De Westerse wereld keek met argusogen uit naar de uitslagen voor de tussentijdse verkiezingen. In de Verenigde Staten werd de mensen ook wijs gemaakt dat dit uitzonderlijk belangrijke verkiezingen zouden zijn.
Al snel bleek dat meerdere mensen aangepord werden door de uitroepen van noodwendigheid om te gaan stemmen.
Het was ongelofelijk dat Trump president kon worden. Alsook is het onbegrijpelijk dat met kennis van zoveel schandalen rond zijn persoon deze bullebak toch nog kon aanblijven als president. Door een grote opkomst van stemmers die de capriolen van Trump moe lijken te zijn kan het zijn dat men nu werkelijk werk kan gaan maken om te onderzoeken of deze 45e president van de Verenigde Staten wel mag aanblijven.
Ook mogen wij aannemen dat deze tussentijdse verkiezingen een nederlaag voor de rechtse agenda van de president mogen genoemd worden. Sinds zijn verkiezing in 2016 kon hij veel van zijn plannen gemakkelijk door het parlement loodsen maar nu zijn partij daar de meerderheid verliest, zal dat een stuk lastiger worden.
In de Senaat, de machtige Eerste Kamer van de VS, wisten de republikeinen wél hun meerderheid te behouden. Daar stond maar een derde van de zetels op het spel, die vooral in handen waren van de democraten - en dan ook nog in staten waar president Trump zeer populair is. Naar verwachting krijgen zij er zelfs een paar zetels bij. Dit is in lijn met wat veel politicologen voorspeld hadden.
Op de televisie konden wij fervente republikeinen horen die toch vonden dat met Trump Amerika de verkeerde weg op ging en dat zij daar een halt wensten toe te roepen door voor de Democraten te stemmen. In Kansas, een oerconservatieve plattelandsstaat, wist zo een democraat het gouverneurschap te veroveren.
Toch konden de Democraten niet overal juichen. In Texas en Florida bijvoorbeeld, werd er in hun nadeel beslist. Het verleidde veel politieke duiders op de nieuwszenders ertoe om al snel te zeggen dat er van een zogeheten ‘golf’, waarbij het land in één ruk een andere politieke koers inzet, geen sprake was.
Er is niet echt een Blauwe Golf en Trump zelf noemde het een "enorme" overwinning. Maar de Amerikaanse kiezer heeft zijn beleid wel degelijk afgestraft, en zet nu een rem op de agenda van Donald Trump.
Het is onwaarschijnlijk dat de Democratische afgevaardigden makkelijk te porren zullen zijn om wetsvoorstellen te steunen die aansluiten bij Trumps beleidsagenda tot dusver. Het resultaat is waarschijnlijk een politieke verlamming die een grote stempel drukken op de tweede helft van de eerste ambstermijn van de president.
Wednesday 7 November 2018
Monday 22 October 2018
Felle cultuurstrijd tussen rechts en progressief-liberaal, conservatief en progressief Katholiek Polen
Het oh zo katholieke Polen begint nu vele jaren dan ons land de gevolgen te voelen van de verkeerde houding van de Katholieke Kerk tegenover priesters die jongeren misbruikten.
Uit nieuw onderzoek blijkt dat het kerkbezoek nergens ter wereld zo snel achteruit boert als in Polen én dat de Poolse kerk voor het eerst schadevergoeding moet betalen aan een slachtoffer van misbruik.
In 1980 ging nog meer dan de helft van de Polen regelmatig ter kerke, in 1986 was dat gezakt tot een derde. Nergens ter wereld gaat het kerkbezoek zo massief achteruit, concludeert het Pew Research Center.
Voor het ogenblik blijft Karol Wojtyla, alias paus Johannes-Paulus de Tweede nog steeds de belangrijkste Pool uit de wereldgeschiedenis genoemd. Toen hij in 2005 stierf, was er een hele generatie Polen opgegroeid die hem en alleen hem als paus hadden gekend. De “Generatie JP2” wordt ze genoemd. Bij hen en veel andere landgenoten was Wojtyla de man die met zijn subtiele en dappere uitspraken mee had gezorgd voor de instorting van het communisme, de terugkeer van de vrijheid in Polen en de toetreding tot de Europese Unie. Redenen genoeg dus voor langdurige en diepe dankbaarheid.
Maar de opvolger van JP2, de Duitser Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, bleek met zijn hang naar uiterlijk vertoon niet meteen populair in Polen. De Generatie JP2 bleef haar idool trouw en ging niet massaal achter de nieuwe paus aan marcheren.
Ook de huidige paus Franciscus I is geen onverdeeld succesnummer in Polen.
De clerus is er verdeeld langs progressieve en conservatieve krijtlijnen.
De progressieve vleugel, traditioneel sterk in universiteitsstad Krakau, draagt de eenvoudige paus een warm hart toe. Maar de conservatieven, met aloud bolwerk Torun, zeggen openlijk dat deze paus een fout begaat door waarden als eenvoud, nederigheid en dienstbaarheid centraal te stellen.
