Bible
All posts tagged Bible
Matthew 14:25 “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.”
‘I have frequently been told that I should not believe that God literally used six 24-hour days to create the world, and I should not argue against evolution because all these scientists have proved that the world came about the way that they say it did! It is worth referring such people to Matthew 14, to the account of Jesus walking on the water. It is obvious that the disciples were not used to seeing such a thing. In the poor light of the night, and the storm, they understandably mistook Jesus for a ghost. But eventually, they recognized Him when He told them not to be afraid.
Science would obviously maintain that a man cannot walk on water. Water, being a liquid, does not provide sufficient resistance to the force of gravity on the man’s feet, to maintain him in the upright position. So how was Jesus able to do what He did? Many people have tried to find excuses, but it seems pretty clear that this was a real man, walking on a real liquid, with real feet, in defiance of the laws of physics. But Jesus was the one who created the laws of physics! They are His to do with as He pleases! He could even command Peter to come to Him, walking on the water. And Peter was able to take a few steps at Jesus’ command, until, like we often do, he took His eyes off the Lord.’ https://creationmoments.com/sermons/jesus-walked-on-water/?mc_cid=fcdf873114&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
‘They say that a good friend knows all your stories but a best friend has lived them with you. Indeed! It is the Friendship Month! I thank the universe for my best friend, Adrian.
Sitting at Central park, waiting for him, I was going through some of our old snaps. What happens when two confused and starkly opposite souls meet at the threshold of adulthood? Life only gets hilarious and better! Also, you sail through the highs and lows together.
I remember this time when I was in complete chaos. It was getting difficult for me to share with anyone how was I feeling. Yet, I was part of every gathering, playing the guitar and being the soul of each party. Amidst all the joy and laughter Adrian had noticed something which no one else had.
“Bob, you can fool the whole world but not me! You’re unhappy! I can see that. Tell me what’s wrong?” he had asked. He was right! I was pretending to be happy. I confided in him how helpless and low I felt!
That was the phase of my life when I was looking for a job switch. I wanted to be a writer. My family wasn’t confident enough. Others warned me to be cautious. Adrian was the only one who knew and understood my passion.
Three days later, I had got a call from him saying exactly this, “Bob there is an interview going on for a writer in this company I know. The name and address I will text you. Be there at sharp 10 a.m.,” he said.
“But I am still wondering if I should…” but he didn’t let me complete. “Bob, please! Don’t overthink and argue. Come out of this unhappy trap. You have my back! I have full faith in you. Give it a shot!” he had expressed.
It was his encouragement that landed me here with this job. He was the first one to whom I had broken the news. “See! I had told you! I knew you would make it. Now let’s celebrate!” was his reply.
It’s as if he knew my favorite song and reminded me of the lyrics when I had forgotten it. And, then we sang it together. This was just one story. Every time he has showed to me what true friendship looks like!
Friendship Week is round the corner. I’ve planned an adventurous surprise trip with him! He has no clue about it! I’ll tell him now when he comes.
True friendship is based on trust, support and sincerity. It’s hard to find a person who believes in you when your own confidence is shaken. They are there to wipe your tears when you cry and also there to laugh at your lame jokes when no one else is laughing. We must treasure such souls forever!’ https://nl.123greetings.com/oh-friend-you-have-my-back-10022020?utm_source=img1&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=Feb20_nl_wk2
Boy, the Race2Dinner thing is simply one of many anti-racism and anti-hate groups speaking out against supposed patriarchy, white superiority, and white supremacy. If society is as bad as many of these people see it we are in a BIG mess. Now, I know there are people who dislike and even hate others who are not LIKE them! These people come from every corner of society, white, black, brown, yellow, red, poor, rich or middle class.
I believe if we desire for our children to be taught courtesy for others, to be truthful and not a liar, and many other necessities for living in a civilized society it all begins at HOME. The Bible, YES, the BIBLE says in Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Oh, I forgot you can’t have religion (especially Christianity) in the public school. However, that’s the very reason why we find ourselves in the situation we are in! God and His Word are out and lawlessness is in!
