imhof@t-online.de.
 
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Vision for today and tomorrow

Barrow in Furness Study 
 
Brethren and Sisters are invited to join us in fellowship around the the Word of God for our Spring Study.

Date: Saturday 23rd. March 2013 in our own hall at 4pm. Refreshments to follow.
the word of God
the word of God (Photo credit: jangkwee)
Theme "€˜Where there is no vision the people perish" Part 1 '€˜Vision for today' Part 2 'Vision for tomorrow' Speaker: Bro. Geoff Cave, Nottingham Forest Road
 
More info: Bro. Mark Guntrip
markguntrip@hotmail.co.uk 
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129 years of Glad Tidings

For nearly 130 years the Brethren in Christ or Christadelphians bring Glad Tidings.

The "Glad Tidings" Committee would like to thank everyone for renewing their
2013 subscriptions and thus allowing the magazine to continue its witness to
the gospel of the Kingdom of God for its 129th year.
Glad Tidings Issue 1456
Glad Tidings Issue 1456 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
At present we are printing 11,500 copies each month and have a few more back numbers available than usual, so for the time being we are offering these back numbers of the "Glad Tidings" magazine free of charge to anyone who is able to make use of them in their personal preaching activities. The magazines will need to be collected from one of the following addresses: Tecwyn Morgan, 26 The Crescent, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull B92 0BP (01675 442644) Cilla Palmer,"Highlands" 78 Mildenhall Road, Fordham, Ely, CB7 5NR (01638 723959) Judith Griffiths,72 Audley Avenue, Stretford, Manchester, M32 9TG (0161 748 7207) Geoff Maycock, 8 Hale End, Bracknell, RG12 9YH (01344 420533) 
 
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Bible Education Centre opened up in Sihanoukville

There is a vibrant young ecclesia in Cambodia that needs the support of long-term fieldworkers to assist in the preaching work. There are so many people who want to hear about God's word and the brethren are only limited by the number of people available to teach. 
English: Central Post Office of Phnom Penh, Ca...
Central Post Office of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was built at the time of the French administration of Cambodia. Phnom Penh, Cambodia. July 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Recently a Bible Education Centre opened up in Sihanoukville, a beautiful beach town. This has already got a reasonable number of students and a Cambodian brother & sister nearby. Fieldworkers are desperately needed before the end of April to carry on the work. Also, Phnom Penh, the capital, will require fieldworkers to take over in the BEC from July. Speaking from experience this is a very enjoyable and rewarding way to use the resources God has given us. For more information, or to express your interest, please contact cambodia@acbm.org.au 
 
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Spring Bible Week @ Armidale, NSW, Australia

Formerly the Mittagong Bible Week, now the Spring Bible Week @ Armidale, NSW, Australia will be held under the auspices of the NCC from  28th September - 5th October, 2013 at the New England Girls School.

 
Bro Dan Pogson (Toronto, NSW) shall be speaking about "The Life Of David". In addition there will be 18 multi-session, small group workshops covering a wide range of bible study and Christian living topics. It's very much a family bible week with organised activities for children and young people as well.
 
Find more information and photos from previous Bible Weeks  
 www.springbibleweek.org.au
    
 
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English: War memorial at Mittagong, Australia.
War memorial at Mittagong, Australia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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