Manchester City manager Mark Hughes Chelsea wants a deal on the time his African players are released for the Nations Cup finals…. From BBC News. Full story

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Manchester City manager Mark Hughes Chelsea wants a deal on the time his African players are released for the Nations Cup finals…. From BBC News. Full story

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Click on the NATIONS tab above and you will find a page of excerpted prophecies about several important nations we are praying for. These prophecies come from several different prophets and span a period of 7 years. The Bible says we are to judge prophecy so you pray about them and decide. There are several about Iran which is the topic of post 2. The nations represented are participants in alliances working against Israel, the U.S. and other nations.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

‘Shameful Flight’ relates the history of the final years of the British Raj in India, including the partition of India into both Pakistan (West and East) and India, and the early hostility of the two new nations destined for perpetual warfare in such regions as the Kashmir.The history of this era of political instability on the subcontinent includes all the main players from Great Britain, India and Pakistan.These main players include Winston Churchill, Viceroy Louis Mountbatten, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah. There is not a single figure in this history of India’s partition who comes out of it in a good light, though several seem to have had very well-intentioned aims and motivations. It is the true story of lost opportunity and the devastating consequences of human pride and selfishness that have reverberated down through the decades to the present day and remain visible in the continuing clashes between India and Pakistan, as well as in the extremism expressed in both the Islamic and Hindu communities throughout the sub-continent. It is a story of perpetual tragedy and human suffering with no end in sight.

This book is extremely easy to read, passes on a wealth of historical information and whets the appetite for further research on the India/Pakistan situation. It provides enlightenment, by bringing understanding to the current political instability in both India and Pakistan, by clearly revealing the root of the problem – the manner of the birth of both nations out of British imperialism and that nation’s final haphazard departure aptly described as a ‘Shameful Flight.’ This is a great book for understanding the sub-continent and the wounds it still carries to this day.

This book was provided to me for review by Oxford University Press – www.oup.com

The portrait to the left hangs in my office opposite my desk.  It was the first Christmas gift I received from my wife while we were dating the year before our wedding.  It is truly one of my most cherished possessions. It reminds me that every leader must be humble, trust the promises of the Bible, and accomplish everything through prayer.  Lincoln accomplished many great things as President of the United States.  Today, we are reminded of one of his lasting proclamations.  On October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln set forth the precedent for our National day of Thanksgiving.  The proclamation is as follows:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the field of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than theretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans,  mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

This Thanksgiving (2009) was filled with family, football, and food.  At the close of this wonderful day, I reflect upon all the Lord has so bountifully given to me and my family.  We have each other and a warm home.  We have health and cupboards that are full.  We have all that this life has to offer.  Yet, we also have all that the next life has to offer.  My wife and I are both children of King Jesus.  All the words that I could pen this side of Heaven still fall short of the thanks and praise He deserves as our Savior and Lord.  We love Him because He first loved us.  The third stanza of the hymn, The Love of God, expresses the inadequacy I feel when trying to formulate the thankfulness of my heart.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Toward the end of his proclamation, Lincoln reminded the nation that with repentance they should care for “widows, orphans, mourners, and sufferers” and to ask God to “heal the wounds of the nation.”  With similar determination, I ask God to never let me take my blessings or Him for granted.  We have so much and yet so many around the world have nothing.  Many have never heard the Name and message of Jesus.  Many are hungry, cold, and lonely even this night.  Many will close their eyes in death without hearing the message of the Gospel.  God forgive us for keeping so much here while the world perishes.  May we commit on this Thanksgiving Day to pray, give, and go more that the world might hear our cry, Jesus Saves! Jesus Saves!  Those who are truly thankful will look outward more than inward.  Every breath we take and every morsel of food we eat should remind of a world that gasps for a Savior and hungers to hear the Good News.  Every Christian has the Good News.  Shame on us if we keep it to ourselves and damn the world to Hell.

Soy impulsivo y apasionado, me aboco a las causas que considero justas, quijotescas tal vez, pero necesarias para mantener activa la lucha por los valores democráticos de mi patria a flote. Tal es el caso cuando el viernes pasado (20 de Noviembre), durante una manifestación desde la Plaza Brión en Chacaíto (en Caracas), el líder juvenil Julio César Rivas anunció el inicio a nivel nacional de una nueva huelga de hambre. Se trata de la segunda en menos de tres meses, esta vez para exigirle al régimen que permita la entrada a Venezuela de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), para que a modo propio constate en el sitio las constantes violaciones a los Derechos Humanos denunciadas en diversos foros internacionales, incluyendo la Organización de Estados Americanos, organización que cobija la CIDH.