Searching the internet I came across this https://westseattleblog.com/2020/01/west-seattle-hs-families-discuss-racism-equity-at-workshop-before-no-place-for-hate-school-wide-launch/
photo by Jason Grotelueschen
West Seattle HS families discuss racism, equity at workshop before ‘No Place For Hate’ school-wide launch
Before I get to the article allow me to say that the Bible tells us that the FIRST MURDER ever committed was by a brother against his own brother. The first murder was NOT a racial thing but a hatred of one brother against his own brother! In reality, Cain was really mad at God but he couldn’t do anything to God so he took out his hatred on his brother! That’s really what is at stake today in this racial issue. People are angry at God.
Now, we read that ‘Members of the West Seattle High School community gathered to participate in an “Undoing Racism and Teaching Equity to Teens” educational workshop led by Families of Color Seattle (FOCS).’ Now, to begin with here we have a group formed on the color of their skin! Hmm. I digress, ‘The workshop, held in the WSHS library last Wednesday night as part of the WSHS PTSA general meeting, was part of the school’s No Place for Hate program by the Anti-Defamation League, with a goal to “help establish and maintain a school environment where all students can thrive.” It’s being launched three months after a “school-wide positive response” was promised following incidents in which students were disciplined for “racist language and symbols.”
After a brief WSHS PTSA meeting to start the evening, the program was introduced by WSHS principal Brian Vance, along with WSHS Racial Equity Team members Angela Ferda, Amber Donaldson, Jennifer Hall, and Annie Zhou.
Vance noted that due to snow cancellations the prior week, WSHS had to postpone its original January 15 kickoff of the No Place for Hate program — they will now be introducing it to students and families on February 5 (during Black Lives Matter in School Week from February 3-7).’https://westseattleblog.com/2020/01/west-seattle-hs-families-discuss-racism-equity-at-workshop-before-no-place-for-hate-school-wide-launch/ Here we now have a BLACK LIVES MATTER school week!?
I am not saying there might not be something good in all this BUT the point is still it all begins at home and with the parents. Unfortunately, many homes do not have both parents living in the house along with other sins occurring within the house and so often these children simply mimic what they see and hear at home. One parent commenting on the situation at this school rightly said ‘But parents, this starts at home and it’s your responsibility to dig deep on this with your kids.’ This parent is so right!
Then at https://westseattleblog.com/2019/10/students-disciplined-for-racist-language-and-symbols-at-west-seattle-high-school/ the parent is introduced to BEYOND THE GOLDEN RULE. On pages four and five this pdf speaks to, ‘Parents As Teachers
I have a child of my own now, and my mother’s words come back to me. And I know
this: Teaching tolerance must begin with the Golden Rule, but it certainly does not end
there. Too often, simply advising a child to “do unto others as you would have them do
unto you” is insufficient.
There are times when we as parents must explain things that are painful and unfair
— racism, sexism, stereotypes, hate. Times when we must comfort our children, times
I have had to help my 10-year-old son learn that what some would do unto him isn’t
always kind or fair.
Like the day we stopped at a local carnival and I was forced to explain to him why
he could not have the small photo he had won while shooting darts — a caricature of a
bulldog against an image of the Confederate flag.
Or the Christmas he wanted an Easy Bake Oven and couldn’t understand why family members and friends balked at the notion.
Or why his elementary school’s “Indian” mascot — a feather-toting, stereotypical
warrior — was offensive and unacceptable.
Such moments have provided learning opportunities for my son and for me. Here’s
what I’ve learned:
Speak openly. When we are honest with children about our country’s history of bigotry, sexism and stereotypes, we help prepare them to challenge these issues when they
arise. A child who knows the racial history of the Confederate flag, for example, is less
likely to brandish that symbol out of ignorance.
Model equity. As parents, we are our kids’ first teachers. When it comes to teaching tolerance, actions speak louder than words. When you say that boys and girls are
equal but refuse to buy your son an Easy Bake Oven because it’s a “girls’ toy,” what message do you send?’ http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/beyond_golden_rule.pdf
Did you discern the agenda in the above? No wonder home schooling is becoming more popular!
Psalm 25:4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
It is a sad day when those who say they are called of the Lord to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ are caught in the molestation of children. One stands in amazement how the following ever occurred within so-called Christian organizations!
‘Ethnos360, formerly called New Tribes Mission: Wonder why they changed their name? To go back about 10 years, MKs from other boarding schools within this mission field petitioned the administration to investigate their schools as they had with Fanda in Senegal. New Tribes was not willing to do another round with GRACE, so they hired an outfit called IHART, headed by Pat Hendrix. IHART stands for Independent Historical Abuse Review team. This organization was created exclusively to investigate New Tribes boarding schools.
