More to Think About

LaVerne Opp, a retired pastor, was Sabbath the speaker a couple weeks ago. He had some very thought provoking comments. What interested me the most was comments taken from an August 2009 letter from Brad Thorp, Director; and Gary Gibbs, Associate Director of the Hope Channel. Thank you, Pastor Opp, for bringing this to my attention.

Brad Thorp ------------------------------------------------- Gary Gibbs

The title of their letter is:

Crises are changing the world...
The pope thinks he has the solution!

Thorp and Gibbs stated in their letter that our world is going through change of prophetic proportions. We are entering a new chapter of Earth's history. "...this new chapter that has begun is found in Revelation 13. This predicts a time when global crises prompt church and state to unite in a tragic union." "... the pope, the United States, and other global leaders are lining up to fulfill these age-old prophecies in our day... The past few weeks have seen what surely is one of the most remarkable confirmations of Bible prophecy in recent years."

In response to the current global financial crisis, pope Benedict XVI recently issued a comprehensive plan for rescuing the world from the brink of disaster. The encyclical, Charity in Truth, was released in time for leaders of the world's industrialized democracies to consider during their G-8 summit in Italy..." (See the previous blog) "The pope is also reported to have personally given President Obama a copy during Obama's first visit to the Vatican."

Thorp and Gibbs go on to say, "We have read Charity in Truth and have identified ten crucial points that show the pope's agenda was predicted in Bible prophecy. We list them here for you along with the paragraph numbers where they are found in the document."

• A Global Government. The pope is calling for a "true world political authority" to fix the problems that plague the world. (67)
• Church and State. The pope says this new political authority will make its decisions based on spiritual values. (Chapter 5)
• The Papacy at the Head. These spiritual values cannot be derived from just any religion, since not "all religions are equal." (55)
• Religion, Politics, and the Economy. The church must influence all areas of society since God must have "a place in the public realm, specifically in regard to its cultural, social, economic, and particularly its political dimensions." (56)
• Power to Enforce Law. This "political authority" must have "real teeth" and "be vested with the effective power" to enforce its laws around the world. (67)
• Control Buying and Selling. The new world governing power will institute socialistic policies for government to redistribute wealth. (Chapter 3)
• Resurgence of Labor Unions. Labor Unions are to be empowered to "play a decisive role" in the new world order. (25)
• The Church's Goal. Pope Benedict says that this encyclical is to help achieve "The goal of the history of the human family"--to build "the universal city of God." (7)
• Redefining Religious Liberty. While claiming not "to interfere in any way in the politics of States," the pope redefines "liberty" as happening when the world obeys laws shaped by the Roman Church's spiritual values. According to the pope, as the church influences states to enforce its view of "truth" on others, people are set "free." "This mission of truth is something that the Church can never renounce." (9)
• Immortal Souls. The non-biblical belief that man has an immortal soul helps to inspire the pope's global agenda. "Man is...God's creature, whom God chose to endow with an immortal soul." (29)
  

"When we first read Charity in Truth and discovered these ten points, we were astounded to see how remarkably similar the pope's agenda is to what God's Word predicted the Roman Church would do in the last days. It is amazing to see this taking shape in our time!"

I find this quote more relevant today than ever before:

"The agencies of evil are combining their forces, and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones." (9T11, E.G.White)

So, it this to be a wake-up call for us? Perhaps the end of the old, and the beginning of the new may be nearer than we think! Is that BAD NEWS, or GOOD NEWS to you? More to think about.

***

You may read the Hope Channel letter for yourself at: http://www.hopetv.org/uploads/media/Hope_Channel_August_2009_letter_on_Vatican_Encyclical.pdf

You may read the entire encyclical for yourself at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html#top

Something to Think About

The United States Supreme Court is made up of a total of nine justices. Six, 66%, are Roman Catholics. Only 25% of the population of the U.S is Roman Catholic. It does not look good for civil and religious liberty. The beast of Revelation 13:11 is about to speak as a dragon.