Liever houden de conservatieven vast aan het idee van een machtige en sturende kerk waar noch binnen de eigen rangen, noch bij de gelovige kudde twijfel wordt gezaaid. Die gelovige kudde ziet die tweespalt en houdt er niet van. Bewijs? Ondanks de teruglopende cijfers voor kerkbezoek, noemt volgens Pew Research Center 93 procent van de Polen zich katholiek. De kloof tussen individueel geloof en de kerk als instituut is kilometers diep.
De resultaten van het onderzoek raken uitgerekend bekend terwijl de bioscopen vol lopen voor ‘Kler’. De film gooit een bom op de kerk en de Poolse samenleving in haar geheel. Onder de slogan “Niets menselijks is hen vreemd” toont ‘Kler’ priesters die zich te buiten gaan aan wodka, financieel gewin, minnaressen en misbruik van kinderen. Nu ook in België te zien.
In het openingsweekend ging maar liefst een miljoen Polen ‘Kler’ bekijken. Dat is meer dan één Pool op veertig.
Er zitten heel wat hilarische scènes in ‘Kler’. Zo zie je een vrouw handenwringend en huilend haar biecht afleggen terwijl de priester aan de andere kant van het luikje stomdronken in slaap is gevallen. Wanneer een minnares van een priester meldt dat ze zwanger is, vraagt de man nurks waarom ze geen voorbehoedsmiddelen heeft gebruikt, waarop de jonge vrouw antwoordt: “Dat laat mijn katholieke geloof niet toe.”
Het zijn scènes waarbij de hele zaal schuddebuikt van het lachen, lachjes van herkenning vaak. Maar later in de film gaat het om grootschalige fraude en over kindermisbruik en dan kan je in de cinema een speld horen vallen.
Men kan indenken dat de Poolse Katholieke Kerk niet blij is met deze kritische film. Zoals de Kerk ook vroeger in Vlaanderen een ban over boeken en films uitsprak heeft zij nu ook deze film in de ban geslagen.
Ook binnen de nationalistische, katholieke regering van ‘Recht en Rechtvaardigheid’ valt de film slecht. De onderminister van Justitie noemde ‘Kler’ “een laffe aanval op de kerk”. De CEO van de openbare omroep, die trouw aan de leiband van de regering loopt, zei dat hij regisseur Wojtech Smarzowski “zeker niet zal feliciteren”.
Zoals meestal doet zulk een nieuwsgierig makende antireclame de interesse voor de film niet dalen maar draagt deze bij tot het publieke succes van de film.
Regisseur Smarzowski brengt met deze film niet zijn eerste kritische kijk op Polen. Hij draaide eerder al gesmaakte films over corruptie bij de politie en over het soms kille, alcoholische, rauwe huwelijksleven van sommige Poolse gezinnen.
Met ‘Kler’ viel hij trouwens in de prijzen bij het gerenommeerde filmfestival van Gdynia. En zo toont de heisa over ‘Kler’ nog maar eens aan hoe diep verdeeld het huidige Polen is en hoe fel de cultuurstrijd tussen rechts en progressief-liberaal woedt.
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Uit nieuw onderzoek blijkt dat het kerkbezoek nergens ter wereld zo snel achteruit boert als in Polen én dat de Poolse kerk voor het eerst schadevergoeding moet betalen aan een slachtoffer van misbruik.
In 1980 ging nog meer dan de helft van de Polen regelmatig ter kerke, in 1986 was dat gezakt tot een derde. Nergens ter wereld gaat het kerkbezoek zo massief achteruit, concludeert het Pew Research Center.
Voor het ogenblik blijft Karol Wojtyla, alias paus Johannes-Paulus de Tweede nog steeds de belangrijkste Pool uit de wereldgeschiedenis genoemd. Toen hij in 2005 stierf, was er een hele generatie Polen opgegroeid die hem en alleen hem als paus hadden gekend. De “Generatie JP2” wordt ze genoemd. Bij hen en veel andere landgenoten was Wojtyla de man die met zijn subtiele en dappere uitspraken mee had gezorgd voor de instorting van het communisme, de terugkeer van de vrijheid in Polen en de toetreding tot de Europese Unie. Redenen genoeg dus voor langdurige en diepe dankbaarheid.
Maar de opvolger van JP2, de Duitser Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, bleek met zijn hang naar uiterlijk vertoon niet meteen populair in Polen. De Generatie JP2 bleef haar idool trouw en ging niet massaal achter de nieuwe paus aan marcheren.
Ook de huidige paus Franciscus I is geen onverdeeld succesnummer in Polen.
De clerus is er verdeeld langs progressieve en conservatieve krijtlijnen.
De progressieve vleugel, traditioneel sterk in universiteitsstad Krakau, draagt de eenvoudige paus een warm hart toe. Maar de conservatieven, met aloud bolwerk Torun, zeggen openlijk dat deze paus een fout begaat door waarden als eenvoud, nederigheid en dienstbaarheid centraal te stellen.
Liever houden de conservatieven vast aan het idee van een machtige en sturende kerk waar noch binnen de eigen rangen, noch bij de gelovige kudde twijfel wordt gezaaid. Die gelovige kudde ziet die tweespalt en houdt er niet van. Bewijs? Ondanks de teruglopende cijfers voor kerkbezoek, noemt volgens Pew Research Center 93 procent van de Polen zich katholiek. De kloof tussen individueel geloof en de kerk als instituut is kilometers diep.
