Suvery Says…

Here’s an article by Missler that presents recent statistics about peoples religious beliefs from Europe and America. It’s an interesting read.

FEWER RELIGIOUS, BUT MORE FAITHFUL? – The Council of Europe recently did a study on freedom of expression in Europe, and decided that leftover blasphemy laws in some countries should get kicked out the door. In England, the majority of Her Majesty’s citizens deny that God created the world less than 10,000 years ago. And in America, the number of people with “no religion” are up in number. Yet, despite the general rise in godlessness, God always keeps a remnant for Himself. Malta: Malta’s Board of Film and Stage Classification recently decided to ban the play Stitching because it included blasphemy (among other reasons) making this island nation the focus of criticism for its anti-blasphemy laws. Christianity has been historically important to this Mediterranean island, where Paul shipwrecked on his way to Rome. This is the island where a viper bit Paul without harming him, and where Paul’s prayer healed the father of Publius, the island’s chief. Today, Malta’s economy is greatly aided by tourism that promotes Paul’s famous landing there. Yet, the Council of Europe frowned on the laws that still criminalize “public vilification” of religion (especially Roman Catholicism) in the island nation. After a two-year study, the CoE decided that this and the few remaining such laws across Europe should be abolished. While few countries still outlaw blasphemy, there are a number that make “religious insult” illegal. The CoE argued that it was “neither necessary nor desirable to create an offence of religious insult, that is insult to religious feelings, without the element of incitement to hatred as an essential component.” While freedom of expression is certainly vital in any healthy country, and no Christian should desire a return to the Inquisition, Europe has clearly been losing its respect for religion in general and Christianity in particular. It’s not a new trend. England: The disbelief found in the people of England, who depend on God to save their Queen, is a bit more surprising. Across England and Scotland, more than one third of those recently surveyed said they believed that evolution has removed the need for God. That percentage rose to 44 percent in eastern England. On average, another third of Britons said they believed that God used evolution as part of His plan, but this view lost out to the disbelievers everywhere but Wales. Still, between 20 and 30 percent of Britons support either Creationism or Intelligent Design theories. Northern Ireland has the highest percentage, with Creationism/ID believers combining to make up 41 percent of the population. While it seems dismal that more than one third of Britons believe God is unnecessary, that still means that the majority still do believe God is responsible for life on earth. Interestingly enough, the citizens of London are more prone toward Creationism than in other parts of the country. That might be a surprise, but there could be a good reason for it; evangelism. “Whereas the national average is 17% who believe that human beings were created by God in the last 10,000 years … in London, that figure is 20%. That may well be due to the growth of Pentecostal churches in London, which are growing at an extraordinary rate,” said Paul Woolley, director of Theos, the think-tank that ran the survey. The United States: America has remained solidly more religion-friendly than Europe in recent years. Yet, even in the US, fewer people consider themselves religious. According to a survey of more than 54,000 people done by Trinity College in Hartford, Conn, a full 15 percent of the US population claims to have “no religion” now. In Vermont, that number rises to 34 percent. The number of self-described Christians is also down to 76 percent from 86 percent in 1990. People are also pulling away from mainline denominations. Those who connect themselves to mainline Protestant denominations, like the Lutheran or Methodist churches, have dropped to 13 percent of the population from 19 percent in 1990. At the same time, those who consider themselves “nondenominational” or “born-again” or “evangelical” have risen sharply. Forty-four percent of America’s 77 million Christian adults consider themselves evangelical or born-again. Whether the departure from mainline denominations is good or bad for American Christianity is up for debate. It may be that Christians are getting mushy and just want to do their own thing in the name of Christ. On the other hand, as Jesus said, you cannot put new wine into old wineskins. As too many mainline denominations grow staid and dusty, the life of Christianity keeps sprouting up in new ways, from nondenominational “Bible” churches to home churches. It may be that Christianity has not grown weaker in America, but that it simply has changed venues. It may also be that as Christianity becomes less respected in American culture, there are fewer cases of “My parents are Christians, so I must be one too” and a form of pruning has been taking place. Fewer Americans may call themselves Christians, but of those who do, more may truly be dedicated to serving Jesus Christ according to the Word of God. Whichever the case, too few people in the West, including America, know the Bible and what it teaches about salvation and knowing God. Too many wander through their lives, generally believing in God, but having no clue about the passion He has for them, or the sacrifice He made for them. We cannot assume anymore that everybody we meet knows who Jesus Christ is or what he did for us. Let’s make sure we keep loving our friends and neighbors in word and deed and, in fearless humility, help them know about the hope they can have in the living Son of God. While people may be rejecting formal religion, they still need something to feed their hungry spirits. The best thing we can offer them is the Bread of Life. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: -1 Peter 3:15

Related Links: • Blasphemy? It’s Not Criminal – Council of Europe – Malta Today • 15 Percent of Americans Have No Religion – The Washington Post • Four Out Of Five Britons Repudiate Creationism – The Guardian • Global Religion – Koinonia House • Waiting For Answers On Religion’s Slide – The Decatur Daily

RFID Chips – They’re Here

Maybe the following article will trigger a response or at least serious thought.

