All posts filed under: z53

Ho Chi Minh city (formerly Saigon) Viet Nam. Credit: Colin Key/Flickr/Creative Commons

Original sin

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Studies show that the average person lies about 100 times a day. As one writer tactfully noted, this was not talking about you specifically, but the average person. In the study, published in the Journal of Basic and Applied Psychology, University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert Feldman recruited 121 pairs of men and women attending classes at the university to take part in the study. They had no idea what it involved at this point. They were then brought together and asked to have conversations with the other participants. Most of them did not know each other. They were unaware that the conversations were being recorded and researchers received the required permission after, before moving to the next stage. The students were then asked to view the video and to pick out the lies — from the most innocent to the most blatant. They found that over 60% of the participants lied within the first ten minutes of their conversation and told an average of 2.92 lies. They found men and women lied the same amount, …

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Sex addiction is real

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Dr. Stefanie Carnes is president of the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). She recently came out against those in the therapy community who do not believe people can be sex addicts. IITAP provides materials and support for those working in the addiction community. She pointed to several studies that show sex addiction is a very real problem. In particular, she cited the recent research of Ji-Woo Seok and Jin-Hun Sohn at Chungnam National University in South Korea. The two work at the university’s brain research institute. Their findings confirmed what earlier studies have shown — sex addiction is real for both men and women. In their study, Seok and Sohn found that people with a sex addiction share many similarities to those with alcohol and drug addictions. Like other addicts, those with a sex addiction spend an inordinate amount of time searching for pornography to satisfy their craving. Sex addicts have the same level of sexual desire as the normal population, but similar to other addictions have a higher degree of wanting …

Huli Wigmen tribesmen, Papau, New Guinea Credit: Didrik Johnck/Flickr/Creative Commons

The ten-foot angel said “I am not going to let you kill her”

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It was February 24, 2009, when Canadian missionary Sue Ambrose heard the sound of someone running up behind her. She turned and saw a madman coming at her with an upraised machete. She remembers screaming “No” and the crazed man yelling “Yeah, you” then the blade deflected off her skull, chipping bone, and slicing off skin and hair. Stunned Sue fell to the ground, but continued to fight back. When the man thrust the large knife into her hip, she grabbed the blade to stop him from striking her again severing several tendons in her hand. From Salmon Arm, BC, Sue and her husband Mark serve as Wycliffe missionaries in Papua, New Guinea. She was returning to the missionary compound after buying food at the local market for the students at the Bible and literacy school where she and her husband minister. She used these walks as a time of meditative prayer and that morning she was contemplating a verse she had spoken to people about that morning: “Whoever desires to save his life will …

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But Satan hindered us

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It was a cold winter night in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada as my wife, then fiancé, and I drove a lonely highway to visit my parents. We had started late afternoon for the six-hour drive. Other than a car following behind us, there wasn’t much traffic. But two flickering lights off in the dark distance warned of an approaching vehicle. As the car got closer, it suddenly veered into our lane. Panicked my wife who was driving wrenched the steering wheel to the right and our car plunged into the ditch. We hit the ditch at full speed and the deep snow gripped our front wheels and our car rolled. Not sideways, but end over end — back over front. Suddenly my wife and I were hanging upside down in our car. I remember fumbling with the keys and turning off the vehicle. We released our seat belts and collapsed on the ceiling of the car. Other than being in total shock about what had just happened, we were unhurt. But the deep snow, that had …

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My Courageous Heart

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This year, 2017, I choose to embrace my courageous heart. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1;9 NIV) I must admit, though, many times, ‘my courageous heart’ just wants to run and hide. Often, when I start doubting myself and my abilities, I reach for my little book of affirmations — my brightly, colored Peacock book — where I have written statements and declarations that I want to make my own. At times, when I find myself battling self-doubt, I have woken up in the middle of the night, sat down on the couch  and opened this little book of truth to reaffirm God’s love,  intentions and perceptions of me. Every time I do this, I come out on the other side with a clarity and deep knowing that God is with me and has not changed His mind on anything concerning my life. My favourite affirmation at the moment is: …

Fortified bridge of the town of Besalu, Spain Credit: Mariluz Rodriguez/Flickr/Creative Commons

Evangelical church growing in Spain and France

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Reading reports out of Europe, you get the impression that the Christian church is not doing well. And though it’s true the Roman Catholic and liberal churches are in decline pretty much like they are around the world, the Evangelical church is doing fine. A recent report by the Spanish Government says the Evangelical church is on the upswing in Spain. According to the Religious Plurality report released by the country’s Justice ministry, as of December 31, 2016 there are 3,910 Evangelical churches in Spain, up from 3,769 in 2015, an increase of 141. In other words, last year a new Evangelical church opened in that country every two and a half days. These numbers only included registered churches and do not include unregistered house churches or Bible study/prayer groups. The report added that the Evangelical church is also the fastest growing religion in Spain. Religion analyst Maximo Alvarez who described the increase as a “great upturn,” said the growth has been most pronounced since 2000. With 46 million people, there is still a need …