De resultaten van het onderzoek raken uitgerekend bekend terwijl de bioscopen vol lopen voor ‘Kler’. De film gooit een bom op de kerk en de Poolse samenleving in haar geheel. Onder de slogan “Niets menselijks is hen vreemd” toont ‘Kler’ priesters die zich te buiten gaan aan wodka, financieel gewin, minnaressen en misbruik van kinderen. Nu ook in België te zien.
In het openingsweekend ging maar liefst een miljoen Polen ‘Kler’ bekijken. Dat is meer dan één Pool op veertig.
Er zitten heel wat hilarische scènes in ‘Kler’. Zo zie je een vrouw handenwringend en huilend haar biecht afleggen terwijl de priester aan de andere kant van het luikje stomdronken in slaap is gevallen. Wanneer een minnares van een priester meldt dat ze zwanger is, vraagt de man nurks waarom ze geen voorbehoedsmiddelen heeft gebruikt, waarop de jonge vrouw antwoordt: “Dat laat mijn katholieke geloof niet toe.”
Het zijn scènes waarbij de hele zaal schuddebuikt van het lachen, lachjes van herkenning vaak. Maar later in de film gaat het om grootschalige fraude en over kindermisbruik en dan kan je in de cinema een speld horen vallen.
Men kan indenken dat de Poolse Katholieke Kerk niet blij is met deze kritische film. Zoals de Kerk ook vroeger in Vlaanderen een ban over boeken en films uitsprak heeft zij nu ook deze film in de ban geslagen.
Ook binnen de nationalistische, katholieke regering van ‘Recht en Rechtvaardigheid’ valt de film slecht. De onderminister van Justitie noemde ‘Kler’ “een laffe aanval op de kerk”. De CEO van de openbare omroep, die trouw aan de leiband van de regering loopt, zei dat hij regisseur Wojtech Smarzowski “zeker niet zal feliciteren”.
Zoals meestal doet zulk een nieuwsgierig makende antireclame de interesse voor de film niet dalen maar draagt deze bij tot het publieke succes van de film.
Regisseur Smarzowski brengt met deze film niet zijn eerste kritische kijk op Polen. Hij draaide eerder al gesmaakte films over corruptie bij de politie en over het soms kille, alcoholische, rauwe huwelijksleven van sommige Poolse gezinnen.
Met ‘Kler’ viel hij trouwens in de prijzen bij het gerenommeerde filmfestival van Gdynia. En zo toont de heisa over ‘Kler’ nog maar eens aan hoe diep verdeeld het huidige Polen is en hoe fel de cultuurstrijd tussen rechts en progressief-liberaal woedt.
Wednesday 17 October 2018
Belofte voor 2018-2019
In het voorgaande academisch jaar is er misschien niet zo veel gepost op dit platform, maar nog minder op mijn eigen Ruimte (Marcus Ampe's Space).
in het seizoen 2017-2018 heeft mijn hoofd en mijn "pen" niet stil gestaan. Op heel wat religieuze platforms heb ik mijn woorden wel laten vloeien, waardoor ik dan ook minder tijd had voor mijn eigen persoonlijke blogs.
Het is mij opgevallen dat hier, zo wel op WordPress, ik uit vergetelheid meerdere artikelen ongepubliceerd heb gelaten. Voor dit komende seizoen heb ik dan besloten om deze in de vergeethoek geraakte artikelen toch te publiceren. Ook Instagram is totaal in de vergetelheid geraakt betreft het publiceren, maar net voor het bekijken van anderen hun mooie prenten, foto's en video's, welke ik dan ook kon 'taggen' of 'liken'. Ik moet toegeven op Instagram heb ik al heel wat mooie dingen kunnen zien, waarvan ik nog niet geleerd heb hoe ik deze met anderen kan delen. (Iemand mag mij daar steeds bij helpen - ook voor het delen van video's op mijn Instagram account.) Op dat platform zit ik nog in 1992 ... maar hoop daar vandaag nog verandering in te brengen, door over te gaan naar foto's uit 2006.
Vergeef mij mijn vergeetachtigheid en mijn verstrooidheid en vindt tussen de nieuwere artikelen ook die oudere die ergens in een hoekje waren achter gelaten.
Sommigen willen niet zo graag herinnerd worden aan het verleden anderen doen gewoon de moeite niet om even terug te kijken of na te gaan wat er in het verleden gebeurde. Maar dat verleden kan heel kostbaar zijn aan nuttige gegevens om in de toekomst niet zulke stommiteiten te laten gebeuren. Men hoort lessen te trekken uit dat verleden.
Zoals voorheen al gezegd kunnen wij best van het verleden enkel dat goede herinneren en datgene wat ons tot onderricht kon zijn, ook al mocht het op dat ogenblik niet zo prettig zijn te ervaren. Steeds kunnen wij best de goede tijden laten primeren boven de minder goede. Maar om de goede tijden uit de slechte te halen moeten wij ze ook als dusdanig kunnen erkennen.
Mijn voornemen (en belofte) is dit seizoen met wat meer regelmaat ook hier weer (meer) artikelen te plaatsen en de niet geplaatste artikelen te publiceren.