Three investigations were done: East Brazil, Panama and Bolivia. To read all the details about these investigations and their findings, please visit the Fanda Eagles web site. None of the reports were released to the public, but all of them have been shared by survivors. All three of the investigations found numerous instances of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. In East Brazil, there were four sexual abusers and one physical and emotional abuser. In Panama, 63 allegations were considered to have preponderance of evidence, mostly severe physical abuse, but also sexual abuse. In Bolivia there were numerous allegations, with 13 offenders found to have committed sexual abuse. This is by no means the extent of the problem, as Pat Hendrix received files from New Tribes about historic abuse in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Mexico, and Venezuela.
Midway through these investigations, Pat Hendrix was removed as coordinator of the project, and replace by an attorney named Theresa Sidebotham. How can New Tribes Mission replace the coordinator of an independent organization that does not have connections to the mission, you ask? It turns out that IHART always had connections to New Tribes, so it wasn’t really an independent investigation to begin with. I got this information from the Fanda Eagles web site, where you can find many more details. I have already written about the three law suits filed by New Tribes MKs. The general consensus following all of these events is that New Tribes found some perpetrators whose names they did not reveal, and they may or may not have disciplined them, since we don’t even know who they are. These perpetrators have likely been involved in churches, youth groups and children’s organizations for decades, with nobody suspecting their abusive tendencies. There is very little closure for the MKs involved, and still a deep distrust of the mission which prevents many of those who have been abused from coming forward.
Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE): MKs from this mission launched their blog Bangladesh MKs Speak in 2011, after they had been trying for nearly 10 years to have Donn Ketcham, a mission doctor, investigated for sexual abuse of his young female patients. You can read an account of this on my blog here. After the story broke on social media ABWE hired GRACE to investigate, and then fired them and hired Pii (Professional Investigators International). After an extended battle with the ABWE administration at the time, Pii published a report, which was favorably received by survivors. ABWE actually made the report public, and you can read it at this link. It is long, detailed, and deeply disturbing. In 2018 Ketcham was charged with sexual assault of a young female patient in the United States. He was ordered to stand trial, but ultimately the judge decided that he was not physically able to undergo a trial because of his dementia.
Serving In Mission, formerly called Sudan Interior Mission (SIM): To my knowledge, there have been no new developments with abuse investigations at SIM, although I continue to hear accounts from other MKs about their personal experiences. I did notice something new when I was perusing the SIM website recently. SIM has always remained silent about the very existence of past abuse on their mission field. Now, if you look at the Child Safety Page on their website, they say the following:
“Therefore, SIM USA recognizes its responsibility to minimize the risk of harm, and to respond to Child Safety concerns regarding:
• the children of SIM USA personnel.
• any child who may have been harmed by any SIM USA personnel, ministry or project, occurring in the past or present.” (Bold accents are mine.)
I take it to be a good sign that there is an acknowledgement here of a possible need to address abuse that occurred in the past. I wrote to all three of the child safety officers who are listed on that page, asking for more details about what the response might be of a report of past abuse, and whether there is a written policy for this. I got the following response from one of them: “Any person who has been harmed, and who contacts us directly, will be welcomed to share their story and will be listened to with compassion. In each situation we seek wisdom and counsel as to the most appropriate and helpful response.” You couldn’t possibly be less specific about how you would handle a complaint, and there is clearly no policy here, but at least they have put the possibility out there that abuse existed in the past.
In 2013 I asked a similar question on the blog of Mary Decker, the Child Safety Officer for SIM. It is interesting to compare the response I got 7 years ago to the one I got recently. Ms Decker replied “…Each situation must be responded to on an individual basis, and my sense is that it’s best to work through these in person and not via media where so much misunderstanding is possible. Recognition and concern for people who have suffered in years past strengthens our desire to prevent further harm to children in days ahead.” At that time the focus was on preventing any new instances of abuse and not addressing past abuse, but you can see that the vague response that each situation must be handled individually is still the same.
How should an organization respond appropriately to allegations of past abuse? MKSafetyNet addresses this on their website. MKSafetyNet has decades of experience in advocating for abused MKs. I won’t go through all of their points, however I do think the very first one highlights a problem with the way that SIM is responding to this issue. The first thing an organization should do if they truly want to respond to abused MKs is to Cast the Net Wide.