No había Julio César terminado de anunciar la huelga, cuando enseguida le saltaron encima los escépticos, los burlones de oficio, los incrédulos, los pesimistas de siempre, los politiqueros de turno, los políticos que juegan a la política rapaz y egoísta, y porqué no, la gente seria de este país que apuesta a formas de lucha diferentes a las que juegan los jóvenes que acompañan a Julio César. Sería injusto de mi parte generalizar y acusar, me limito a observar y opinar. Así como la disensión y la polémica son esenciales en cualquier sociedad que se tilde de democrática, así lo es también el derecho de cada quien a tomar el curso de acción que mejor considere para hacer valer sus derechos fundamentales. Pero por sobretodo, es el sagrado deber de cada ciudadano demócrata de este país el respetar con el mayor recelo posible las decisiones de cada uno de nosotros, aunque nuestro criterio se enfoque hacia otras soluciones de cómo combatir la tiranía. Este respeto debe estar incluso por encima de nuestro grado de incredulidad y desconfianza hacia como otros en nuestra sociedad enfoquen sus formas de protesta y de acción.

Escribo este artículo a cuatro días de haberse iniciado la huelga. Desconocemos cómo y cuando terminará, sus consecuencias, su alcance. Una cosa sí es cierta. Acciones como ésta seguirán sucediéndose. En un futuro no muy lejano, las huelgas se generalizarán aún más por toda la patria. No solamente serán los jóvenes y estudiantes. Serán, y ya se asoma, los trabajadores despojados injustamente de sus derechos; los agricultores a quienes se les han arrebatado sus tierras para ofrecerlas al saqueo y a la destrucción; los presos hacinados bajo condiciones infrahumanas; los vecinos cansados de la inseguridad y de que les falten los servicios básicos que el estado está en obligación de mantener (agua, luz); los gremios profesionales que ven asaltada su dignidad y sus principios básicos; los simpatizantes del régimen, que han visto sus ilusiones hacer agua, sus sueños convertidos en esperanzas frustradas. Seremos todos, incluyendo los que hoy se ríen, se burlan y critican la valiente iniciativa de nuestra juventud, que como siempre ha sido, es la punta de lanza en la gesta por la libertad y la democracia en nuestra patria.

¡Adelante, jóvenes! Pronto la patria les reconocerá su valentía, su iniciativa no será en vano.

When I posted my short article “Do Nations Owe God Anything?” on Friday I wasn’t expecting to have an example of what I was discussing show up come Monday morning. At The Reformed Pastor blog, David Fischler quotes from the Manhattan  Declaration, which is an ecumenical statement released by 125 Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant evangelical leaders which speaks to some of the hot button moral issues of today. His post also quotes from a response to the ecumenical statement by Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU).

While I will not personally take part in any ecumenical organizations or statements, I do find the Manhattan Declaration to be interesting. A lot of the rationale in the declaration is in line with what I have written about in the Divine Institutions. I particularly agreed with this quote from the declaration:

Christians confess that God alone is Lord of the conscience. Immunity from religious coercion is the cornerstone of an unconstrained conscience. No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions. What is true for individuals applies to religious communities as well.

The response from the Rev. Barry Lynn of the AU is bothersome.:

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “This declaration is certain to be deeply divisive. These religious leaders want to see their doctrines imposed by force of law, and that goes against everything America stands for.

As I said in my earlier post, every law and regulation is a moral statement. To seek laws that force Roman Catholic hospitals to perform abortions or pastors to perform same sex marriages is evil (yes, it is e-v-i-l).

It is always strange to me that those that accuse “right wing” Christians of being doctrinnaire have a lot of non-negotiable doctrines themselves.

UPDATE

It appears that the Manhattan Declaration is stirring up a lot of folks on the internet. Tom Gilson at his Thinking Chritian blog is having quite the debate. He makes some good points in his “The Basis for Moral Realism” post.

“I have  come to set the world on fire…” Jesus in Luke 12:49

Imagine a hillside by a high mountain plateau. It is summer and campers have come to enjoy the beauty of the mountains, the clear streams and the lure of the forest. Twilight fades into night as a few lonely campfires glow in a seemingly losing battle against the growing darkness. Then something amazing begins to happen. New campfires spring to life. Points of warm, flickering light ignite all over the hillside, spreading out as far as the eye can see. Illumined in the glow of each fire, a band of friends gather eager to share a meal and experience the warmth of true friendship.