Crosses overlooking Matera, Italy. Credit: Hugh Bell/Flickr/Creative Commons

Religion Doesn’t Work Anymore

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In 2015, Muslim pilgrims in Mecca were caught in a human stampede and thousands were killed. The Hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca, is a requirement for all Muslims. A devout Muslim should do the Hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once. Now, squeezing millions into a small place in the desert, for a few days, and keeping things traditional, is becoming impossible. When things go wrong with the Hajj, thousands die in the stampedes and governments almost go to war. Now the lunar cycle for setting the date has come to the hot desert summer, and it will stay on the summer for a decade. Management of the Hajj has become a crisis. Believers must go, but it’s so hard. I remember when I was in High School, my church told me to “win my friends for Christ.” I looked at my school friends and I didn’t see any way to make that happen. At church we had music with a piano and organ, and a strict Sunday schedule, and so much more. We had a …

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But the Lord directs our steps

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Twenty years ago, my husband Dean and I were pastoring a satellite church plant in Hong Kong on an island called Discovery Bay. We had gathered a diverse group of people in one of our house churches — a good mix of new and established believers. People were coming to the Lord and being filled with the Holy Spirit. But within this group, there were also some very established missionaries. They had ministered in Hong Kong for several years, and were without a house church so they joined our small group. They were faithful servants of the Lord, but did not believe in the moving of the Holy Spirit. They saw the Holy Spirit as only “the Comforter,” and they often disagreed with the way Dean and I ministered. There is a verse in Ecclesiastes that warns evil times can suddenly fall upon us: 12 Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil …

The Manitoba Legislature: A beacon of the occult?

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Frank Albo theorizes the legislature of Manitoba, a province in Canada, is a “beacon of the occult.” While many scoff at the notion, through years of research Albo collected evidence showing the building, which houses the provincial government in the city of Winnipeg, is not your typical building. Albo, who has researched eastern religions, says he was driving by the Manitoba legislature in 2001, when he noticed two stone sphinxes perched on the roof. These were clearly Egyptian icons and he wondered why such symbols would be on a building in the middle of Canada. His interest peaked, Albo started a five-year study of the building, which started construction in 1912 and completed in 1920, 300% over budget. As he poked around the immense structure, he realized it honored a number of ancient deities. At the same time, it incorporated many of the fundamental ideals of Freemasonry in its architecture. Not surprisingly, he discovered the chief designer of the building, Frank Simon, had been schooled in free masonry design techniques. Freemasonry combines elements of the temple …

Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas founder, denounces the terrorist organization

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As Israel and Hamas continue to battle in the Gaza strip, CNN released a stunning interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef, 36, a former Hamas and son of Hamas founder Hassan Yousef. His father, a powerful Sheik living in the West Bank, helped start the terrorist organization in 1987. But Mosab not only left Hamas, he also left the Muslim faith and became a Christian. The conflict started a few weeks ago when the terrorist group Hamas, that now controls Gaza, unleashed an unrelenting barrage of missiles on Israel.  A key part of Hamas’ defense strategy includes hiding its forces within civilian populations hoping civilian deaths would turn public opinion against Israel. But the media, which is traditionally anti Israel, is starting to see Hamas for what it really is — a brutally violent, terrorist organization. In the CNN interview, Mosab said:

Sir Isaac Newton predicted world would end in 2060 AD. Painting by Pelagio Palagi Fillippo (1643-1727)

Sir Isaac Newton predicted world would end in 2060 AD

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Most know Sir Isaac Newton as the father of modern science. Newton who died in 1727 is considered among the world’s most influential scientists. He formulated the law of gravity and the law of motion thereby explaining the movement of the planets, moons and stars due to gravitational pull of larger bodies. It radically transformed man’s approach to astronomy. But Newton was also an ardent Christian and had a tremendous interest in end-times theology. He spent hours researching the Bible on the second coming of Jesus Christ. This curious side of Newton was unveiled in a display of Newton’s writings at the University of Jerusalem entitled “Newton’s Secrets.” It was an odd combination — Hebrew scholars analyzing Christian prophecy. A truckload of Newton’s writings and letters — located in the house of the Earl of Portsmouth one of Newton’s heirs — was auctioned off in 1936. English economist John Maynard Keynes purchased the document and then willed them to King’s college in England and to Abraham Shalom Yahuda, a Jewish Oriental studies scholar. The later bequeathed …