Guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord…

It’s your choice… But the Word warns against taking the Holy Communion lightly…   —Editor
I Corinthians 11:27 (NASB)
… Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord…

Jay Bakker’s Rainbow Bread “Communion”

juicyecumenism.com

By Kristin Rudolph    15 May 2013
Kristin Rudolph (@Kristin_Rudolph)

This week Minnesota became the twelfth state in the United States to redefine marriage. Jay Bakker, son of the televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, marked the occasion by offering “rainbow bread” for “communion” at the inaugural service of Revolution Church Minnesota on Sunday, May 12th. Bakker explained all were welcome to participate in the meal regardless of religious belief or lack thereof, and that “today we do this in remembrance of what Christ did and what folks who followed in Christ’s footsteps did, but also in the celebration of what’s happened here in the House and with what our hopes are to happen tomorrow in the Senate.”

Bakker co-founded Revolution Church in 1994 in Phoenix, Arizona, and has moved the church to various cities since then. Most recently he pastored Revolution NYC until he relocated to Minneapolis in March 2013. Explaining the “rainbow bread” to those gathered at Bryant Lake Bowl, he said “Hell yeah I’m gettin’ political. This is to celebrate our LGBTQ [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer] brothers and sisters … [and remember] those who maybe didn’t make it this far.”

The Church, Bakker claimed, is “the final frontier of equality in this issue … we still haven’t seen the full importance of these civil rights in the faith that I love and care about so much.” Bakker, who has been critical of the politicization of Christianity urged attendees, “If you have a chance tomorrow go out to the capitol and call your [senators] … let them know that you believe in equality. If you don’t believe in equality stay at home. Sleep in, go to work, just don’t talk to anybody.”

Bakker, popular Minnesota based emergent writer Tony Jones, and others held a vigil at the state’s capitol Monday, May 13th for the senate’s vote to legalize same-sex marriage in their state.

Complementing the rainbow bread, Bakker spoke on grace and inclusion, focusing on St. Paul, who “gets grace the most,” as he was a ruthless persecutor of Christians before his conversion. “The Bible is full of unperfect [sic] people” and it was “murderers and traitors … literally starting a faith, being part of a faith and that’s what I would call the good news,” Bakker said. He added that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi also “Really got the idea of what inclusion was meant to be, what loving your enemy was meant to be, what loving your neighbor.”

“The idea of Christ was to come into that midst and find the one who’s doing the hurting and turn him into an ally turn him into someone who’s loved and what you see here is … a love of inclusion,” Bakker claimed. But most Christians don’t get this, he said, asserting: “We’re always looking for the one person grace doesn’t cover. You know I think that’s what Christianity has become … we’re looking for the loopholes in grace.” Not even St. Paul meets Bakker’s inclusivity standards, as he declared “Paul said some stuff that’s pretty crazy …  there would be times if I knew Paul the apostle … [I would say] ‘Listen, I’m going to have to call bullshit on this … remember your message.’”

“Inclusion in the Church” is so important to Bakker that he has “a hard time dealing with ideas of hell … when I see a God that reaches out to people in the midst of murder and in the midst of betrayal and says ‘I want you. I want to use you. You are loved and you are cared for.’”

“It’s so strange that we’ve seen our faith become perverted by people who want to say this isn’t for you and … you’re not good enough for it,” he said. Instead, Bakker suggested Christians should “[B]e patient with one another and … learn to live within our brokenness and allow other people to be broken even if it’s not broken in the way we necessarily like it. Cause there’s a lot of really cool ways to be broken and then there’s a lot of uncool ways to be broken, but we’re called to love.”

“What MLK did got him killed. What Ghandi did got him killed. What Jesus did got him killed. And I think they all died for similar reasons.” Jesus probably did not die to save us, according to Bakker, but rather, “What if Jesus was killed for the same reason Ghandi and King were killed? Because they were trouble makers who showed too much love and too much inclusion?”

There are “great moral wonderful people … outside the Church who do much more good work than the Church itself,” Bakker claimed. “Morality” has nothing to do with good works, according to the pastor, “but it’s the idea of recognizing what our brokenness is and allowing that brokenness to be transformed in order to help other people transform and accept their own brokenness.”

I Corinthians 10:21 (ESV)
… You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons…

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Important information concerning Communion… (online PDF file)
Communion and it’s potential blessings, curses and need (By Pastor Peter J. Peters)

For all the saints…

After you have put on God’s battle armor and taken up His weapons, you fire the weapons at His enemies…   —Editor
Ephesians 6:18 (ISV)   Pretty simple principle, actually…
… Pray in the Spirit at all times with every kind of prayer and request. Likewise, be alert with your most diligent efforts and pray for all the saints…

USA Trying to Deport Christian Homeschooling Family Knowing They Face Persecution

politicaloutcast.com

By Dave Jolly    Posted on February 15, 2013

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike are Christians and the parents of six children.  When their kids attended the German public schools, they were bullied and harassed because of being Christians.  The parents began looking into the schools and what their kids were being taught.  They found a number of objectionable and inappropriate things in the textbooks that they didn’t want their kids learning.

They strongly believed that their children would receive a better education grounded in biblical principles by being schooled at home rather than having their children indoctrinated by the German schools.  Uwe said:

“We knew that homeschooling would not be an easy journey.”

However, the German government had made homeschooling illegal and actively pursued Christian families who tried to homeschool their children.  In 2008, the Romeike family was ripped apart when government officials stepped in and forcibly removed the kids from the home.  The parents were fined thousands of euros.

