All posts filed under: z17

The Baal arches scheduled to be set up in London's Trafalgar Square have been cancelled. Photo: Trafalgar Square by Hector Rodriguez/Flickr/Creative Commons

Baal arches scheduled for New York City and London, England — CANCELLED

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[UPDATED SEPTEMBER 20, 2016:] It is now being reported that the Baal arch originally planned for New York City and then cancelled is on again. According to Breaking Israel News (BIN) a replica of the 1,800 year old Victory Arch that stood in front of a Baal Temple in Plamyra, Sryia went up in New York City’s Hall Park on September 19th. Roman Emperor Servius constructed the original arch in the third century and installed it in front of an ancient Baal Temple. The arch was destroyed in 2015 by the radical Islamic group ISIS. An organization called the Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) announced plans in March this year to create a 15-meter tall 3-D replica of the Arch with plans to install one in both New York City and London, England. Though the New York City installation was cancelled some believe due to public pressure IDA installed the arch in London’s Trafalgar Square on April 19th. ……………………………………………….. I had reported earlier on several media reports stating that an organization called the Institute of …

Jesus wants to bring emotional healing. Photo: Olaf Meyer/Flickr/Creative Commons

Jesus came to heal the ‘shivering’ heart

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According to researchers from Denmark’s Aarhus University, human grief can literally cause heart problems. The research team looked at the medical data for about one million Danes and discovered that people who experience the loss of a partner had a 41% increased chance of an irregular heartbeat. Called atrial fibrillation or arrhythmia, it takes place when there is a breakdown in the heart’s electrical system causing the heart’s chambers to flutter or beat very fast. It can result in increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and even death. The risk was even higher when the death was unexpected resulting in a 57% increased risk of atrial fibrillation. They also discovered this was happening to people who up to this point had never experienced an irregular heart beat. In the study, the researchers found that of the 88,612 who were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation for the first time, 17,478 had experienced the loss of a loved one within the previous year. In a Los Angeles Times article, Simon Graff, one of the study leaders, said: “Stress …

Do everything to the glory of God. Photo: Welder/Sorenslim/Flickr/Creative Commons

Secular or Sacred?

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If I were to ask average believers what percent of their day would fall under the heading of secular activities vs. sacred, would the answer be 50/50, or 60/40, or even 80/20? If you were a full time pastor, we might expect your sacred time would be higher that if you were, say, a welder. Christian musicians sometimes comment that on Sundays they play sacred music, but on Friday and Saturday they play secular. Although we all understand what they mean, I believe that this division is arbitrary and non-biblical. This topic was brought to my attention while I was reading a book called Know The Truth by Bruce Milne. The author was discussing the modern friction between the natural and the supernatural. I was surprised to learn that the Hebrew vocabulary and thinking from the Old Testament has no equivalent for our word “nature” or “natural”. God is responsible for all; the “natural” world was created by the spiritual. The Old Testament followers saw rain from clouds and water from a rock as both …

Photo: Justin K./Flickr/Creative Commons

It doesn’t have to be a life sentence

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I lost my eldest son Graham in 2004 to suicide. Six years later my grief took me to a five-day seminar to help deal with the emotional upheaval in my life due to his death. I had filled out their forms, answered questions, shared my story and the reasons why I wanted to attend the seminar. On the first day, we all received a name tag. One facilitator came up to me and gave me mine. I glanced at it as I took it from her hand. The words “life sentence” we’re neatly printed on it.  It caught me completely off guard.  It took a few days into the seminar to face the cold hard facts. As  judge, juror and prosecutor, I had sentenced myself to a life-time of guilt and shame  for the death of my son. Death from suicide carries a stigma with it and the grieving is more complex. I could not understand why my son took this drastic measure. He willingly left us. I did something wrong. My husband and I …

One of Jacob's lambs in England. Photo: Paul Blakeman/Flickr/Creative Commons

‘Jacob’s Sheep’ returning home?

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Sheep have played an important role in Israel’s economy and religious life for centuries. However, the sheep that cover  Israel’s fields today are not the same sheep that existed in Old Testament times. Today’s white and brown-faced sheep are part of  a breed known as Awassi that originated in Syria. However, the ancient breed of sheep that the Patriarch Jacob developed and cared for still exist today and a family from British Columbia, Canada has one of the world’s few remaining flocks of this rare breed. And over the past few years, they along with a non-profit society have been working to send this flock to Israel. Going by their name Jacob’s Sheep, they are on the endangered list and are considered one of the oldest sheep breeds in the world. They are officially listed as an ‘heirloom” breed meaning there is stock alive today that is basically unaltered from the time it first existed in the Middle East. They still have the same characteristics mentioned in the Bible: Speckles and spots (Genesis 30:32); Horns …

Jennifer Garner at the opening of The Invention of Lying at the Toronto Film Festival in 2009. Photo: Reza Vaziri/Flickr/Creative Commons

Was actress Jennifer Garner impacted by a miracle?

