"Time doesn't heal wounds; it only watches them take different shapes and forms until they look so different that where they came from is often obscured. The real capacity to heal inner wounds comes from heaven, not earth. Only the power of Jesus can go to the deep places and bring healing." - Robert Whitlow
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Prayer
Upon praying and believing, you may not see the answer for months. An example of this is the miracle of conception. It takes 9 months for the miracle to be manifested and seen.
Healing
Healing Scriptures to Pray and Declare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXAjEfgiJ-o
Joseph Prince - Healing Flows When Grace Is Exalted - 08 Jul 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUhzrhHFh-w
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Waiting for the Name of the New Pope
March 12, 2013
Black smoke rises from Sistine Chapel; no decision on pope
VATICAN CITY — Black smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday, signaling that 115 Roman Catholic cardinals failed to agree on a new pope during the first day of the papal conclave.
The "princes of the church" began deliberating inside the Vatican after swearing an oath of secrecy and entering the papal conclave at about 5 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).
The smoke was created by the burning of ballot papers used by the cardinals in their deciding vote, with chemical cartridges being added to ensure the smoke did not appear to be white — the sign that a decision has been reached. It means the conclave will reconvene on Wednesday morning.
None of the 115 cardinals will be seen or heard, nor will they have any contact with the outside world, until they have chosen a successor to Benedict XVI, who abdicated on Feb. 28.
"They're on their own now," said NBC News Vatican expert George Weigel, referring to the total isolation demanded by church rules.
Black smoke rises from Sistine Chapel; no decision on pope
Vincenzo Pinto / AFP / Getty Images
Black smoke rises from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday.
The "princes of the church" began deliberating inside the Vatican after swearing an oath of secrecy and entering the papal conclave at about 5 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).
The smoke was created by the burning of ballot papers used by the cardinals in their deciding vote, with chemical cartridges being added to ensure the smoke did not appear to be white — the sign that a decision has been reached. It means the conclave will reconvene on Wednesday morning.
None of the 115 cardinals will be seen or heard, nor will they have any contact with the outside world, until they have chosen a successor to Benedict XVI, who abdicated on Feb. 28.
"They're on their own now," said NBC News Vatican expert George Weigel, referring to the total isolation demanded by church rules.
Andrew Medichini / AP
Cardinals from around the world gather in the Vatican to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Hebrew Language
Hebrew
Hebrew is a member of the Canaanite group of Semitic languages. It was the language of the early Jews, but from 586 BC it started to be replaced by Aramaic. By 70 AD use of Hebrew as an everyday language had largely ceased, but it continued to be used for literary and religious functions, as well as a lingua franca among Jews from different countries.
During the mid-19th century the first efforts were made to revive Hebrew as a everyday language. One man who played a major role in these efforts was Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858-1922), who was the first to make exclusive use of Hebrew in his home, and encouraged the use of Hebrew among others, as well as its use in schools.
Today Hebrew is spoken by some 5 million people in Israel, where it is an official language along with Arabic. and a further 2 to 3 million people speak the language in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Palestinian West Bank and Gaza, Panama, the UK and USA.
Notable features
Hebrew is a member of the Canaanite group of Semitic languages. It was the language of the early Jews, but from 586 BC it started to be replaced by Aramaic. By 70 AD use of Hebrew as an everyday language had largely ceased, but it continued to be used for literary and religious functions, as well as a lingua franca among Jews from different countries.
During the mid-19th century the first efforts were made to revive Hebrew as a everyday language. One man who played a major role in these efforts was Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858-1922), who was the first to make exclusive use of Hebrew in his home, and encouraged the use of Hebrew among others, as well as its use in schools.
Today Hebrew is spoken by some 5 million people in Israel, where it is an official language along with Arabic. and a further 2 to 3 million people speak the language in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Palestinian West Bank and Gaza, Panama, the UK and USA.
Notable features
- Type of writing system: abjad
- Direction of writing: right to left in horizontal lines.
- Number of letters: 22 consonants, plus final letters and diacritics
- Used to write: Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, Yiddish and many other Jewish languages.
- Some letters (kaf, mem, nun, fe and tzadi) have a final form (sofit), which is used when they appear at the end of a word.
- There are no separate numerals in Hebrew, instead standard western numerals (1, 2, 3, etc) are used.
