All posts filed under: z124

An image from the Morgan Bible (1240AD) of King David bringing the Ark of the Covenant where he set up the Tabernacle of David. Credit: Wikipedia

Have archaeologists found the site where the Ark of the Covenant once sat at Kiriath-Jearim?

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The Times of Israel is reporting archaeologists from Tel Aviv University and College de Franc may have found the site where Israel’s Ark of the Covenant once sat at Kiriath-Jearim. Located on a hill near the Israeli-Arab town of Abu Ghosh in central Israel, Kiriath-Jearim was the site where the Ark of the Covenant sat before King David transported it to Jerusalem and set up in what is was referred to as the Tabernacle of David (1 Chronicles 13:5-8, Amos 9:11, Acts 15:16). The Ark of the Covenant initially sat inside the Tabernacle of Moses set up at Shiloh. However, it was lost when the priests carried the ark into battle against the Philistines, who then captured the Ark. After a series of mishaps, the Philistines returned the Ark to Israel allowing it to be carried on a cart pulled by oxen. Unguided, the oxen brought the Ark to Beth Shemesh. However, when 70 residents of the town were killed after opening the chest to look inside, the residents of the town sent a message …

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The Lying Truth

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I love to tell stories Sometimes it’s hard to tell if what I am saying is actually true. When I worked in a clinic for a few years as a counselor, my co-workers would phone my wife to ask if what I was saying was true. Kind of weird since how did they know she was not lying to them? I guess you could say that some of my stories were deceitful. I disguised them as the truth until the very end when I admitted I made the whole thing up. One time my son and his girlfriend, Judith, were camping. I suppose he was bored because he asked us to join them around the campfire. Now I have a reputation as a bit of a story-teller so when we get there, I sit at the campfire and start making up a story. I can make up a story at any time about anything. On this particular night I started rambling on about nothing in general until it formed itself into a story. Although I …

Credit: Fergus Macdonald/Flickr/Creative Commons

Is Islam Incompatible with Christianity?

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Very recently, in a “town hall” meeting, a citizen questioned the Prime Minister of Canada, and stated that Islam is not compatible with Christianity. People in the audience booed, and I have since read comments aimed at the citizen, about Fascists and Nazis and intolerant people. RELATED: Trudeau stands up for immigrants as town hall questioner slams Islam I know the speaker had one big problem. He is an unsophisticated citizen and he was up against a skilled and sophisticated spin-doctor politician. My advice to anyone who disagrees with a professional politician, is to stay away from the microphone. We can’t compete in their arena. In the case of the Canadian Prime Minister, the citizen with a grievance became a foil. In literature, that means a mirror. If the citizen can appear to be bumbling and unsophisticated, the politician can look like a shining star of reasonableness, in contrast. The citizen’s concern will never be heard, and no-one will try to understand. Modern western culture is dominated by sound bites, and insulting put-downs, and bitter …

Martha and Mary by Georg Friedrich (1639)/Wikipedia/Public Domain

Are you an over-functioner?

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My many years of operating as an over-functioner qualifies me to say that “we do not serve ourselves or our families well when we over-function.” So what is over-functioning? Over-functioning takes place when when we do for others what they can and should do for themselves.  When we do this, it stops people from growing up and taking responsibility for their own lives. We keep them in a perpetual state of immaturity. I remember reading a story of a married couple who had kicked their 30-year old son out of the home. He wasn’t working and expected them to look after him. They were not doing him any favors by letting him continue in this lifestyle. He had to grow up. Incredibly, their son even sued to stop his parents from forcing him out of the home. Fortunately for him, he lost. But it is easy for this to happen. We become the biggest obstacle to our children taking responsibility for themselves  and end up stunting their emotional and spiritual growth. We do not allow …

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More warnings about health risks associated with Marijuana usage

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In the rush to appear progressive, governments around the world are legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.  The millions of dollars they collect in additional tax revenues is also proving very tempting. But the bigger issue for me is not the legalization of the drug, but rather the messaging behind why they are doing it. Politicians and activists are insisting Marijuana is a safe drug. This is happening in the face of a growing body of medical research warning people that Cannabis is not the safe drug many are proclaiming it to be. There are big concerns. Foxnews recently interviewed Dr. Marc Siegel who serves as a professor of medicine at NYU Lagone Medical Center and is also a regular Foxnews contributor. In the interview, he said: “My job is to let you know that there is no free lunch medically with marijuana or any drug. Even if a state or a society decides that it is wise economically and politically to make marijuana legal, at the same time we must be prepared for the …