Chuck Missler had this to say today…

A tragic story in the implantable microchip saga hit California last month. Lori and Ed Ginsberg had their little Chihuahua “chipped” in order to take him camping, as required by law. The Chihuahua “Charlie Brown” bled to death in front of the Ginsbergs after the rice-sized chip was inserted under his skin. The bizarre, sad tale has spurred people in San Marcos, Texas, to protest mandatory pet chipping, and has given pet owners everywhere some pause.

As implanting microchips in pets becomes more common, and even required in some instances, pet owners consider the potential pros and cons of sticking a chip into their four-legged friends. Even more interesting is the unpopular but continuing prospect of putting microchips in human beings.

Currently, all dogs over four months old are required to be implanted with a microchip in unincorporated Los Angeles county. The law makes sense. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags contain enough information to give animal shelters a simple way of locating an animal’s owner. It helps the county better distinguish between animals with and without owners so as to better handle its animal control problem.

A growing number of pet owners have chosen to put a chip in their animal as insurance against Fido’s getting lost. A simple scan at an animal shelter and the pooch or kitty can be returned to his family. The Animal Welfare League and RSPCA in South Australia are pushing to make chipping mandatory for pets. In Europe, about 25 percent of pet owners have already chipped their animals. In America, the number is about 5 percent, but there’s a growing push in some areas to make chipping a requirement.

Normally, RFID implantation is a simple procedure which doesn’t even require sedation. The sad case of little Charlie Brown the Chihuahua seems to be a rare exception. “We put the chip in the back in the shoulder blades, the standard place where we put them, and there really aren’t any major blood vessels in that area,” said Dr. Reid Loken, who implanted Charlie’s chip. “I don’t think it went in too deep; it was a pretty routine chipping.”

After Charlie Brown bled to death, though, pet owners in San Marcos, Texas decided to protest an effort to make chipping mandatory in their city. The San Marcos Animal Services Advisory Board recently recommended that the city make a law that all pets must have RFID tags implanted as a way to reduce the number of pets put to sleep in shelters every year. Like many towns, San Marcos has 75 percent euthanasia rate.

Many pet owners, however, believe chipping should be a personal decision. Charlie Brown’s death has animal lovers frightened, and other folks just don’t like having the government tell them how to best care for their pets.

“Chipping should be a voluntary decision made by a pet owner, in consultation with his or her veterinarian, after weighing the risks,” states Dr. Katherine Albrecht, a Harvard-trained researcher and privacy advocate. “It should never be required at the point of a government gun.”

Before little Charlie Brown bled to death, RFID chips had already raised other health concerns. A lengthy Associated Press article in September 2007 detailed the high rate of tumors caused by RFID chips in lab mice. The article described the apparent ignorance of the FDA to available research demonstrating the link between chips and sarcomas – malignant tumors – in lab mice and rats. While mice are far more susceptible to tumors than humans, or even dogs and cats, there have been a couple of instances reported in which animals with RFID chips have developed tumors. At least one was considered directly linked to the microchip implant.

While pet owners are concerned about forced chipping in their pets, other people are just plain worried about forced chipping in humans. The California Senate passed a bill in 2007 that would protect employees from forced chipping by their employers. One of the Senators who opposed the legislation, Bob Margett (R-Arcadia), thought the bill was premature. “It sounded like it was a solution looking for a problem,” Margett said. “It didn’t seem like it was necessary.”

It hasn’t been unheard of, though, for employers to make RFID chips mandatory for employees. The Cincinnati surveillance company CityWatcher.com has had employees in its secure data center get a microchip implant in one arm. RFID chips can be considered very handy for keeping track of employees’ entrances and exits from a plant. Since scanners at strategic locations can sense and record whenever employees pass certain points, they can also be used to keep employees out of places they don’t belong.