On June 29,2009 Pope Benedict XVI signed an encyclical entitled Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). Speaking of this document, Cathy Lynn Grossman stated in USA Today (7/7/09) the following:
"Pope Benedict XVI today called for reforming the United Nations and establishing a 'true world political authority' with 'real teeth' to manage the global economy with God-centered ethics.
"In his third encyclical, a major teaching, released as the G-8 summit [Group of 8 world leaders--France, Italy, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Russia] began in Italy, the pope says such an authority is urgently needed to end the current worldwide financial crisis. It should 'revive' damaged economies, reach toward 'disarmament, food security and peace,' protect the environment and 'regulate migration.' "




Pastor Stephen P. Bohr (Secrets Unsealed, Fresno, CA) says, "This certainly sounds like the New World Order that is described in Revelation 17 where all the world religions and political systems come together 'with one mind' to attempt to solve the world's problems..."

Something to think about.

Only One

A couple days ago I went to Borders book store at lunch as I often do. I like to look around and perhaps read a few paragraphs of a book or two. This day was different.

I looked up to see a small boy, about five years old. He was walking with crutches. Then I noticed why. He had only one leg. I watched as he walked toward his mother. He was speaking a little loudly and his mother corrected him. He immediately obeyed and spoke softer. She asked him to do a couple other things and he did them without questioning. It appears his parents were doing a fine job raising him.

The little boy maneuvered very well on crutches. He had obviously used them for some time. As I watched my heart ached for the little boy, and his family. I can not imagine what it would be like to have to go through life with only one leg. Yet as I watched him, I was encouraged because he was doing so well. I am sure he will do fine in life and he will be successful in spite of having only one leg.

Sad, but encouraging. I think I will always remember the image of the little boy on crutches and when I looked to where his legs should be, there was only one.

Thirty Years Ago, and Now

Here are some pictures of "My Honey" and me taken over thirty years ago, about 1978. Thought some of you might be interested in the "style" back in prehistoric times.

Then...
















...and there there is NOW.



...let's try that again. OK?

Bean "Patties" for Dinner

I got home first. I was going to make dinner. I wanted to try something we had not had before. I thought of a nice lentil loaf. Problem. Lentils had to be cooked first. Not enough time. So, I looked through the cookbook. "Bean Patties"! Sounds good. We have not tried this recipe. Let's try it. So....

Good news. We had all the ingredients. We would have bean patties, baked potatoes, and broccoli. Nice dinner for two.

I got all the stuff out. followed the recipe as close as I could. It called for two cups of thick bean puree. So I put the canned beans in the blender and pushed the "puree" button. I made them as thick as I could. It was pretty thick. Should be fine.

Well, after I put all the ingredients together it was a little bit "thin" but I thought it would be ok, However, there was no way I could "form into small patties about 3/4" thick." These were patties that are put on a pan and baked instead of fried. So I dropped mounds of stuff on the pan. Lots of little globs all over the pan. The baking process will make them firm. Right? Wrong. It all "melted" together to about 3/8 inch thick!

Instead of having bean patties for dinner, we had a 3/8 inch thick "bean loaf". I even had to bake it twice as long to get it to be done, and firm. So much for the dinner I had planned. Actuall, it was quite good. Just not patties. Here is a picture of what we had.

"Bean Patties"

The Twins

Somewhere in Oregon... Momma contemplates whether or not the twins can jump the fence so they can get on with their outing.

She decided against it and turned and went another way.

Here come da TRAIN !

Somehow they look BIGGER when you are standing on the tracks right in front of them...especially when the engineer blows the HHOORRNN !!

Christmas or Christmas?

How hard is it to find Jesus in this Christmas?

As the new year begins, I find myself thinking about Christmas. There are two Christmases. How do we combine them? Can we? How do we separate them? Which one is important to me? To you?

Is it easier to find Jesus in this Christmas?