Ook al mogen die vergeten artikelen al wat ouder zijn hoop ik toch dat ze nog interessant leesvoer mogen aanbrengen.
Veel leesplezier.
+
Lees ook:
in het seizoen 2017-2018 heeft mijn hoofd en mijn "pen" niet stil gestaan. Op heel wat religieuze platforms heb ik mijn woorden wel laten vloeien, waardoor ik dan ook minder tijd had voor mijn eigen persoonlijke blogs.
Het is mij opgevallen dat hier, zo wel op WordPress, ik uit vergetelheid meerdere artikelen ongepubliceerd heb gelaten. Voor dit komende seizoen heb ik dan besloten om deze in de vergeethoek geraakte artikelen toch te publiceren. Ook Instagram is totaal in de vergetelheid geraakt betreft het publiceren, maar net voor het bekijken van anderen hun mooie prenten, foto's en video's, welke ik dan ook kon 'taggen' of 'liken'. Ik moet toegeven op Instagram heb ik al heel wat mooie dingen kunnen zien, waarvan ik nog niet geleerd heb hoe ik deze met anderen kan delen. (Iemand mag mij daar steeds bij helpen - ook voor het delen van video's op mijn Instagram account.) Op dat platform zit ik nog in 1992 ... maar hoop daar vandaag nog verandering in te brengen, door over te gaan naar foto's uit 2006.
Vergeef mij mijn vergeetachtigheid en mijn verstrooidheid en vindt tussen de nieuwere artikelen ook die oudere die ergens in een hoekje waren achter gelaten.
Sommigen willen niet zo graag herinnerd worden aan het verleden anderen doen gewoon de moeite niet om even terug te kijken of na te gaan wat er in het verleden gebeurde. Maar dat verleden kan heel kostbaar zijn aan nuttige gegevens om in de toekomst niet zulke stommiteiten te laten gebeuren. Men hoort lessen te trekken uit dat verleden.
Zoals voorheen al gezegd kunnen wij best van het verleden enkel dat goede herinneren en datgene wat ons tot onderricht kon zijn, ook al mocht het op dat ogenblik niet zo prettig zijn te ervaren. Steeds kunnen wij best de goede tijden laten primeren boven de minder goede. Maar om de goede tijden uit de slechte te halen moeten wij ze ook als dusdanig kunnen erkennen.
Mijn voornemen (en belofte) is dit seizoen met wat meer regelmaat ook hier weer (meer) artikelen te plaatsen en de niet geplaatste artikelen te publiceren.
Ook al mogen die vergeten artikelen al wat ouder zijn hoop ik toch dat ze nog interessant leesvoer mogen aanbrengen.
Veel leesplezier.
+
Lees ook:
- Vergeten artikels
- Tijd
- Vijf jaar en ouder.
- Het verleden zo strak op je borst klemmen dat het je armen te vol laat te om het heden te omhelzen
- Laat gisteren niet te veel gebruiken van vandaag
- Zekerheid van het verleden
- Reflectie voor 8 Juli – Verleden in de rug
- Voorbij het verleden
- Reflectie voor 12 Juli: Terugkopen van verleden
- Niet te bepalen wat er op je afkomt
- Gevangene van je verleden of pionier van je toekomst
- Verleden, heden, toekomst, lessen en volhouden
- Mogelijkheid om het verleden af te sluiten
- Laat gaan wat was
- Opbouw van verleden naar toekomst
- Leg de afstand af
- Gelukkig is de persoon die weet wat te onthouden van het verleden
- Christelijke Overdenking: Kijk naar vandaag
Tuesday 21 August 2018
Can a state create a church
Normally one would think a state can not create a church, but in the Ukraine this year the country may see the formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of
the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) headed by a self-proclaimed leader named
Patriach Filaret Denisenko becoming to be accepted by the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) who is been asked as first among equals (primus inter pares) primarily for historic reasons (because Constantinople, before its takeover by Turks in 1453, was the centre of Orthodox Christianity) to accept this new church.
> Preceding:
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) who is been asked as first among equals (primus inter pares) primarily for historic reasons (because Constantinople, before its takeover by Turks in 1453, was the centre of Orthodox Christianity) to accept this new church.
Russian Patriarch Kirill, speaking in Moscow at the celebrations of the 1030th
anniversary of Vladimir’s baptism of Rus, warned against attempts by
secular authorities in Ukraine to interfere with church affairs or to
split the historic church.
Orthodox
faithful inside Ukraine, both ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians,
see the plans of Poroshenko’s government and Denisenko as an illegal
assault on their tradition and religious heritage. In addition, some
deputies in the Ukrainian Rada (Parliament) have warned that there could
be “bloody consequences” if the properties of the UOC-MP are
confiscated and its members forced to join a new church.
According
to the historical record, the Baptism of Kievan Rus by Vladimir had the
support and participation of the Greek Church in Constantinople, then
the official church of the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as
Byzantium. The first Orthodox bishops and metropolitans (equivalent to
Western archbishops) in Russia were Greeks from Constantinople who got
their “apostolic succession” from Christ’s disciples.
Poroshenko: More moves against Moscow.
The
petition to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to approve the invention
of a new “united” Ukrainian church that eliminates the UOC-MP would
violate this sacred apostolic succession, says the Moscow Patriarchate.