RFID chipping continues to be regarded as a handy way to identify animals and even humans. A simple scan can tell hospitals all about a high risk patient in emergency situations. A simple scan can help animal shelter employees quickly locate Rover’s owner. A simple scan can keep the wrong people out of high security areas. Yet, the dangers to privacy and even health concerns continue to cause people to resist implantable microchips, even for their pets. RFID will likely continue to work its way into society in a growing number of ways, even as concerned citizens resist the looming Big Brother implications.

Related Links:

• Dog Bleeds to Death From ID Chipping – WorldNetDaily
• Pet Microchip Mandate to Begin in San Marcos – News8Austin
• Vigil Protests Mandatory Chip Implants – WorldNetDaily
• Animal Welfare League Backs Pet Micro-Chipping Push – ABC News
• Senate Blocks Mandatory ID Implants – The LA Times
• Chip Implants Linked to Animal Tumors – AP
• Watching Big Brother Watch You – Koinonia House

Here are a few other examples of where RFID chips are being used:

Current Pass Ports, cell phones and on hundreds of products bought at grocery and department stores.  They will be in our new national ID card once that is issued and possibly in future currencies. However, banks do not like paper so one day there will not be paper currency. And perhaps the end goal for the banks is to have all their accounts in the memory of RIFD chips.

RFID chips are intended for people to live safer lives but who’s lives are we really protecting by allowing these chips to become an intimate part of our lives. Once fully placed in humans, the people in control of them (which will NOT be you) will have the power to turn them off! This will mean, once turned off, that that person will not be able to buy, sell, drive, see a doctor or do anything else; that person would simply not exisit anymore.

People, don’t you think it’s time to investigate for yourselves? The only way to confirm information is to verify it through research and to read from trust worthy people. I trust Chuck Missler and what he has to say parallels closely to what many other Christians and non-Christians are saying about the future of politics and civil liberties.

This type of information isn’t to frighten because God says to never fear but it is ment to stir up thoughts and to hopefully help prepare people for the inevitable. God wants us to know what’s going on around us so we can be prepared. If God didn’t want His people to know the future then He would have never written it down for us. Therefore, there is a good reason to know God, His plan and world around us.

God bless.

The Future of Food – Intro

Here is an introduction to an excellent documentary that I watched last week. It’s on the subject of genetically engineered (GE) food and the big business behind it.

The title of the documentary is – The Future of Food

Agape Love

I have been around many Christians through the years and I have found that there isn’t much consistency among  them. I witness hate, intolerance and prejudice among them and I see it often. This type of behavior goes directly against God’s second commandment (love your neighbor like yourself). Agape Love (Godly Love) is obviously not understood by Christians who consistently allow themselves to practice such behavior. I was once one of these Christians.

My purpose for writing this is to share my view on this important matter in order to potentially help people identify behavior that is contradictory to Agape Love. It is extremely important for Christians to comprehend Agape Love because I believe being able to practice Agape Love daily is crucial to ones growth in The Spirit. In addition, I also believe it makes up half of the relationship we ought to have with Christ,  The Spirit and The Holy Father.

It helps me to think of each half as gifts not traits or abilities. The first half is our gift of protection (salvation) from sin and the other is our gift for the ability to love all people including ourselves like God does. I think it is safe to say that Christians know that our protection from sin is a gift and not something we can achieve with our own abilities. However, I can not say that many Christians believe that being able to love like God  is unattainable without God’s willingness. For example, I personally know someone who graduated from a theology school which means this person is more read on the topic of God than most Christians. This person and I had a lengthy debate about Agape Love and they were convinced that Agape Love is possible without God’s help. If this person believes we are naturally gifted with Agape Love then think of how other Christians may think. Honestly, I do not think this person actually comprehends the difference. This is precisely why I believe it to be very important that people comprehend the difference.

Though I haven’t taken extensive surveys, I have and had relationships with numerous Christians during my life time and I have learned that few Christians think alike or consistently believe in the same things. The differences in Christian beliefs rival the differences in religion in general and this fact causes too much conflict among the world. Such as life right and unfortunately this situation will not change regardless of how consistent Christians become but I do think it will help.

I have one very close friend who fundamentally refused to become Christian because they thought Christians were too hypocritical. This person decided to become Jewish because they thought this particular faith was generally much more sympathetic to people and to the earth than Christians were. This major life changing decision was made because they felt that they could fit the part of a Christian regardless of the type. Knowing that this is how millions of non-Christians believe disturbs me and it should disturb all Christians.

In general, the world does not trust or appreciate Christians and why is that? I think it is directly related to the fact that most Christians do not practice Agape Love consistently or at all. Personally I find it uncommon to meet a Christian who believes in and practices true selflessness which, I believe, is only achieved through Agape Love. Our culture in particular reinforces self centered behavior among others such as greed, envy and violence under the guise of “self defense”.

