Wednesday 21 May 2014

Holy land Christian exodus

The Christian exodus, underway for decades, has reached critical levels in recent years. Emigration is a central concern to local Vatican officials, who are trying to stave off the flight with offers of jobs, housing and scholarships.
"I am sad to think that maybe the time will come in which Christianity will disappear from this land,"
said the Rev. Juan Solana, a Vatican envoy who oversees the Notre Dame center, a Jerusalem hotel for pilgrims that employs 150 locals, mostly Christians.
Solana said he employs Christians to encourage them
 "to stay here, to love this land, to be aware of their particular vocation to be the witnesses of Christianity in this land."
The Christian exodus is taking place across the Middle East. Jordan, where Pope Francis will begin his three-day trip Saturday, has thousands of Christian refugees from war-torn Syria and Iraq.
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The decline began with high Jewish immigration and Christian emigration after the 1948 war surrounding Israel's establishment, and has been abetted by continued emigration and a low birthrate among Christians who stay.
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About 38,000 Palestinian Christians live in the West Bank, 2,000 in Gaza, and 10,000 in Jerusalem, according to the local Roman Catholic church.
Israel has 130,000 Arab Christians. There are also nearly 200,000 non-native Christians in Israel, including Christians who moved from the former Soviet Union because of Jewish family ties, guest workers and African migrants.
by johnib
Father Ibrahim Shomali, the parish priest of Beit Jala

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Palestinian children learn to kill



You would imagine that state television tries to bring up the next generation in good order, and would like them to have good contacts with their neighbours. You would not expect the little box in the house-room to bring messages to throw stones at others.

In one episode of “Pioneers of Tomorrow” a pretty young host praises a little girl for her desire to be a police officer and “shoot Jews.”

Other programs, both for children and for adults, have also included children whospeak glowingly of their suicide-bomber fathers and promote violent jihad, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). In one such show, the ADL says,
 “One of the girls said ‘I want to fire missiles at the Jews and be martyred like my father.’
One of the boys also said that he wants to follow in his father’s path,
 ‘I want to follow the path of Jihad like daddy and I want to be martyred like daddy.’”

Read more about it: Palestinian TV Teaches Kids The Way to ‘Jihad Street’

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Division and defrocking because of same-sex wedding

Religious practices change all the time—just ask Catholics who celebrated mass in Latin until the 1960s or Protestant groups that started ordaining women as ministers in the 1970s. But are there certain core beliefs that can never change? 
Former Methodist minister Frank Schaefer on the division within the United Methodist Church (UMC) says:
"The church is really trying to sweep this under the rug and we're pretending we're all united, we're the United Methodist Church after all." 
For many years now several debates have gone on about celibacy and about intercourse with people of the other and of the same sex.

Conservative theologians within the United Methodist Church argue that Schaefer's defrocking was justified because church law, by definition, must be upheld — otherwise, it is not a church law. They maintain that homosexuals are welcome in the church, but that one should abstain from the practice of homosexuality. 

Schaefer says there was "no way in Hell" he would have declined when he was asked to ordain his son's same-sex wedding in 2007. "I saw it as an act of love," says Schaefer.  Others within the church saw it as an act of rebellion. 
“The ultimate debate is not over sexuality—it’s just one battle flag issue in the current culture wars that’s been going on in the last 150 years between traditionalist and liberal revisionists,”
says Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a conservative Christian think-tank in Washington, D.C.UMC is experiencing a split in opinion on gay marriage.