The UOC-MP has also protested that neither Poroshenko nor the Rada are
empowered to ask Bartholomew to change the church’s organization in
Ukraine.
“The strength of the Russian Orthodox Church and its Ukrainian sister UOC-MP lies in the apostolic succession, which the current Ukrainian government can neither provide nor imitate,”
the Russian Orthodox
Church’s spokesman said.
“The state cannot `create’ a church, nor should it aspire to do it. But this is exactly what the Ukrainian authorities are trying to do, urging the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to merge with Denisenko’s entity and asking from the ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople an autocephalous status for this new `united’ Ukrainian church of their own invention.”
“This initiative is an abuse of power, an interference of state into church affairs,”
UOC-MP’s the spokesman said.
The
UOC-MP has remained the only public organization in Ukraine which still
legally has the word “Moscow” in its name, and for millions of
Ukrainian citizens, ethnic Russians or not, any kind of legal linkage to
Russia is still valued.
Ukraine Poroshenko-Denisenko plan to form independent Orthodox church in Ukraine
Ukraine Poroshenko-Denisenko plan to form independent Orthodox church in Ukraine
In the Ukraine we may find Patriach Filaret (born Denisenko) a former cleric of the Moscow
Patriarchate, who left the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in 1992 following the collapse of the
Soviet Union. He had lost an ecclesiastical election and tried to form
his own church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and therefor he became excommunicated. His church is not
recognized by any of the other members of the international community of
Orthodox churches.
Now the Poroshenko government, formed in the beginning of the civil war that followed the U.S.-backed 2014 bloody coup in the “Euromaidan” uprising, is favouring the split-off of the traditional church by the anti-Moscow church known as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP)
They have called on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul to remove the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate and recognize a new, single independent Orthodox church in Ukraine, severing all ties to Moscow.
Now the Poroshenko government, formed in the beginning of the civil war that followed the U.S.-backed 2014 bloody coup in the “Euromaidan” uprising, is favouring the split-off of the traditional church by the anti-Moscow church known as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP)
They have called on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul to remove the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate and recognize a new, single independent Orthodox church in Ukraine, severing all ties to Moscow.
The
single church in the Poroshenko-Denisenko plan would carry the UOC-KP
name with the authority, according to Denisenko, to seize all churches,
temples, chapels, monasteries and other properties belonging to the
UOC-MP.
It
would mean dispossessing the historic UOC-MP, which has direct
“apostolic” continuity with the 1030-year-old original Kievan church and
Christianity in the Eastern Roman empire, once brought there by
Christ’s own disciples. UOC-MP said they would not pray in church
together with the excommunicated Denisenko.
Tuesday 24 July 2018
Evangelicalism in France on the rise
It looks like Evangelicalism in France is on the rise, a study by the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF) has found.
The study reported by Evangelical Focus shows around 35 new evangelical churches were opened in France last year or three a month.
France is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, with an estimated 56 per cent of the population having been baptised. Some of the cities may still have very conservative priests and institutions who do not allow people in their churches with bare arms and legs. (Two years ago I was sometimes considered to naked to enter a church but not enough naked to walk on the beach.) In some cities you also can see nuns and priests still clothed in their long dresses and nuns with covered heads. But for the amount of citizens who go to the Catholic church it seems the youngsters are not so much interested in that Catholic faith. The Catholic Church suffers from an aging and over-stretched priesthood and a shortage of vocations, and weekly mass-going is estimated at only around six per cent, which is much more than in Belgium.
The protestant church seems to be more attractive to many youngsters because they offer services with lots of entertainment.
There are around 650,000 evangelical Christians in France, around a third of all Protestants, and according to CNEF study the numb has increased tenfold in the last 60 years.
The study reported by Evangelical Focus shows around 35 new evangelical churches were opened in France last year or three a month.
France is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, with an estimated 56 per cent of the population having been baptised. Some of the cities may still have very conservative priests and institutions who do not allow people in their churches with bare arms and legs. (Two years ago I was sometimes considered to naked to enter a church but not enough naked to walk on the beach.) In some cities you also can see nuns and priests still clothed in their long dresses and nuns with covered heads. But for the amount of citizens who go to the Catholic church it seems the youngsters are not so much interested in that Catholic faith. The Catholic Church suffers from an aging and over-stretched priesthood and a shortage of vocations, and weekly mass-going is estimated at only around six per cent, which is much more than in Belgium.
The protestant church seems to be more attractive to many youngsters because they offer services with lots of entertainment.
There are around 650,000 evangelical Christians in France, around a third of all Protestants, and according to CNEF study the numb has increased tenfold in the last 60 years.
Saturday 21 July 2018
Prayer Bible verses to help us to get a deeper conversation with God
Many people consider Jesus to be God and as such Jesus praying to himself. Though Jesus did not pray to himself but to his heavenly Father which he considered to be greater than Him. Jesus very well knew he could not do much without his heavenly Father. Consider
the two scriptures that follow, as they relate to personal prayer times
of the one sent by God to the earth to declare Him.
Some may find that prayer can be exhausting, so it should not be something that will take away from themselves freshness of intimacy with God. Therefore they better can take some time for themselves remembering some prayer verses which were given by the master teacher himself and by his disciples of the first hour.