Cast the net wide. As MKSafetyNet notes, it is inadequate for an organization to only respond to the spontaneous reports that come up from survivors. Casting a wide net means contacting all MKs to offer them a chance to report any stories that they might have, or as MKSafetyNet puts it, the complete universe of abuse survivors. Don’t forget that SIM is an organization that specializes in outreach, so they certainly have the capabilities to put this message out.
I believe this was one of the shortcomings of the AMK task force, which you can read about under the “SIM and Abuse” menu on this blog. The Task Force cherry-picked their participants, who were specifically invited to visit SIM and tell their stories. There were severely wounded MKs who never even knew the task force existed. If the net had been cast wide for this endeavor, I think the results might have been much different, with more and messier situations uncovered.
Why not cast a wide net? In the first place, the mission loses a lot of control, as people begin to come forward. It also becomes more expensive, because instead of just having a child safety officer listen to one story, suddenly they have to devote more time and personnel to this project. If they really want to make amends, they are going to have to provide funds for things like meetings, investigations, counseling for the survivors, and more. And that isn’t even counting the cost of the publicity that will take place, and possible loss of support. SIM is all about being in control, and particularly of their funds. They have never provided the resources for anyone to properly minister to wounded MKs, and I suspect that is both because they don’t feel it’s a valid use of their funds, and because they are worried about what might come to light if they really start digging.
There has been a false narrative going on for so many years, from the days when children at boarding school had their letters censored when they tried to tell their parents about how they were treated, to the absolute denial of bad experiences and the pressure on MKs (often by other MKs!!) not to complain. We are starting to see a breakthrough as more of us tell our experiences publicly and truthfully on blogs and social media. I have to disagree with Mary Decker about the media being an inappropriate place to discuss these things. A public forum is very appropriate because it lets survivors know that there are others out there who had their same experience. I look forward to big changes in this new decade, and a light shining down on the past for MKs from all missions.’ https://childrenofsim.wordpress.com/2020/01/30/a-look-back-and-a-look-forward/
Does one have to be a ‘scientist’ to believe either evolution or creation? No, for both are taken by faith. In the evolution theory no one was there so many many assumptions are made but in the creation account God was and He has left a detailed account of that event. You may read it in Genesis.
‘When Dr. Marcus Ross was asked about being in the film IS GENESIS HISTORY he was ‘…asked what he thought was one of the most fascinating evidences for a global flood. He immediately said “trackways.”
Trackways? I had never heard of trackways.
He explained they were basically fossilized footprints. The impressions left by a creature walking or crawling in soft sediment had hardened and left identifiable tracks. Although fossil footprints were not unusual in themselves, it’s where they occur in relation to other fossils that’s so unusual: trackways consistently appear in rock layers below the bones and teeth and shells of the animals that made them.
But why is that curious?
He said if you think the earth is billions of years old, then those layers of rock represent millions of years of history. How is it possible that footprints could appear millions of years before there’s any evidence of the hard parts of the same animals? If there are footprints, there have to be creatures – where are their fossils? How could millions of years pass with millions of creatures dying (all with bones and teeth and shells) and none of them remain behind?
But there’s another solution. If you think the earth was covered by a global flood, then finding trackways below body fossils makes a lot of sense. Those animals that made the trackways were lifted up and carried higher, their bones and teeth and shells eventually being buried by the rising floodwater. As a result, their body fossils would be found consistently higher than their tracks.
It’s a pattern we see everywhere.
A CURIOUSLY CONSISTENT PATTERN
Marcus emphasized it’s the consistent pattern that that makes this so compelling. It’s a pattern found in trilobites (little marine creatures), in amphibians, and in dinosaurs. According to the old earth paradigm, tracks are being found millions of years before body fossils.
How many years are we talking about? 10 million between trilobite tracks and trilobite fossils; 35 million between amphibian tracks and amphibian fossils; and 10 million between dinosaur tracks and dinosaur fossils. That is a curious pattern indeed.’ The rest of the article may be read at https://isgenesishistory.com/fossil-footprints-curious-evidence-flood/?utm_source=Is+Genesis+History%3F&utm_campaign=38c8f28617-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_30_11_36&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_052697a034-38c8f28617-150261953&mc_cid=38c8f28617&mc_eid=2abe4a38b0
Who would have ever thought what one believed or said concerning the climate or the weather would involve the freedom of speech! Well, in the land of the Devilcrats free speech ends when your speech denies their beliefs.