- Long vowels can be indicated by the letters alef, vav, and yod. Short vowels are not usually marked, except in the Bible, poetry and books for children and foreign learners.
The Hebrew script
Modern Israeli pronunciation
Isaiah 60:1
There Is Just Something Special About You
Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1
People might have said to you, “Why are you so lucky?” or “You seem to be looking younger and younger,” or “There is so much bad news these days, yet you seem untroubled by them.”
Now, the people of the world don’t have spiritual discernment. They can only go by your physical appearance, behavior and what happens to you. In other words, if they notice something different about you, it is because they see the evidence of God’s glory on your life — in your family and work life, health and finances.
Your friends and colleagues may have told you that you stand out from the rest as though a spotlight were on you. Indeed, this is so because of Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) When God’s glory rises upon you, your words carry weight, even if you are not eloquent. I should know. I stuttered and stammered right up into my teens. So when your words change people’s lives, you know that it is not you. It is the Lord!
You don’t have to be a straight-A student or someone able to speak the Queen’s English. You may be foul-mouthed like the disciple Peter, but when God changes you and His glory rises upon you, and you stand up and preach, 3,000 people get saved! (Acts 2:14–41) What is important is that God gives weight to what you say.
You might be a nobody like Joseph, a slave cast aside and forgotten in a dungeon. Yet, the greatest king on earth at that time sought Joseph out to have him interpret his dreams. In other words, God will give to you answers that the people of the world do not have.
Maybe it is your hands. When you lay hands on the sick, they recover. Maybe it is your ability to give counsel that is spot on, or your ability to speak into their future with a word of knowledge or word of wisdom from God.
“The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:3) My friend, when you see this happening, it is because the people of the world are drawn to the glory of the Lord which has risen upon you!
Thought For The Day
People of the world are drawn to the glory of the Lord which has risen upon you!
1 Corinthians 1:27-28
1 Corinthians 1:27–28
| …God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen…to bring to nothing the things that are. |
| 1 Corinthians 1:27–28 |
 | God Uses What Man Deems Useless | |
There was once an old donkey that decided to go somewhere deserted to spend its last days. It found a suitable place, laid down and died after a few days. God looked down at the donkey and said, “I can’t use this donkey.”
Along came the vultures and foxes, picking off chunks of flesh from the donkey. It was a sorry sight. God looked down at the donkey and said, “I still can’t use this donkey.” Then, the ants and other critters of the wilderness came, and cleared up what the vultures and foxes had left behind. The donkey was now just a skeleton, but God still couldn’t use it.
Days and weeks passed, the burning sun scorching the bones of the donkey till they were totally dry and white. God looked down at what was left of the donkey and said, “Now I can use the donkey!”
Then along came Samson with his seven locks dancing in the wind. The man looked around for a weapon to wield against his enemies, and found…just an old dried up jawbone of a donkey. And with the seemingly useless and worthless jawbone, he slew a thousand men (Judges 15:11–17).
My friend, God uses what the world deems useless and past its shelf life to accomplish amazing feats. That’s just His style. So if people have written you off, called you “useless” or treated you as insignificant, get ready! God can and is about to use you to do the impossible. He’ll transform and empower you to do what you and your critics never dreamed possible!
Along came the vultures and foxes, picking off chunks of flesh from the donkey. It was a sorry sight. God looked down at the donkey and said, “I still can’t use this donkey.” Then, the ants and other critters of the wilderness came, and cleared up what the vultures and foxes had left behind. The donkey was now just a skeleton, but God still couldn’t use it.
Days and weeks passed, the burning sun scorching the bones of the donkey till they were totally dry and white. God looked down at what was left of the donkey and said, “Now I can use the donkey!”
Then along came Samson with his seven locks dancing in the wind. The man looked around for a weapon to wield against his enemies, and found…just an old dried up jawbone of a donkey. And with the seemingly useless and worthless jawbone, he slew a thousand men (Judges 15:11–17).
My friend, God uses what the world deems useless and past its shelf life to accomplish amazing feats. That’s just His style. So if people have written you off, called you “useless” or treated you as insignificant, get ready! God can and is about to use you to do the impossible. He’ll transform and empower you to do what you and your critics never dreamed possible!
Speak Blessings Over Your Family - Joseph Prince Message
Speak Blessings Over Your Family
For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.