Read more about it in: Religious Hoi Polloi
Matt Rourke/Associated Press
The Rev. Frank Schaefer with his wife after meeting with Methodist leaders on Thursday.
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Wednesday 7 May 2014

Israel the Oil and Gas Opportunity

The partners in Israel’s Tamar natural gas field said on Tuesday they had signed a letter of intent with Spain’s Union Fenosa Gas to export up to 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually over 15 years to the company’s liquefied natural gas plants in Egypt


Middle East Revollutionary Turmoil
2011 saw unparalleled historic events - most notably the massive political  &  social upheaval in the Middle East.  With the ' Arab Spring ' rattling through more than 14 separate nations in the Arab World ,  overthrowing longstanding governments  &  dictatorships  ( Tunisia , Egypt , Libya )  &  throwing others into chaotic civil wars ( Syria , Yemen )  it has created a  maelstrom of political dynamics  transforming this already volatile region into a tinder-box of instability   &  strategic uncertainty.  In 2013 ,  the continuing emergence of brutal terrorists groups such as  Al Qaeda , Al Nusra , ISIS , Ansar Al-Islam  has  further escalated the violence , bloodshed &  suffering in this troubled region.   These events are the  prelude  to the final global conflict , long prophesied in the Bible  &  centered around God's people , the tiny nation of Israel.

Since natural gas was first discovered offshore Israel in 1998, the country has seen the growth of an oil and gas industry that promises to provide not only an economic boost to the country itself but could also prove to be a diplomatic tool that can be used to build better relations with some of its neighboring states.
 

writes Jon Mainwaring,

From Ezekiel we learn that when Russia and the EU invade the Middle East they do so to take a "spoil", could Oil be the "spoil" they will be after? 



Map of oil and natural gas in Middle East.
Map of oil and natural gas in Middle East. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Read more about it in:

Israel's OIL and GAS Opportunity 03-05-2014: Israel the Oil and Gas Opportunity
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Find also:
The 'Sanhedrin' - History, Relevance, Warning
 

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Friday 2 May 2014

Losgeslagen communicatie in een Vaderschap in herziening

Enkele weken na de Engelstalige artikelen over het vaderschap en moederschap is nu op Stepping Toes ook een Nederlandse versie aanwezig. Gestart met 'Vaderschap ingesteld verbondschap door de Schepper"wordt er gekeken hoe God de man en vrouw geschapen heeft en voor hen een voorziening heeft gebracht van een innig verbondschap.

De opdracht om zich te vermenigvuldigen moest mogelijk gemaakt worden door zich te verenigen in liefde. De begeerte zou bij de vrouw zo sterk zijn dat zij de pijnen van de zwangerschap zou overwinnen en deze haar niet zouden verhinderen om toch met de man samen te gaan.


In de praktijk ziet de predikant van de Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk (CGK) in Ede veel mensen die niet gelukkig zijn binnen hun huwelijk.
Volgens ds. P. D. J. Buijs is preken over het huwelijk hard nodig. Vragen van jongeren omtrent het christelijke huwelijk en problemen op dit gebied, waren voor de predikant uit Ede aanleiding om er onlangs vijf preken aan te besteden.
"Als het huwelijk functioneert zoals de Heere het heeft bedoeld, schuilt er iets paradijselijks in."
Sedert meerdere jaren is het huwelijk onder bedreiging van het falen in een hoekje verdoemd. Op school wordt het vreemd wanneer een kind geen gescheidne ouders heeft. Hetgene wat normaal zou moeten zijn wordt door onze maatschappij vandaag bijna als abnormaal aanschouwd.

Vele mensen, jongeren maar ook deze van middelbareleeftijd springen zeer lichtzinnig om met het door God ingestelde verbond van heet huwelijk. Ook de predikant merkt dat de moraal vandaag omgekeerd wordt.

Het samen gaan staat letterlijk en figuurlijk op losse schroeven.

Heden lijkt het er op dat veel mannen en vrouwen de verleiding van een tweede liefde niet kunnen weerstaan. "Dit is de Dag" van de Evangelische Omroep kruipt in de huid van overspelige partners op zoek naar hun drijfveren en motieven om met vuur te spelen.

Er bestaan zelfs al sites op het internet waar het vreemd gaan gepromoot wordt.
zelfs voor deze mensen die weliswaar nog steeds gelukkig zijn met hun relatie, wordt er over gesproken dat het niet zo abnormaal is om af en toe te vinden dat monogaam zijn toch wel erg monotoon is.