Now imagine the universities of the world from God’s vantage point. In a similar way God is working to ignite fires in new places illuminating the darkness with His presence. Imagine spiritual “camp fires” spreading as people come to Christ and bands of believers join together to become His mouth to speak, His arms to embrace, and His feet to go as He uses them to spread His light in the darkness.

God is igniting spiritual fires in universities all over the world. In nation after nation, these fires begin as God moves in the hearts of one or two students.  Joining together in His name and for His sake, the fire spreads.  He delights to work through ordinary students to penetrate the darkness with the light of the gospel, changing their lives as He honors their faith and prayers.   Jesus encourages us with these words, “Do not be afraid little flock for your Father delights to give you the kingdom”  Luke 12:32

This blog is about Catalytic movements, spiritual movements that God is igniting around the world.

“…And your son’s and daughters will prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams…”  Acts 2:17

I want to listen and learn from what God is doing among the nations.  He is giving dreams and vision to students in many nations, this blog is dedicated to hearing their stories and learning from what God is saying through them. .. and  hopefully to fan the flames that are springing up in many hearts.

Women are likelier to be affected by and to suffer from climate change than men are, according to a United Nations Population Fund report released Wednesday.

Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation, said bringing women’s issues into the climate change debate is essential since women are already the greatest victims of AIDS, violence and refugee problems. “Climate change is making these problems worse and worse,” Wirth said at a press conference at the National Press Club.

Wirth noted that as the temperature of the Earth’s surface increases, food production will decline across the world, which will add enormously to the pressure on women who are responsible for sustaining their families.

The report supports the idea that family planning, reproductive health care and gender relations, particularly in developing countries, have the potential to influence the future of climate change.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., emphasizing the unequal burdens climate change places on women, said women are likelier than men to die from conditions related to climate change.

Robert Engelman, vice president for programs at the Worldwatch Institute, a globally focused environmental research organization based in Washington, said integrating gender considerations into the climate change framework is a new but crucial concept.

He said women who are in charge of their own lives have the power to change global warming by contributing to slower population growth, and their own efforts are “practical, necessary and hopeful.”

Rapid population growth and industrialization affect the levels of gas emissions, he said, and the world is running out of time to reverse this trend. This is a long-term problem, which is not only a governmental commitment but also a “fundamental human issue,” Engleman said.

Jose Miguel Guzman, chief of the population and development branch of the fund, said the way people organize their lives and achieve sustainable life styles is relevant to climate change.

Qualifying ISAF Match Race: Brazil, Atgentina and Uruguai Tag Heuer Nations Cup Winner: Argentina … tagheuer matchrace sailing nationscup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-XHPXEvDT8&hl=en

Qualifying ISAF Match Race: Brazil, Atgentina and Uruguai Tag Heuer Nations Cup Winner: Argentina … tagheuer matchrace sailing nationscup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-XHPXEvDT8&hl=en

Qualifying ISAF Match Race: Brazil, Atgentina and Uruguai Tag Heuer Nations Cup Winner: Argentina … tagheuer matchrace sailing nationscup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMr-PdBgoJQ&hl=en

I hope that the answer to the title of this post is obvious (I meant it to be rhetorical). If you don’t know where I stand on this then I will go ahead and give you my answer: Yes! What has spurred me to touch on this is that probably three or four times a year I read where Christians are accused of wanting to set up a theocracy because they take a biblical stand on some public policy issue. This is my first attempt to forward some ideas on the issue.

I have meant for some time to try and track down bible verses that show that God is the creator of the universe and therefore He rules over all nations. I am sure that I have missed some but the results of my effort follow at the end of the post. Then, using these verses as a backdrop, I am going to pose a series of questions with my answers. If any of my readers would like to chip in then that would be great.

Question 1

Do the nations really owe God any obedience? If all authority in the universe is derived from God, and is exercised with His permission, nations don’t get carte blanche to do whatever they please. The principle of “to whom much is given, much is expected” applies to both individuals and nations. If a nation’s leadership decides that they really don’t want to be a terror to evil (see Romans 13:3 below) why wouldn’t God move against them for abusing His authority?