Luke 6:12: One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Matthew 14:23: After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.
All who love God and want to follow Christ Jesus should remember that he asked his followers to pray to his Father and to go out into the world to preach the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God.
Every follower of Christ should consider setting aside a time and place
for continuous and uninterrupted prayer. Each of us should make it a discipline
that can not, and will not be interrupted.Some may find that prayer can be exhausting, so it should not be something that will take away from themselves freshness of intimacy with God. Therefore they better can take some time for themselves remembering some prayer verses which were given by the master teacher himself and by his disciples of the first hour.
Prayer Bible Verses
· 1 Chronicles 16:11
Look to the Most High God Jehovah and His strength; seek His face always.
Let us also remember· Psalm 4:1
Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.· Psalm 145:18
The Elohim Hashem Jehovah is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.· Proverbs 15:29
The Elohim Hashem Jehovah is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
and follow the example of the master teacher· Matthew 7:11
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
We also may be assured that God is there for those who call unto Him.· Luke 6:12
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.· Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
When taking time for prayer we should not mind all sorts of way to come into a good conversation with our heavenly Father. We also should not do it once in a while but regularly.· Romans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.· Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
· Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
It must comfort us that we can speak to the Most High Divine Creator. Jesus has prepared the way to Him and restored the relationship with God. We also now have Jesus as the mediator between man and God and can count on him.· 1 Thessalonians 5:17
pray continually;· 1 Timothy 2:8
I want men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands
· Hebrews 4:14
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.· James 1:7
That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;· James 4:3
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.· James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.· 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Friday 22 June 2018
For those who do everything to stop the work of Christadelphians
In this godless world we do find lots of people who try to get people away from their faith in the only One True God. The majority of the people who are against Christadelpians are people who call themselves Christian. They tell all sort of lies about the founding fathers of the Christadelphians and mostly have no idea how they wanted to be seen in a movement which was to follow Christ and not as such an other human person. What disturbs them so much is that Christadelphians do not worship a triune godhead or the Trinity. This makes them so cross that they find they can use all sort of means to get the Christadelphians or Brothers in Christ, out of the picture. Though the Christadelphians are not the only one they fight against. The other even more well-known denomination is the Jehovah's Witnesses, which they hate even more.
Looking at those people who fight against the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) and the Christadelphians (Cd) is that they really go against the Only One True God Who is One. In reality their action can be more seen as a fight against Jehovah the God of gods Himself and against Jehovah and the organisations He uses on this earth.
What they also do not seem to understand properly is how the JW and Cd are structures or not structured and how they organise their meetings or worship services. For the JW it is more clear for them how the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society directs everything. For the Cd they also think there is a general governing body like the Governing Body of the JW. But then they see some differences in the several groups and claim than those groups are not following John Thomas or are having their own weird teachings. Looking at their discussions about those teaching we mostly see that they did not take the effort to really look in detail to the teachings of the Christadelphians, and continue to build their fantasies on sayings from other trinitarian denominations who wrote untrue things of the Christadelphians.
It is clear that their agenda is not only to destroy those non-trinitarian denominations, but that they really want to try every one away from the Only One True God Who is an unseen eternal Spirit. Because they want to get every body to believe in their Trinity and to their denomination, we can say that their aim is really to work against Jehovah's followers and therefore it can be said that they are anti-Jehovah.
They may call us the anti-christ, but it are more them that are the Anti-Christ, spoken about in Scriptures.
Please do find out more about how can be reacted against those who do not love God, nor His people and find also some ways to look at several Christian denominations and how we should look at the Bible, the book of books that should be our Guide and Anchor. On the new site is shown how we should trust the bible more than those sites which cling to human doctrines.
Please find > Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
Looking at those people who fight against the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) and the Christadelphians (Cd) is that they really go against the Only One True God Who is One. In reality their action can be more seen as a fight against Jehovah the God of gods Himself and against Jehovah and the organisations He uses on this earth.
What they also do not seem to understand properly is how the JW and Cd are structures or not structured and how they organise their meetings or worship services. For the JW it is more clear for them how the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society directs everything. For the Cd they also think there is a general governing body like the Governing Body of the JW. But then they see some differences in the several groups and claim than those groups are not following John Thomas or are having their own weird teachings. Looking at their discussions about those teaching we mostly see that they did not take the effort to really look in detail to the teachings of the Christadelphians, and continue to build their fantasies on sayings from other trinitarian denominations who wrote untrue things of the Christadelphians.
It is clear that their agenda is not only to destroy those non-trinitarian denominations, but that they really want to try every one away from the Only One True God Who is an unseen eternal Spirit. Because they want to get every body to believe in their Trinity and to their denomination, we can say that their aim is really to work against Jehovah's followers and therefore it can be said that they are anti-Jehovah.
They may call us the anti-christ, but it are more them that are the Anti-Christ, spoken about in Scriptures.
Please do find out more about how can be reacted against those who do not love God, nor His people and find also some ways to look at several Christian denominations and how we should look at the Bible, the book of books that should be our Guide and Anchor. On the new site is shown how we should trust the bible more than those sites which cling to human doctrines.