67% onder ons blijkt vreemdgaan een geweldige ervaring te vinden, terwijl 95% vindt dat flirten helemaal geen vreemdgaan is.

Een site als "Second love" brengt mensen via de site in contact met anderen en biedt hen de kans op een date. Je kunt zowel online als offline mensen ontmoeten en zelf bepalen hoever je wilt gaan met jouw date. Men kan zich er inschrijven voor een flirt, een date of voor het vreemdgaan of het nietes is.
Tegenwoordig is de leuze:
Vreemdgaan is het nieuwe trouw zijn. Interessant.
Een scheiding is het nieuwe huwelijksjubileum?
Anderen vindne het niet echt nodig om iemand van vlees en bloed te hebben, nu er genoeg op de markt aanwezig is.
Nou, ik kies voor de pop. Lijkt me ook gezonder, want wie weet wat je er allemaal kunt oplopen van zo'n site.

Ben zelf niet voor seks zonder echte relatie. Vind dat nogal leeg. Dan beter die pop of ..... zo'n klein stukje ervan met trilfunctie. X-D Daar zijn ook sites voor.
Misschien dat je man er ook wakker van wordt. {Pumps_italiaans}
en in tijden van crisis lijkt het voordeliger dan.....Daarom glijden veel naar zulke datingsites
Ja, je moet ergens op bezuinigen. Met een pakkende slogan erom heen en dan verkoopt het zich wel, maar moet natuurlijk geen onzin in staan. Alleen vraag ik me af of er wel voldoende vrouwen op staan voor al die mannen. {Pumps_italiaans}
Sophie (in de zestig) schreef een brief aan Erik Drost, oprichter van Second Love. Haar man vond een jongere vrouw via de datingsite. En daar is Erik Drost deels verantwoordelijk voor, schrijft ze.
 
De EO maakte de volgende reportage:   Bekijk hier de reportage 'De verleiding van een tweede liefde' waarin deze brief wordt voorgedragen.

Daar kan men zien en horen dat mensen wel een fijn leven leidden als onafhankelijke man of vrouw met een goede baan en leuke vrienden. Maar ze af en toe willen mensen wat meer spanning in hun 'monotone' leven en denken dat zulk een leuke avond met een andere vrouw of man voor de nodige extra spanning kan zorgen. Zelf zeggen zij "meer niet".
"Second Love pretendeert een site te zijn die wat spanning en creativiteit in je huwelijk brengt. Goed voor je huwelijk. Nou, mijn huwelijk heeft het niet veel goeds gebracht. Ik zie het spotje regelmatig langskomen: ‘Gelukkig getrouwd? Second Love!  ‘Ja, ik was gelukkig getrouwd. Nu niet meer!'"
> Lees meer op de website van Dit is de Dag.

Door de vele datingsites worden mensen eerst weg gelokt voor avontuurtjes die hen meer geluk zouden kunnen brengen, maar al snel ontaarden die avontuurtjes in een wereld, met veel leugens, die niet meer zo aangenaam is om in te leven.

Verder en verder geraken de mensen gewikkeld in hun netwerk van leugens waarbij meerdere mensen gekwetst worden. Dikwijls komen familieleden en predikanten maar iets te weten wanneer een huwelijk in verregaande staat van gebrokenheid is.
Dit vind ik wel eens moeilijk."
zegt Buijs, die ook vindt dat predikanten ook op die momenten verschil kunnen maken:
"Soms raken echtparen weer met elkaar in gesprek. Vervolgens kunnen we met z’n drieën Gods aangezicht zoeken in gebed. Als predikant ben ik geen wonderdoener. Maar een luisterende houding is zo belangrijk. Mensen moeten echt hun verhaal kwijt. In negen van de tien gevallen communiceert men niet met elkaar. Daar zet ik op in door mensen met elkaar in gesprek en gebed te brengen. Daardoor zijn sommige huwelijken gered, maar dat is helaas lang niet altijd het geval."
"Als de twee pijlers van het huwelijk - liefde en trouw - functioneren, heeft dat iets paradijselijks. Iemand heeft ooit gezegd: het huwelijk is een bloem uit het paradijs. Als het functioneert zoals de Heere het heeft bedoeld, zit er inderdaad iets paradijselijks in. Ik denk aan een vrouw die een kind had gekregen. Vervolgens kreeg ze te maken met een postnatale depressie en belandde zij in een inrichting. Haar man heeft haar iedere week verschillende keren opgezocht. Het kostte hem allerlei sociale contacten en hij moest zijn zoon alleen opvoeden. Sommigen zeiden: ‘Joh, ga bij je vrouw weg, je hebt niets meer aan haar.’ Maar hij hield tot zijn dood vol dat hij haar trouw had beloofd tot het einde. Dit is iets geweldigs. Ik geloof dat de Heere dit zegent."