Based on my experience many Christians will almost always defend the use of self defense. Using rationality to justify their beliefs many Christians find it perfectly acceptable, to God, to use violence to justify a desired outcome. Regardless of the point for violence, whether it be to stop doctors from performing abortions, to stop a thief from stealing possessions or to stop a rapist from raping, it is not only unnecessary it goes directly against God’s number two commandment (love your neighbor like yourself). There are other, many other, examples stated in the Bible (New Testament) that clearly command believers to not resist evil. (Mat 5:39)

No one wants harm to come to the ones we love or to ourselves and God knows this. And it may sound illogical for anyone to allow evil to harm them however, God still commands us to not resist? The concern here is a faithful belief that some commandments are not relevant in today’s context. God’s commandments are clear but it’s our own logic that isn’t. Our selfish desires run deep and even after we are saved we still are constantly trying to fit God into our world and not the other way around. What does God mean when He says to not resist evil? Does this mean only under perfect conditions? God in the Old Testament clarifies laws and makes commandments well understood to the priests so why would He change now? He wouldn’t. God is the same then, now and forever. After Christ’s death, everyone who accepts The Gospel are priests and God has provided new laws and commandments for us.

There are two parts of Christ’s life to understand, why He lived and why He died. Christ lived to show us how to live and He died to protect us from sin. I would venture to say that most would assume that He lived mainly so that He could die for our sins. But this would be an error in my opinion. The way Christ lived is just as important as why. Christ lived by example and this is a major point not to miss. Anyone can say Christ is the son of God and died for our sins. Heck, even Satan would say that. Therefore, does merely announcing that Christ is the son of God and that He died for our sins protect us from sin? I think not because Satan sure hasn’t stopped his godless behavior. Just as the generous atheist who gave billions to help others will not enter Heaven; the person who claims to know God and Christ but in their heart they only want to satisfy their own selfish desires will not enter heaven either.

Why are we such selfish people? Well, that is like asking why do we sin? This answer should be easy for most but have you also continued to ask yourself how do I love my neighbor like myself  or how do I obtain Agape Love? I suspect that many Christians do not realize that love and Agape Love are two very distinctive qualities. We are born with several emotional tendencies and love is one of them however, Agape Love is not. We are also born into sin but we are not given the ability to protect ourselves from it without God’s help. The same applies to Agape Love, we are unable to obtain the ability to love ourselves and others with Godly Love without God’s help. We have to be gifted with both in order to do God’s will.  God’s will for our lives can not be accomplished without God’s protection from sin and the ability to love like God. I feel it is likely that we are not truly saved without both gifts.               (Mat 7:21-23)

With all this being said, I believe you know who you are or know someone who fits my descriptions. I also think for some, the many years of living a lie can make it dificult to recognise it but it is still recognisable. The Spirit will give you understanding if you seek it out. How do I know, because I have wittnessed it personally in my life and The Word confirms it. (Mat 7:8)  Understanding God in a deep and profound way takes effort and desire. A deep relationship with God in my case has taken years of genuine dedication. I honestly didn’t comprehend Agape Love until recently but after I did, I knew that I was practicing Agape Love without knowing it. Now that I recognize my practice of Agape Love and why it is important to understand why I practice it I feel that my relationship with God is now deeper than before. This is what I pray for all Christians to achieve.

Hate, intolerence and prejudice should only be assigned to evil and not to the person who commits it. If you hate the person who commits evil then you are hating yourself because we all commit evil everyday of our lives.

God bless.

Update

Greetings to all of my dedicated readers…As you know I have taken several weeks off from writing and unfortunately it’s not because I wanted to. The full time job I started two months back has exhausted me and because of its schedule I do not get much time to do research or write. I have also been going through the hiring process for the post office and the city fire department. And I almost forgot that I’ve recently started restoring art work on pinball machines. In other words my plate has been full and I have not had time to adjust to my new schedule.

My desire to continue writing on this blog is very strong and I still come across very interesting information from time to time as well. Just yesterday I met a gentleman who flew into Lincoln and he and I had a very a-typical conversation (sometimes God will put people in front us that we never would suspect to have any purpose until one starts a conversation with them). He and I stood out on the ramp for at least a half hour talking about history, religion, politics, books/authors and God. It was an amazing experience as far as I’m concerned. I will eventually share some of that conversation with you.

One day soon I will begin writing more frequently so until next time, take care and God bless.