Please find > Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
Monday 18 June 2018
To sacrifice our being for Christ
The Nazarene Jew Jeshua (Jesus Christ) put his own will aside and offered himself as a lamb for God, as a ransom for us all.
Now time has come that we should also let him and his heavenly Father see Who we want to follow and Who we want to have as our God. Jesus showed his love for his God, Who is the Only One God of Israel, the God of Abraham. He asked his followers to become one with his God like he is one with Jehovah God. Coming closer to the time of Great Tribulation it is time to show the world to who you want to belong. It is high time to show the world for what you care and what or whom you love.
Did you ever ask yourself for whom you would risk everything?
Today we still face this materialistic world. But we should know that time for this world is limited. Today there are still many people, kings, presidents, ministers, as leaders demanding people to follow them and who reign their country as if it belongs to them. But everything on earth belongs to the Divine Creator. When he created this world He had a purpose for it and it shall become a reality whatever man may try to do.
In the New Testament we do find Jesus telling many stories in the form of parables which should open our eyes and should let us think about the reign to come and to look for. He talks about a realm of heaven and calls us to put our hands to work and help get the ground prepared to receive the love of God.He gives many examples how faith without works is dead and how we should be careful not to loose the entrance to the Kingdom of God by not living up to God's Wishes or not fulfilling God's commandments.
When looking at the Scriptures we can see how we are challenged to train our eyes to look beyond the problems and to see the promises of the world around us. And we have been told, repeatedly, that the “reign of heaven” is small, even hidden, but it is always at work. We are called to look for the hidden treasure and to go for Biblical truth and not to be of this world, loving all those materialist and perischable treasures.
Look around us we should see what is good and what is bad and learn from it. Though there are many who think by the death of Christ everybody is saved and does not have to do anything any-more, we should know that we for sure still have to do a lot of work. Every day we should work at ourself. Every hour of the day we should try to build up our Christlike character. that shall not so easy as so many think. It demands an effort.
Jesus asks us to come together and to meet each-other regularly to study the Word of God and to praise the Most High. Together we should form a unit, giving ourself as inhabitant of the realm of Christ. As partakers of his spiritual Body, we should feel united and work to keep everything around us pure and 'sanctified'.
Every one of the partakers of the Body of Christ should be wiling to give himself or herself to Christ Jesus, putting the own selfish I away.
Each person on this earth should be looking for the hidden treasures of God and should know that the “reign of heaven” is like a discovery that disrupts all other priorities, and those who make the discoveries have their entire lives shaped by them.
Those who love Jesus and want to have a good relationship with him and his heavenly Father should be prepared to put the earthly wishes aside and go for heavenly treasures. They should not be afraid for those of the world who do not want to know about God and who would laugh at those who want to give their life to God. But those who know better shall be happy to give their life to the One God and to present themselves as sons of the realm. For it is in the believe in Jesus that we want to go as partakers of the Body of Christ, willing to unite in his Church, which is the Church of God.
With the knowledge that there is the Unseen God Who has prepared the unseen realm and shall present the earthly realm to mankind, to those who are ready for it, we may have the assurance in the hope that one day the world shall have to face that reality of the Great Kingdom, which shall go above all kingdoms of the world.
Giving ourselves to Christ shall make our union sealed and secure.
Now time has come that we should also let him and his heavenly Father see Who we want to follow and Who we want to have as our God. Jesus showed his love for his God, Who is the Only One God of Israel, the God of Abraham. He asked his followers to become one with his God like he is one with Jehovah God. Coming closer to the time of Great Tribulation it is time to show the world to who you want to belong. It is high time to show the world for what you care and what or whom you love.
Did you ever ask yourself for whom you would risk everything?
Today we still face this materialistic world. But we should know that time for this world is limited. Today there are still many people, kings, presidents, ministers, as leaders demanding people to follow them and who reign their country as if it belongs to them. But everything on earth belongs to the Divine Creator. When he created this world He had a purpose for it and it shall become a reality whatever man may try to do.
In the New Testament we do find Jesus telling many stories in the form of parables which should open our eyes and should let us think about the reign to come and to look for. He talks about a realm of heaven and calls us to put our hands to work and help get the ground prepared to receive the love of God.He gives many examples how faith without works is dead and how we should be careful not to loose the entrance to the Kingdom of God by not living up to God's Wishes or not fulfilling God's commandments.
When looking at the Scriptures we can see how we are challenged to train our eyes to look beyond the problems and to see the promises of the world around us. And we have been told, repeatedly, that the “reign of heaven” is small, even hidden, but it is always at work. We are called to look for the hidden treasure and to go for Biblical truth and not to be of this world, loving all those materialist and perischable treasures.
Look around us we should see what is good and what is bad and learn from it. Though there are many who think by the death of Christ everybody is saved and does not have to do anything any-more, we should know that we for sure still have to do a lot of work. Every day we should work at ourself. Every hour of the day we should try to build up our Christlike character. that shall not so easy as so many think. It demands an effort.
Jesus asks us to come together and to meet each-other regularly to study the Word of God and to praise the Most High. Together we should form a unit, giving ourself as inhabitant of the realm of Christ. As partakers of his spiritual Body, we should feel united and work to keep everything around us pure and 'sanctified'.