Buijs schetst twee kanten.
 "Aan de ene kant mogen we laten zien hoe heilzaam Gods geboden werken. Ze zijn echt niet bedoeld om ons leven af te knijpen. Ze laten mensen juist tot bloei komen. Gods geboden staan in het kader van de bevrijding."
Aan de andere kant wijst de dominee op ontwikkelingen in de eindtijd.
"De Bijbel wijst op de wetteloosheid als één van de tekenen van het einde der tijden. Mensen zullen Gods geboden bewust aan de kant zetten. Daarvan mogen we onszelf bewust zijn."

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Friday 25 April 2014

Others that hinder the message

 
The Lord is my Good Shepherd
The Lord is my Good Shepherd (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Those who are willing to read God’s word for themselves – and keep reading so that they get its full flavour and meaning – are conscious of the amazing message that becomes clearer the more they read. But sadly there are others that hinder the message – Jesus says, “He who is a hired hand, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and scatters them” (John 10:12). But scattered sheep can listen and, even today, hear “the good shepherd” by reading his words and those of his disciples and other of God’s prophets. If they feed on them every day they find the only true pasture in the wilderness of this world – and will come into the promised land.
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Christianity to be enshrined

In a letter to The Telegraph, eight leading thinkers including Prof Roger Scruton, the philosopher and writer, insist that the moderate brand of Christianity “enshrined” in the British constitution actively protects those of other faiths and none.
The letter was published as Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is himself an atheist, said it was “flamingly obvious” that Britain is founded on Christian values.

in the course of a 90 second talk had used the words "Britain's Christian traditions". It was enough to get him excluded by a particular member of the BBC's thought police. One wonders if the Prime Minister, David Cameron will be allowed to say his latest remarks on the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Many object to the British Prime Minister his characterisation of Britain as a “Christian country” and the negative consequences for politics and society that this engenders.

"In his call for more evangelism, Mr Cameron is exclusively tying himself to one faith group, inevitably to the exclusion of others," opined Elizabeth O'Casey, Policy and Research Office at the National Secular Society. She also warned the British people that we are moving away from the concept of all of us being "rights-bearing citizens first and foremost, with democratic autonomy and equality, regardless of which faith they happen to have, or not have".

At a social level, Britain has been shaped like many other European countries for the better by many pre-Christian, non-Christian, and post-Christian forces. They are a plural society with citizens with a range of perspectives. To call it religious is taking the religious element out of proportion. I do know many call Belgium also a Catholic country, but if you would question the citicens about their beliefs, wou would get a total different opinion. They mix Catholic and Christian as if it is the same, because they do not know the diffenrence and most of them do not know what Catholicisim enhales.

Most citicens donot want to recognise they have gone far away form religion and certainly far away for m the reall Christian and Jewish values.

The inhabitants of the West European countries should come to realize that they are a largely non-religious society.