‘Blood tests, x-rays, CAT scans were being taken; heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels were being monitored; intravenous flows of medicine were being administered and adjusted with feedback from the blood tests. As I sat with my relative for several days, I couldn’t help but think that evolution had nothing to do with any of the science involved.
There were at least six doctors of different specialties seeing him – Infectious Disease, Cardiologist, Gastro-Intestinal, Pulmonologist and Nephrologist, plus, of course, his Primary Care Physician. Not one of them needed to use evolution to look at his case or to analyze the various tests and results. Evolution, you see, does not rely on the Scientific Method and does not have any real application in the practice of ANY science. Rather, it is an attempt to explain biological origins and developments without God. In other words, evolution merely provides “just so stories” to teach the secular notion that we have NOT been designed and built by our great Creator.
Yet, we see a continuing deception about how supposedly “Charles Darwin” should be “the one rallying cry” for all things scientific! Such is the pernicious deceit of evolution. Indeed, this month in secular academic and progressive circles, there is another push to celebrate “International Darwin Day” (February 12, Darwin’s birthday) – for 
“principles of intellectual bravery … scientific thinking, and hunger for truth as embodied in Charles Darwin.” Darwin Day is primarily pushed by such groups as The American Humanist Association (a society advocating for atheists) and their leftist allies in media, government and academia.
My recent experience at the hospital, though, revealed to me once again that science treats human bodies as precisely designed-and-specified complex machines. This, of course, begs the logical inference that with such design and specification, there must be a great Designer!
The doctors were monitoring everything. Was body temperature normal at 98.6 F? Were oxygen levels in the blood above 90%? Was blood pressure normal? Were heart rates normal? Were key enzyme, protein and sugar levels in the blood normal? Was urine output normal? In other words, was the human body functioning according to design specification?
Doctors know what to expect for healthy function of heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and other organs. Outside of the normal range, people get sick and die. The normal range does not change.
But to the modern ear, the theme of everything is “change”. Change is the master key. This is a philosophy that has grown out of evolution … applied not only to biology but to human society. Nothing is fixed, everything evolves. The belief that everything evolves has had a disastrous effect in many areas – much of which has been discussed in these letters.
Not only does this philosophy of change – of the evolution of all things – go against biblical truth, it goes against what has been called “self-evident” truth. The American Declaration of Independence includes these words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
These are transcendent and eternal truths – we are all equal before the cross of Jesus Christ, and by extension, therefore, before the seat of justice. We have a Creator, and He has endowed us with a right to life and freedom as individuals!
Here is another reason why we need to keep proclaiming the truth about evolution. Evolutionism has made “change for the sake of change” tolerated – even when the change has perverted eternal and transcendent truths! We now redefine marriage! We redefine genders! We redefine the taking of innocent human life and call it good! Fortunately, we still have freedoms in this country – but other nations are losing them. Sadly, we are moving in that direction, but for now, in spite of abortion law, we are still free to protest and to lead people to honor the Sanctity of Human Life – as was just celebrated again this January in America!
Under evolutionism, change is to be embraced and facilitated. It is supposedly inevitable. And it is given a positive term – “progressive”. This is actually the same as what the Nazi leaders at the Nuremberg Trials of 1946 claimed when they famously defended their actions in the Concentration Camps by arguing that they were simply “giving evolution an assist”.
We can basically make society whatever we want it to be because constant change means that nothing is permanent, eternal or transcendent. Indeed, with such a philosophy, traditional values must be fought against so mankind can move out of its “current state of imperfection” and toward the enlightened end of evolutionary progress – which tends to be the whims of a dictator.
But this is just not biblical. In fact, it is diabolical. We should not want to celebrate evolutionism with “Darwin Day”. Rather, we should want to continue to expose it for the anti-science, anti-God, destructive, authoritarian-supporting force that it truly is! As Christians, we must keep proclaiming the truth, the whole truth of God’s Word, which does not change but “abides forever” (1 Peter 1:25).
Most important of all, we must continually cleave to the truth of the living Word, Jesus Christ, who does not change but is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever”.’ https://creationmoments.com/newsletter/see-why-the-belief-that-everything-evolves-has-been-disastrous/?mc_cid=7a49f3c368&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
‘Reprinted by permission of Family Voice Australia, 4th Floor, 68 Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000.’
whatyareckon 