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Actress Jennifer Garner, 43, recently announced that she and her three children are starting to attend church as a direct result of Garner’s starring role in the Christian movie Miracles from Heaven. Garner said they have rarely missed a Sunday since. Jennifer who  separated from her husband Ben Affleck comes from a Christian background and growing up lived for a few years in Calgary, Alberta. Garner made her big break playing a CIA officer in the ABC spy-thriller Alias where she won a Golden Globe and received three Emmy nominations for her performance. She has also shown up on the big screen acting in movies such a Daredevil, Juno, Dallas Buyers Club and recently Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day. Miracles made from Heaven, produced by Affirm Film that lists popular pastor T.D. Jakes as one of its producers, is scheduled for release March 16, 2016. In the movie, Jennifer plays Christy Beam, the real-life mother of a young girl named Annabelle who was miraculously spared serious injury after falling down …

Artist's conception of an asteroid. Image NASA/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

NASA tweets about a massive asteroid blast over the Atlantic on February 6, 2016

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NASA is reporting that on February 6, 2016, an asteroid exploded over the Atlantic ocean about 1,000 kms (620 miles) off the coast of Brazil. The news of explosion was tweeted by NASA’s Ron Baalke. This is the largest asteroid explosion since the one that hit Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013. NASA estimates this year’s explosion was the size of the nuclear bomb that hit Hiroshima in World War 11. But with a blast equal to 13,000 tons of TNT, it was minuscule compared to the 19-meter asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk. Scientists estimated that blast at 400,000 tons of TNT. Nearly, 1,600 people were injured as result of exploding glass caused by the explosion. It is estimated the asteroid off Brazil was about a third the size — maybe five to seven meters wide. NASA says there are several asteroids exploding in the atmosphere each year, but since most happen over the ocean they go unnoticed. Because of the dangerous threats they pose to human life, NASA tracks asteroids. Of the 12,992 asteroids that it …

Photo of Pool of Siloam current site and artists rendering of what it looked like initially. Images: photo of pool in 2007/Wikipedia/Daniel Ventura -- Artist rendering Wikipedia/Yoav Dothan

Pool of Siloam discovered

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An article in the Los Angeles Times reported on the discovery of the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem in 2004. It was the place of one of Jesus’ more unusual healings (John 9:1-33). In the account recorded in the Book of John, Jesus and the disciples came across a man blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus if this man was being punished for his parents’ sin or his own sin. Jesus answered neither, then spitting on the ground He created paste from the mud and applied it to the man’s eyes. Jesus then told the man to go to the Pool of Siloam and clean off his eyes. After doing that, the man could immediately see. The healing proved controversial as the pharisees challenged the healing because it took place on the Sabbath and was considered work. Over the years those of a Liberal persuasion have argued that the Pool of Siloam never existed. They believed John made up the pool and by implication the story involving Jesus that came with it. But that …

Are you playing the blame game?

A woman’s perspective: Are you playing the blame game?

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Too often, many of us are tempted to blame others for our feelings of insignificance.  For a Christian, it is not uncommon to blame the church for one’s unhappiness. We may feel ignored because our gifts or contributions have not been recognized. In our minds, we feel invisible and unable to gain the attention we so desperately need. In other words, we are looking to the church to fulfill our purpose and calling thus taking the responsibility off our shoulders and placing it on theirs. It is a temporary comfort though. When things don’t work out as we hoped, it ends up being the church’s fault and not ours. Often, we blame God as well because we perceive the church as the only means by which God can fulfill our purpose. For many years, I blamed the church for my unhappiness and for not meeting my personal needs. I believed it was their responsibility and not mine. I ashamedly admit it was an attempt to make myself feel better. Deep down I was angry for …

A sign of the times? Calbuco Volcanoe, Chile Photo: Andiseno Estudio/Flickr/Creative Commons

Another end times event — volcanoes?

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Español: Otro evento final de los tiempos – volcanes? I had never heard of Perry Stone, an American Bible teacher and TV evangelist, but I recently came across his interpretation of verses in Joel speaking of the end-times, that caught my attention. Joel writes: “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. 31 “The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. (Joel 2:30-31 NASV) Up to this point, I have interpreted these verses referring to blood, fire, columns of smoke, dark sun and blood moon as describing the aftermath of a great earthquake the Apostle John refers to in Revelation 6:12-17. However, Stone has a different twist on this passage and I think he might be right. He believes Joel is describing giant volcanic eruptions exploding on the earth. Columns of smoke perfectly describe the aftermath of volcanoes. The resulting ash pouring into the atmosphere will cause a darkening of the sun and …