Psalm 5:12
What do you believe and say to your loved ones every day? For orthodox Jews, on Friday evenings in their homes, the father lays his hands on his children and pronounces God’s blessings over them. No wonder Jewish children grow up to be winners in the fight of life! They become some of the world’s greatest inventors, bankers, musicians and entertainers.
Although a minority race, the Jews have produced the most number of Nobel Prize winners. I believe that it is because they bless their children in the same way the patriarchs of the Old Testament did. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob released God’s blessings upon their children by laying hands on them and speaking forth the blessings. (Genesis 27:27–29, 38–40; 48:14–16)
In the New Testament, the apostles pronounced blessings over the churches they were preaching to. To the church in Philippi, Paul declared, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) John released a powerful blessing upon Gaius when he said, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 1:2)
Even Jesus pronounced a blessing of deliverance on the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman — “go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter”. (Mark 7:29) This was a blessing of deliverance by proxy. The woman took it by faith and found that her daughter was well when she reached home. (Mark 7:30) Likewise, the centurion took the blessing by faith and healing came upon his servant back home. (Matthew 8:8–13)
The parents of a little girl did the same thing while worshiping in our church. Their daughter was in hospital in the final stages of cancer. When I pronounced the blessing of healing that Sunday, they received it and pronounced it over their daughter. She was soon discharged from the hospital healed!
My friend, bless your loved ones. Declare over them, “The Lord blesses you and surrounds you with His favor as with a shield.” Speak forth your own blessings by declaring, “Thank You Lord, You prosper me and I am in excellent health!”
Thought For The Day
Pronounce God’s blessings over your children and they will grow up to be winners in the fight of life.
Divine Health - Joseph Prince Lesson
The 12 Wells And 70 Palm Trees
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters. Exodus 15:27
Would you like to know an important biblical key to divine health? It is found in today’s verse, which comes right after God says, “I am the Lord who heals you.” He said this to His people after He brought them out of Egypt. (Exodus 15:26)
The wells of water and palm trees speak of refreshment. They paint a picture of an oasis in the desert. The Israelites rested and were refreshed there. But why the numbers 12 and 70?
There are no insignificant details in the Bible. The 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees represent anointed ministries that refresh you with God’s Word. So if you want to know Jesus as the Lord who heals you, sit under anointed preaching of God’s Word because when His Word goes forth, it will heal you. His Word is medicine to all your flesh! (Proverbs 4:22)
How did I make that connection? Let the Bible interpret the Bible. Matthew 10:1 says that when Jesus had “called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” He sent out the 12 and said to them, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons…” (Matthew 10:7–8)
Then, in Luke 10:1, the Lord “appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go”. He also said to the 70, “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:9)
In other words, Jesus anointed the 12 and then the 70 disciples to preach God’s Word and heal the sick. Today, if you want refreshment, if you want health and healing, don’t sit under ministries that tell you that God doesn’t always want to heal and that He sometimes gives you diseases to teach you lessons. Instead, sit under anointed ministries that preach the good news and practice healing the sick. My friend, that is how you can begin to walk in divine health!
Thought For The Day
For refreshment and health, sit under anointed ministries that preach the good news and practice healing the sick.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
After Pentecost
After Pentecost
Acts 2 tells us that on the day of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, just as Jesus had promised (Acts 1:8). Anointed by God, Peter preached in Jerusalem that day, and about 3,000 souls repented and were baptized (2:41). These new devotees of Jesus Christ didn't yet have a New Testament to guide them, so they dedicated themselves to the apostles' oral teaching (2:42). The former disciples of Jesus relied upon the Septuagint-an ancient Greek version of the Old Testament, completed about 150 B.C. and translated for Greek-speaking Jews. As the church began to compile sacred texts of its own, it was this translation of Hebrew Scripture that the New Testament writers would later refer to and quote.
Acts 2 tells us that on the day of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, just as Jesus had promised (Acts 1:8). Anointed by God, Peter preached in Jerusalem that day, and about 3,000 souls repented and were baptized (2:41). These new devotees of Jesus Christ didn't yet have a New Testament to guide them, so they dedicated themselves to the apostles' oral teaching (2:42). The former disciples of Jesus relied upon the Septuagint-an ancient Greek version of the Old Testament, completed about 150 B.C. and translated for Greek-speaking Jews. As the church began to compile sacred texts of its own, it was this translation of Hebrew Scripture that the New Testament writers would later refer to and quote.