Auschwitz II, Birkenau Concentration Camp in Poland. Credit: Ian Mackenzier/Flickr/Creative Commons

Study: Holocaust survivors lived longer because they were resilient

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According to a report in the Daily Mail, a study conducted by researchers with Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) based in Tel Aviv, Israel came to a startling conclusion that Jews who survived the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, lived on average seven years longer than Jews who did not go through the Holocaust. MSH is an Israeli healthcare insurer with over two million members. The researchers studied 83,000 Jews, both male and female, born between 1911 and 1945 who were insured by the Maccabi. This included 38,000 European Jews now living in Israel who survived the Holocaust and 35,000 Jews also living in Israel who had not directly experienced the Nazi genocide. The study revealed that those who survived the Nazi death camps lived to an average age of 84.8 years compared to an average of 77.7 for those who did not directly experience the Nazi genocide. In effect, the mortality rate of those who suffered was 16% lower than those who didn’t. Ironically, the Jews who survived the holocaust tended to have more …

Left to Right: Clemson Tiger Coach Dabo Swineey Credit: LambeauLeap80/Wikipedia and Actor Christian Bale Credit: Siebbi/Wikpedia

Two darkly contrasting testimonies: Actor Christian Bale and Clemson Tide coach Dabo Swinney

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Monday, January 7, 2019, was a bizarre day for testimonies. You couldn’t find a greater contrast. On one hand you have actor Christian Bale thanking Satan for helping win a Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy or musical. Bale portrayed Vice President Dick Cheney in the movie Vice. In his acceptance speech, Bale said: “Thank you to Satan for giving me inspiration on how to play this role.” Meanwhile, out on the football field, the Clemson Tigers won the NCAA college football title Monday night beating favored, and number one ranked, Alabama Crimson Tide 44-16. During an interview after the game, Clemson Tigers’ coach Dabo Swinney gave glory to Jesus for the team’s victory. It started when an ESPN reporter stated that few coaches showed as much joy as Swinney and asked him to express his feelings after the victory: “Well that’s been my world all year, and I tried to be intentioned with that, for me personally, joy comes from focusing on Jesus, others and yourself. “There are so many great coaches …

Dedza, Malawi site of the most recent river turning blood red. Credit: Brian Dell/Public Domain/Wikipedia

More blood-red rivers, a sign of the times?

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Breaking Israel News (BIN) reported on two curious incidents that occurred the end of December when two rivers turned blood-red, one in Africa and one in Indonesia. According to a report on Malawi 24, the Linthipe River near Dedza, Malawi, Africa, turned blood-red and was first noticed when the women of the town went down to the river to launder their clothes . Dedza is located just 85 km south of the country’s capital Lilonqwe. Malawi 24 quoted one woman in the village who stated: “As usual, we came to this place to wash our clothes besides drawing water for home use. But to our surprise we saw that blood like stuff was flowing in the river. This scared us and we called some people to witness the bizarre circumstances.” It is uncertain at this point what caused the river to turn blood-red on December 24, 2018 and though the river eventually returned to its normal color, according to MWnation, the rivers sudden turning caused a panic among the people in the town quoting one …

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You Need A Business Failure In The New Year?

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Some of us own businesses. I own a small business, very small. It exists mostly so I can get paid with invoices. There is no gleaming office tower. A few days ago I talked to a good friend who also owns a business. Well, he did own a business, until the Credit Union called in a loan. They seized his inventory, worth much more than what he owed, and auctioned it for about two hundred dollars. Now they might force the sale of his house. I met my friend for a coffee break, and when I located him, he was at a site working with another man. The other man was friendly, but really wanted to know who I was. I learned later that he owned a successful business, and he needed to upgrade some equipment. He went to a lender that specialized in business loans, and they looked at his books carefully. Their conclusion was that they would only give him a line-of-credit for ten times what he asked for. They saw great potential …