Question 2

If we as a nation follow the morals (or ethics is you prefer) laid out in the Christian Bible then aren’t we a theocracy? No, I wouldn’t say that at all. Every law and regulation is a statement about right and wrong. If the state doesn’t believe it’s wrong for me to murder someone then why do they make it illegal? I would not say that any nation crosses the line into theocracy until the state sets up a national religion. The state telling the people how they will worship is very different thing than a people who worship telling the state what it can do. As long as I have freedom I will do my part in telling the state what it can do.

Question 3

If we have people legislating from a Judeo-Christian perspective then we won’t be allowed to eat pork or shellfish. How can you justify such a thing in these modern times? I know this is part of the Mosaic Law but statements like this seem just downright silly to me. I hope that anyone familiar with the Mosaic Law understands that these rules were part of a health code, a concept way ahead of its time. So, I will answer the question with another question: How many of the people who are loudly “anti-theocracy” would be willing to abolish the local health department? This would do away with sanitation inspections for restaurants but it would certainly establish their anti-theocracy street cred.

Question 4

Can’t we just leave God out of this and take an unbiased view of the issues? All I can say is that if God is the source of all truth, and if we ignore that truth, I don’t see how that is unbiased. What would we call that: unbiased depravity?

I could come up with many more questions like these but my few readers get the idea. What say ye?

———-

11 Thine, O Jehovah, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and thou art exalted as head above all.
12 Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou rulest over all; and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
1 Chronicles 29:11-12

5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court;
6 and he said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and art not thou ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in thy hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee.
2 Chronicles 20:5-6

16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever: The nations are perished out of his land.
Psalm 10:16

15 And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
2 Kings 19:15

19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding;
Daniel 2:19-21

24 this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
25 that thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee; till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Daniel 4:24-25

6 There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
7 Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee.
8 But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock.
9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skilful men.
10 But Jehovah is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.
Jeremiah 10:6-10

7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
8 if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Jeremiah 18:7-10

23 He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.
Job 12:23

10 Pilate therefore saith unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to release thee, and have power to crucify thee?
11 Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.
John 19:10-11

24 The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;
Acts 17:24-26

1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:
4 for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.
Romans 13:1-4

Following the draw for the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola it has emerged that the host nation will play the openner against Mali on January 10…. From BBC News. Full story

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Soy el mas ferviente creyente en la unidad de la oposición al régimen de Chávez. Sin unidad estamos vencidos de antemano. Por falta de unidad estamos donde estamos. En síntesis, al igual que el grupo triunfador de estudiantes 100% Unidad de nuestra gloriosa Alma Mater, no hay otra, ¡UNIDAD! El problema básico va mas allá, va en como una oposición unida 100% piensa afrontar al régimen, en cara a las próximas elecciones legislativas del 2010. ¿Será que las armas de la democracia son suficientes para combatir la dictadura?

Repasemos la historia. No se de ninguna dictadura que haya caído por los votos. No conozco ninguna democracia que haya surgido de una votación limpia efectuada bajo un régimen dictatorial. A diferencia de las tiranías, la democracia se nutre de la libertad y la justicia, del respeto pleno a los derechos humanos y del derecho a la disidencia. Ese no es el caso de la Venezuela actual, inmersa en una pugna hasta de a muerte por preservar sus derechos mas sagrados, enferma del mal totalitario que la ha invadido y amenaza con extinguirla como república. Venezuela, mi patria, está impregnada del mal de la tiranía, teñida en sangre de un dogma obsoleto, marcada por la amenaza constante de intolerancia. Nuestra realidad trasciende las normas de la convivencia, estamos ante el arrase de la barbarie y de la mediocridad sobre nuestros valores y principios básicos. ¿Podremos combatir estos anti valores con democracia? ¿Podrán las armas de la democracia contra la tiranía?

Francamente no lo sé. Solamente sé que si no hacemos el intento de luchar hasta la muerte, claudicaremos y entregaremos cual cobardes nuestra libertad para siempre. Unidos entonces, compatriotas. ¡Venezuela nuestra patria nos lo exige! Es nuestra última oportunidad. No aceptemos que el régimen nos cambie las reglas del juego. Unidos de las manos venceremos o pereceremos. ¡Adelante, Venezuela!

Yeomens’ words
unheard speak
in seeds, dirt, suns
and harvests.

Statesmen never
silent, shout in clamors,
rumors of wars of
both words and guns.
Rumors be the respite
of nations.

Politicians of this
age shout in amorality.
Respite be delegated
to antiquity, an historian’s
debate.

Yeomens’ words
still unheard speak
in seeds, dirt, suns
and harvests.