Baruch, Confidant to Jeremiah
Baruch was confidant and secretary to Jeremiah, the weeping prophet (Jeremiah 9:1). Judgment had come to the people of Judah because of their sinfulness and Jeremiah's prophecies, understandably, were extremely unpopular. Jeremiah's faithful proclamation of God's message earned him the scorn of those in power. He was beaten, thrown in prison and banned from the temple. Knowing the difficulty of Jeremiah's situation, one might imagine that Baruch would have been wise to stay out of it. After all, as a scribe he was an extremely learned man and most likely from a distinguished family. Some have even surmised that Baruch had royal blood and a promising future ahead. So when Jeremiah asked him to record God's words and read them aloud at the temple, no one would have blamed Baruch for saying, "no, thanks." Yet Scripture records the truth: "Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord and did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him. Baruch honored God despite the consequences, which were many. His hopes and dreams were shattered. He was brave, but not invulnerable. At one point, he acknowledged a moment of severe pain, sorrow and despair. Baruch was a person like your or me. His story is also an example of God's absolute reliability, a fact demonstrate by the scribe's survival through the Babylonian invasions as promised (Jeremiah 43). Some Jewish tradition even hold that after he spent time in Egypt, he was eventually taken to Babylon, where he became Ezra's teacher. Baruch's life was fruitful despite his circumstances. Always remember, whatever we do in obedience to God endures, regardless of how difficult or hopeless the situation may seem. There are higher callings than pursuing greatness for ourselves.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Purim & The Book of Esther From Jerusalem Post
The Book of Esther: A political analysis
03/03/2013
Purim celebrations in Jerusalem, 2/25/2013 Photo: Marc Israel Sellem
The Book of Esther, which is read on Purim and to which that holiday is dedicated, has been interpreted many ways. Yet there is much to be understood by analyzing the story in terms of political ideology and strategy.
Ahasuerus is the powerful king over Persia and much more. He holds a banquet and invites the leaders of all of the provinces to weld together his diverse empire by showing his wealth, strength, ge erosity, and bringing together his political elite on terms of fellowship and equality with each other.
While drunk, he orders Queen Vashti to come to the banquet to display herself. She refuses, for unspecified reasons, and his advisers urge him to depose her and select a new queen. A young Jewish woman, Esther, is among the candidates.
Urged by her uncle Mordecai, she conceals her religion and ethnicity, enters the competition, and eventually wins.
At this point, the story introduces a new theme. The king makes Haman prime minister. Mordecai, for unspecified reasons, refuses to bow to him. On discovering Mordecai is a Jew, Haman resolves to destroy all the Jews in the empire.
The story provides a sophisticated analysis of anti-Semitism: First, Haman’s antagonism toward all Jews springs from a personal conflict. This has often been true in history.
Second, that conflict is then dressed up in political language to justify it to the ruling authority and the masses.
Third, Haman provides the classic, non-theological statement of anti-Semitism that could easily fit into the 19th and 20th centuries, or even today, mirroring the kinds of things hinted at, for example, by nominee for US secretary of defense Chuck Hagel: “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples... of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s law, and it is not in your majesty’s interest to tolerate them.”
In other words, the Jews comprise what would later be called a separate national group. It is impossible to assimilate them; they have dual loyalties; and despite their apparent weakness they plot against you.
Fourth, antagonism against the Jews camouflages a desire to loot their wealth.
The king agrees – after all, his most trusted courtier tells him it’s a kill or be killed situation – and issues the decree for genocide.
In contradiction to these claims is Mordecai’s good citizenship. It would later become a major theme of Jewish assimilation – I don’t use the word in a pejorative sense here – that Jews must prove they are the best, most loyal citizens. Mordecai saves the king by uncovering a real plot against him. By his example, Mordecai shows Jews are not disloyal subversives.
Especially remarkable is the behavior of Esther. Warned of Haman’s plan, Esther wants to do nothing. After all, she is a fully “assimilated,” even hidden, Jew. She believes her situation makes her immune from anti-Semitic retribution. But Mordecai reminds her: Do not imagine that you will escape because of your high position.