I would agree with more than 55 signatories:
Constantly to claim otherwise fosters alienation and division in our society. Although it is right to recognise the contribution made by many Christians to social action, it is wrong to try to exceptionalise their contribution when it is equalled by British people of different beliefs. This needlessly fuels enervating sectarian debates that are by and large absent from the lives of most British people, who do not want religions or religious identities to be actively prioritised by their elected government.
Gavin Littaur reacts also:
David Cameron should be more careful when pontificating about Christianity, given that he does not speak for those (such as myself, a Jew), who are not necessarily of his faith and beliefs.
The Prime Minister’s urging of Britons to be “more evangelical about a faith that compels us to get out there” is particularly unfortunate. It is at best tactless and at worst an exemplification of the zealous proselytising of extremists.
The commentator finds the letter against David Cameron just the latest expression of an infantile multi-culturalism that has done terrible damage to social cohesion precisely because it is too weak to create any substantial bonds of identity.
The Church of England is the established church and the Queen is the head of it for reasons which are deeply bound up with the country's political, religious and cultural inheritance.
Neither does the fact that most people don't nowadays go to church on a Sunday mean that Christian values and symbols do not play a vital role in national life. Whenever there's a national tragedy -- the death of Diana for example -- watch how quickly Christianity moves back into centre stage.
says The commentator.

As in Belgium the Catholic church may be the main church, the Church of England is the established church in England, but that does not mean that most British citizens would adhere to that church or believe in the God of that church.
It is not because when we go from place to place, where we may find everywhere in any town or village across the country a local church, that we may find religious people coming to that church aor that it is functional or not. It tells more about the past than about the present. In most countries those village churches are most of the time empty buildings.

More than anything else the church buildings may define the local landscape and the visual community of which we are all a part, but that does not tell us that they and we are from the same religious community, nor believing in the same things.


Read more about this story in:


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Wednesday 23 April 2014

Problems attracting and maintaining worshippers

 The urgency to reach people with the Gospel can,
if the church is not faithful and watchful,
tempt us to subvert the Gospel by redefining its terms.

 We are not honest if we do not admit that the current cultural context
raises the cost of declaring the Gospel on its own terms.

 

Jim Hinch writes:


The exteriors of Crystal Cathedral. Garden Gro...
The exteriors of Crystal Cathedral. Garden Grove, CA, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Just 10 years ago, evangelical Christianity appeared to be America’s dominant religious movement. Evangelicals, more theologically diverse and open to the secular world than their fundamentalist brethren, with whom they’re often confused, were on the march toward political power and cultural prominence. They had the largest churches, the most money, influential government lobbyists, and in the person of President George W. Bush, leadership of the free world itself. Indeed, even today most people continue to regard the United States as the great spiritual exception among developed nations: a country where advances in science and technology coexist with stubborn, and stubbornly conservative, religiosity. But the reality, largely unnoticed outside church circles, is that evangelicalism is not only in gradual decline but today stands poised at the edge of a demographic and cultural cliff.

The most recent Pew Research Center survey of the nation’s religious attitudes, taken in 2012, found that just 19 percent of Americans identified themselves as white evangelical Protestants—five years earlier, 21 percent of Americans did so. Slightly more (19.6 percent) self-identified as unaffiliated with any religion at all, the first time that group has surpassed evangelicals. (It should be noted that surveying Americans’ faith lives is notoriously difficult, since answers vary according to how questions are phrased, and respondents often exaggerate their level of religious commitment. Pew is a nonpartisan research organization with a track record of producing reliable, in-depth studies of religion. Other equally respected surveys—Gallup, the General Social Survey—have reached conclusions about Christianity’s status in present-day America that agree with Pew’s in some respects and diverge in others.)

Secularization alone is not to blame for this change in American religiosity. Even half of those Americans who claim no religious affiliation profess belief in God or claim some sort of spiritual orientation. Other faiths, like Islam, perhaps the country’s fastest-growing religion, have had no problem attracting and maintaining worshippers. No, evangelicalism’s dilemma stems more from a change in American Christianity itself, a sense of creeping exhaustion with the popularizing, simplifying impulse evangelical luminaries such as Schuller once rode to success.
California's Crystal Cathedral, now Christ Cathedral (Photo by Wikipedia user Nepenthes)


Continue reading: Where Are the People? -
Evangelical Christianity in America is losing its power—what happened to Orange County’s Crystal Cathedral shows why

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