Every one of the partakers of the Body of Christ should be wiling to give himself or herself to Christ Jesus, putting the own selfish I away.
Each person on this earth should be looking for the hidden treasures of God and should know that the “reign of heaven” is like a discovery that disrupts all other priorities, and those who make the discoveries have their entire lives shaped by them.
Those who love Jesus and want to have a good relationship with him and his heavenly Father should be prepared to put the earthly wishes aside and go for heavenly treasures. They should not be afraid for those of the world who do not want to know about God and who would laugh at those who want to give their life to God. But those who know better shall be happy to give their life to the One God and to present themselves as sons of the realm. For it is in the believe in Jesus that we want to go as partakers of the Body of Christ, willing to unite in his Church, which is the Church of God.
With the knowledge that there is the Unseen God Who has prepared the unseen realm and shall present the earthly realm to mankind, to those who are ready for it, we may have the assurance in the hope that one day the world shall have to face that reality of the Great Kingdom, which shall go above all kingdoms of the world.
Giving ourselves to Christ shall make our union sealed and secure.
Partakers and sons of the Realm
In this world, coming closer to the end times, we can see how all the prophesies concerning those times are coming true and visible.
First we had the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, then we had children revolting against their parents, an increase of natural disasters, and more and more religious groups starting to fight against each other. the world shall have to become aware that a great tribulation shall come over this world. In that universal war the words of Jesus to his apostle Peter will be true:
It are those who shall unite with each other as children of Christ and sons of the realm, being in union with each other, like Jesus is in union with his heavenly Father, who shall strengthen each other so that each member shall be able to withstand that awful period of great war. We shall need that strength and should count on Jesus and his God (our God) to be with us and to be our refuge.
Together as brothers and sisters in Christ we shall be looking for that light in the darkness and shall climb the mountain of Jehovah, the Kingdom territory under Christ,where the veil of Satan does not exist (Isa. 25:7, AS). It is to its protection that men and women and children from all nations are told to flee now, and hundreds of thousands have already done so, and many more thousands are in the process of fleeing, and still other thousands will yet wake up and flee, and all together they will survive the war from heaven to enjoy everlastingly the peace it brings to earth. they shall find each other in ecclesiae (churches or prayer halls) to meet as brothers and sisters, praising the Only One True God, Jehovah.
As brothers and sisters in Christ we become children of God and become to belong to God His Realm, the Kingdom of God. We united as children of God shall have that marvellous prospect of
becoming to belong to the earthly class of sheep who shall find peace here on earth.
Those lovers of God who believe in the son of God to be the sent one from God and the Messiah may be pleased to forward to those coming times that we as sons of the realm, belonging to the Church of God, shall be allowed to enter that new realm of Christ and God their Kingdom.
First we had the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, then we had children revolting against their parents, an increase of natural disasters, and more and more religious groups starting to fight against each other. the world shall have to become aware that a great tribulation shall come over this world. In that universal war the words of Jesus to his apostle Peter will be true:
“All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” (Matt. 26:52, AV)But those abiding by the words of Isaiah 2:4, who come under attack by Gog of Magog, will survive the universal war, just as Noah and his family survived the global flood.
It are those who shall unite with each other as children of Christ and sons of the realm, being in union with each other, like Jesus is in union with his heavenly Father, who shall strengthen each other so that each member shall be able to withstand that awful period of great war. We shall need that strength and should count on Jesus and his God (our God) to be with us and to be our refuge.
Together as brothers and sisters in Christ we shall be looking for that light in the darkness and shall climb the mountain of Jehovah, the Kingdom territory under Christ,where the veil of Satan does not exist (Isa. 25:7, AS). It is to its protection that men and women and children from all nations are told to flee now, and hundreds of thousands have already done so, and many more thousands are in the process of fleeing, and still other thousands will yet wake up and flee, and all together they will survive the war from heaven to enjoy everlastingly the peace it brings to earth. they shall find each other in ecclesiae (churches or prayer halls) to meet as brothers and sisters, praising the Only One True God, Jehovah.
As brothers and sisters in Christ we become children of God and become to belong to God His Realm, the Kingdom of God. We united as children of God shall have that marvellous prospect of
becoming to belong to the earthly class of sheep who shall find peace here on earth.
“Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the world’s foundation.” (Matt. 25:34, NW)Christ is spoken of as
“the Lamb who was slaughtered from the world’s foundation,”meaning the new world of visible and invisible parts, or earthly and heavenly parts, and for which world he became the foundation when he died and shed his blood and later presented the merit of his shed blood before Jehovah in heaven. When Jehovah created the earth he meant for it to be inhabited and put Adam and Eve on earth to populate it, and he held out the hope of earthly life to faithful men before Christ; so an earthly class was purposed or predestinated long before Christ’s sacrifice laid the foundation for it. Also those who are to reign with Christ in the heavenly kingdom were predestinated or foreordained as a class “before the world’s foundation.”—Rev. 13:8; Eph. 1:4, NW.
Those lovers of God who believe in the son of God to be the sent one from God and the Messiah may be pleased to forward to those coming times that we as sons of the realm, belonging to the Church of God, shall be allowed to enter that new realm of Christ and God their Kingdom.
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