It’s easy to suggest that this can be compared to the Nazi desire to kill all Jews on a “racial” basis. But there are many types of such situations.
What’s especially interesting is that Esther’s situation shows how Jews, in an attempt to protect themselves or even to prosper from persecutions, can try to set themselves apart: converted Jews against stead- fast ones in medieval times; Modernized, semi-assimilated Jews against traditionalist immigrants in America and Western Europe; and anti-Israel Jews against pro-Israel ones and Israel itself today.
Esther, fortified by her beloved uncle’s advice and the hint of a divine role – that her position was the Creator’s doing so she could fulfill this task – risks her life to stop the mass murders.
For his part, Haman reveals part of his motivation. All his wealth, influence and power, he explains, mean “nothing to me every time I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the palace gate” and refusing to bow to him. In other words, Haman’s anti-Semitism exceeds the bounds of rational calculation. Out of blind hatred, he is willing to risk his own destruction to wipe out those whose existence he refuses to accept. That’s pretty relevant for our times.
In contrast is Mordecai’s behavior.
Made prime minister with absolute power by the king in Haman’s place, Mordecai does not seek to make the Jews the rulers (belying The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Islamist ideology) but only utilizes his authority for defensive purposes.
The king’s decree permitted the Jews to “Assemble and fight for their lives, if any people or province attacks them” and inflict unlimited vengeance. True, the retribution is horrible in modern-day terms, extending to the innocent members of families, but limited in the con- text of that era.
In contrast to Haman’s claims, they do not take their enemies’ property nor do they seek to conquer the empire, the Middle East, or the world. They just want to live and be left alone.
What does this story mean for us today in political, strategic and intellectual terms? The indecisive “Esthers” who so often populate the ranks of West- ern elites should take notice of how she resolved her dilemma. True, in their modern societies they can escape persecution because of their high positions. Indeed, by joining the lynch mobs they can even secure or better their positions. Yet in doing so they are not so much betraying a people they do not recognize as the principles of justice and intellectual honesty they claim as their new, post-ethnic and post- religious loyalty.
And, finally, the Hamans of our age are gunning for them, not solely because they are Jews – since this applies equally to their Christian counterparts – but because of their countries’ policies and their societies’ values.
Haman could have lived in peaceful coexistence with the Jews. Only since he behaved otherwise could the king decree, “Let the evil plot...
recoil on his own head.” In the Middle East’s modern history this has often happened. Those who have sought to destroy Israel have brought disaster onto their own heads and that of their own peoples.
Yet it is equally true, in the Middle East and in lands far away, that the ideology of Haman remains very much alive, even unto Persia itself.
The author is the director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center.
Ahasuerus is the powerful king over Persia and much more. He holds a banquet and invites the leaders of all of the provinces to weld together his diverse empire by showing his wealth, strength, ge erosity, and bringing together his political elite on terms of fellowship and equality with each other.
While drunk, he orders Queen Vashti to come to the banquet to display herself. She refuses, for unspecified reasons, and his advisers urge him to depose her and select a new queen. A young Jewish woman, Esther, is among the candidates.
Urged by her uncle Mordecai, she conceals her religion and ethnicity, enters the competition, and eventually wins.
At this point, the story introduces a new theme. The king makes Haman prime minister. Mordecai, for unspecified reasons, refuses to bow to him. On discovering Mordecai is a Jew, Haman resolves to destroy all the Jews in the empire.
The story provides a sophisticated analysis of anti-Semitism: First, Haman’s antagonism toward all Jews springs from a personal conflict. This has often been true in history.
Second, that conflict is then dressed up in political language to justify it to the ruling authority and the masses.
Third, Haman provides the classic, non-theological statement of anti-Semitism that could easily fit into the 19th and 20th centuries, or even today, mirroring the kinds of things hinted at, for example, by nominee for US secretary of defense Chuck Hagel: “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples... of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s law, and it is not in your majesty’s interest to tolerate them.”
In other words, the Jews comprise what would later be called a separate national group. It is impossible to assimilate them; they have dual loyalties; and despite their apparent weakness they plot against you.
Fourth, antagonism against the Jews camouflages a desire to loot their wealth.
The king agrees – after all, his most trusted courtier tells him it’s a kill or be killed situation – and issues the decree for genocide.
In contradiction to these claims is Mordecai’s good citizenship. It would later become a major theme of Jewish assimilation – I don’t use the word in a pejorative sense here – that Jews must prove they are the best, most loyal citizens. Mordecai saves the king by uncovering a real plot against him. By his example, Mordecai shows Jews are not disloyal subversives.
Especially remarkable is the behavior of Esther. Warned of Haman’s plan, Esther wants to do nothing. After all, she is a fully “assimilated,” even hidden, Jew. She believes her situation makes her immune from anti-Semitic retribution. But Mordecai reminds her: Do not imagine that you will escape because of your high position.
It’s easy to suggest that this can be compared to the Nazi desire to kill all Jews on a “racial” basis. But there are many types of such situations.
What’s especially interesting is that Esther’s situation shows how Jews, in an attempt to protect themselves or even to prosper from persecutions, can try to set themselves apart: converted Jews against stead- fast ones in medieval times; Modernized, semi-assimilated Jews against traditionalist immigrants in America and Western Europe; and anti-Israel Jews against pro-Israel ones and Israel itself today.
Esther, fortified by her beloved uncle’s advice and the hint of a divine role – that her position was the Creator’s doing so she could fulfill this task – risks her life to stop the mass murders.
For his part, Haman reveals part of his motivation. All his wealth, influence and power, he explains, mean “nothing to me every time I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the palace gate” and refusing to bow to him. In other words, Haman’s anti-Semitism exceeds the bounds of rational calculation. Out of blind hatred, he is willing to risk his own destruction to wipe out those whose existence he refuses to accept. That’s pretty relevant for our times.
In contrast is Mordecai’s behavior.
Made prime minister with absolute power by the king in Haman’s place, Mordecai does not seek to make the Jews the rulers (belying The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Islamist ideology) but only utilizes his authority for defensive purposes.
The king’s decree permitted the Jews to “Assemble and fight for their lives, if any people or province attacks them” and inflict unlimited vengeance. True, the retribution is horrible in modern-day terms, extending to the innocent members of families, but limited in the con- text of that era.
In contrast to Haman’s claims, they do not take their enemies’ property nor do they seek to conquer the empire, the Middle East, or the world. They just want to live and be left alone.
What does this story mean for us today in political, strategic and intellectual terms? The indecisive “Esthers” who so often populate the ranks of West- ern elites should take notice of how she resolved her dilemma. True, in their modern societies they can escape persecution because of their high positions. Indeed, by joining the lynch mobs they can even secure or better their positions. Yet in doing so they are not so much betraying a people they do not recognize as the principles of justice and intellectual honesty they claim as their new, post-ethnic and post- religious loyalty.
And, finally, the Hamans of our age are gunning for them, not solely because they are Jews – since this applies equally to their Christian counterparts – but because of their countries’ policies and their societies’ values.
Haman could have lived in peaceful coexistence with the Jews. Only since he behaved otherwise could the king decree, “Let the evil plot...
recoil on his own head.” In the Middle East’s modern history this has often happened. Those who have sought to destroy Israel have brought disaster onto their own heads and that of their own peoples.
Yet it is equally true, in the Middle East and in lands far away, that the ideology of Haman remains very much alive, even unto Persia itself.
The author is the director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center.
March 5, 2013 - Locust Swarm Egypt & Israel
Locust swarm of biblical proportions strikes Egypt, Israel before Passover
Experts say a swarm of locusts in Egypt could cause severe crop damage. The correlation to the plague of locusts in the Bible has the Internet buzzing.
The timing of the insect invasion is eerie, because the Bible's Book of Exodus tells of 10 plagues that hit Egypt before Moses and the Jews were allowed to leave for the Promised Land. A plague of locusts was the eighth on the list — but Pharaoh didn't relent until the 10th plague, which killed off all of Egypt's firstborn sons. Every year at Passover, Jews commemorate how they were spared.
Locust swarms have the potential to wipe out agricultural crops, and it's been eight years since such a serious assault has hit Egypt's Cairo region and Israel, said Keith Cressman, the senior locust forecasting officer at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's headquarters in Rome.
"They came from the Sudan-Egypt border after breeding in December and January, flew north along the coast to nearly Suez, then got caught in some winds associated with a low-pressure system over the central Mediterranean to Cairo," Cressman told NBC News in an email. The weather system moved eastward, and on Monday, changing winds carried the swarm to the northern Sinai Peninsula and Israel's Negev Desert, he said.
A spokeswoman for Israel's Agriculture Ministry, Dafna Yurista, told The Associated Press that planes have gone out to spray pesticides on agricultural fields, to head off damage by a relatively small swarm of 2,000 locusts. Authorities called upon residents to be vigilant in reporting locust sightings.
Egypt's Ahram Online reported Sunday that locust swarms were attacking agricultural land in Suez, but other reports quoted Egyptian authorities as saying that the bugs were being "eradicated" and that no significant damage was being done to crops.
Cressman said the locusts of the Middle East don't follow the predictable kind of cycle that dictates the rise and fall of cicada swarms. "Outbreaks depend on rains in the desert, which are infrequent and irregular," he explained.
Photos of the locusts involved in the current outbreak suggest that these particular insects are "old and tired rather than young and hungry," Cressman said. If that's the case, this week's plague "will probably come to nothing," he said.
"However, there are other swarms that have moved from northeast Sudan and southeast Egypt to the Nile Valley in north Sudan, where they quickly matured and started laying eggs last week in winter crops," Cressman said. The eggs are expected to hatch in about a week, producing wingless nymphs that would become adult locusts in about six weeks. Those swarms could move into central Sudan and get a breeding boost from the summer rains that traditionally fall between June and September.
Apostles - How They Died
Study of the Apostles, traditional views of their martyrdom have been passed down from generation to generation.
Peter: crucified
Andrew: crucified
James the Greater: beheaded
John: died in exile
Thomas: speared
Bartholomew: crucified
Jude: crucified
James the Less: possibly stoned
Philip: crucified
Matthew: burned alive
Simon the Zealot: crucified
Matthias: stoned and beheaded
Paul: beheaded
Sunday, March 3, 2013
A Poem: Billy Graham's Remembrance of His Wife
Should you go first and I remain,
To walk the road alone
I'll live in memory's garden dear,
With happy days we've known
In spring I'll wait for roses red,
When fades the lilacs bloom
And in early fall when brown leaves fall,
I'll catch a glimpse of you
Should you go first and I remain,
For battles to be fought
Each thing you've touched along the way,
Will be a hallowed spot
I'll hear your voice I'll see your smile
Though blindly I may grope
The memory of your helping hand,
Will buoy me on with hope
(c)Beyond the sunset
Oh blissful (g)morning
When with our savior,
Heaven is be(c)gun
Earth's toiling ended,
Oh glorious (f)dawning
Beyond the (c)sunset (g)
When day is (c)done
Should you go first and I remain,
To finish with the scroll
No lessening shadows shall ever creep in
To make this life seem droll
We've known so much of happiness,
We've had our cup of joy
And memory is one gift of God,
That death cannot destroy
I want to know each step you take,
That I may walk the same
For someday down that lonely road,
You'll hear me call your name
Should you go first and I remain,
One thing I'll have you do
Walk slowly down that long long path,
For soon I'll follow you
(c)In that fair homeland
We'll know no (f)parting
Beyond the (c)sunset (g)
For ever (c)more
To walk the road alone
I'll live in memory's garden dear,
With happy days we've known
In spring I'll wait for roses red,
When fades the lilacs bloom
And in early fall when brown leaves fall,
I'll catch a glimpse of you
Should you go first and I remain,
For battles to be fought
Each thing you've touched along the way,
Will be a hallowed spot
I'll hear your voice I'll see your smile
Though blindly I may grope
The memory of your helping hand,
Will buoy me on with hope
(c)Beyond the sunset
Oh blissful (g)morning
When with our savior,
Heaven is be(c)gun
Earth's toiling ended,
Oh glorious (f)dawning
Beyond the (c)sunset (g)
When day is (c)done
Should you go first and I remain,
To finish with the scroll
No lessening shadows shall ever creep in
To make this life seem droll
We've known so much of happiness,
We've had our cup of joy
And memory is one gift of God,
That death cannot destroy
I want to know each step you take,
That I may walk the same
For someday down that lonely road,
You'll hear me call your name
Should you go first and I remain,
One thing I'll have you do
Walk slowly down that long long path,
For soon I'll follow you
(c)In that fair homeland
We'll know no (f)parting
Beyond the (c)sunset (g)
For ever (c)more
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