Their only hope was to seek political asylum in a country that allowed Christians to homeschool, so they applied to the US for asylum.  A US immigration judge ruled in 2010 that the family did face persecution from the German government and granted the Romeike family political asylum.  The family moved and settled in Tennessee.

Remember at last month when President Obama issued his Religious Freedom Day proclamation?  He said:

“Today, we also remember that religious liberty is not just an American right; it is a universal human right to be protected here at home and across the globe. This freedom is an essential part of human dignity, and without it our world cannot know lasting peace.”

“As we observe Religious Freedom Day, let us remember the legacy of faith and independence we have inherited, and let us honor it by forever upholding our right to exercise our beliefs free from prejudice or persecution…”

Here’s how he lives up to his statement.

US Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Homeland Security are fighting the political asylum status.  Holder claims that the family’s fundamental rights have not been violated by Germany’s law forbidding families from homeschooling.  They have asked the courts to withdraw the family’s political asylum and have them deported back to Germany.

The Home School legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is representing the Romeikes family and fighting to have them stay in the US.  They say that:

“The U.S. law of asylum allows a refugee to stay in the United States permanently if he can show that he is being persecuted for one of several specific reasons. Among these are persecution for religious reasons and persecution of a ‘particular social group.’”

“In most asylum cases, there is some guesswork necessary to figure out the government’s true motive—but not in this case. The Supreme Court of Germany declared that the purpose of the German ban on homeschooling was to ‘counteract the development of religious and philosophically motivated parallel societies.’”

“This sounds elegant, perhaps, but at its core it is a frightening concept. This means that the German government wants to prohibit people who think differently from the government (on religious or philosophical grounds) from growing and developing into a force in society.”

“The Romeikes’ case is before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The case for the government is officially in the name of the Attorney General of the United States. The case is called Romeike v. Holder. Thus, the brief filed by the U.S. Department of Justice is filed on behalf of the attorney general himself—although we can be reasonably certain he has not personally read it. Nonetheless, it is a statement of the position of our government at a very high level.”

“We argued that Germany is a party to many human rights treaties that contain specific provisions that protect the right of parents to provide an education that is different from the government schools. Parents have the explicit right to give their children an education according to their own philosophy.”

“While the United States government argued many things in their brief, there are three specific arguments that you should know about.”

“First, they argued that there was no violation of anyone’s protected rights in a law that entirely bans homeschooling. There would only be a problem if Germany banned homeschooling for some but permitted it for others.”

“A second argument is revealing. The U.S. government contended that the Romeikes’ case failed to show that there was any discrimination based on religion because, among other reasons, the Romeikes did not prove that all homeschoolers were religious, and that not all Christians believed they had to homeschool.”

“This argument demonstrates another form of dangerous “group think” by our own government. The central problem here is that the U.S. government does not understand that religious freedom is an individual right. One need not be a part of any church or other religious group to be able to make a religious freedom claim. Specifically, one doesn’t have to follow the dictates of a church to claim religious freedom—one should be able to follow the dictates of God Himself.”

“One final argument from Romeikes deserves our attention. One of the grounds for asylum is if persecution is aimed at a “particular social group.” The definition of a “particular social group” requires a showing of an “immutable” characteristic that cannot change or should not be required to be changed. We contend that German homeschoolers are a particular social group who are being persecuted by their government.”

If they are returned to Germany, the couple could be facing more large fines, jail time and the loss of their children.  If this is not a violation of the family’s fundamental rights, then I don’t know what is.  Perhaps more importantly to all homeschoolers in America is that if Holder wins this case, there is the possibility that it could serve as a legal precedent for Obama’s efforts to outlaw homeschooling here in the US.

What gets me really hot under the collar on this case is that Holder and the DHS are allowing nearly a million illegal aliens to remain in the US, still illegally, while trying to deport a family who only wants to homeschool their children.  When Obama penned that proclamation last month, he was lying out both sides of his mouth and had no intention of doing anything for any Christian.  He’ll leap tall buildings to defend the rights of Muslim and gays, but he’ll turn his back and walk away from Christians.  The hypocrisy of the Obama administration is enough to make me want to vomit.

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Same story from another source…

Christian homeschoolers losing deportation fight

Mary Jackson’s page   World News Group    www.worldmag.com

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Update… 20 May 2013
Court Rules Against German Homeschool Family Seeking Asylum

townhall.com

By Todd Starnes    May 15, 2013

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Obama Administration’s decision to deny asylum to a German homeschooling family.

The Romeike family fled their German homeland in 2008 seeking political asylum in the United States – where they hoped to home school their children. Instead, the Obama administration wants the evangelical Christian family deported.

An Immigration judge granted them asylum in 2010 after the family revealed they were facing criminal prosecution for homeschooling their children. That decision was later overturned by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2012.

The court ruled today that the Romeikes had not made a sufficient case and that the United States has not opened its doors to every victim of unfair treatment.

“Congress might have written the immigration laws to grant a safe haven to people living elsewhere in the world who face government strictures the United States Constitution prohibits,” the court ruled. “But it did not.”

Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association, vowed to appeal the decision.

“America has room for this family and we will do everything we can to help them,” Farris said.

The court did rule that parents do have a right to direct the education and upbringing of their children. However, they refused to concede that the harsh treatment of religiously motivated homeschoolers in Germany amounts to persecution within our laws.

“Germany continues to persecute homeschoolers,” said Mike Donnelly, the HSLDA’s director of international affairs. “The court ignored mountains of evidence that homeschoolers are harshly fined and that custody of their children is gravely threatened—something most people would call persecution. This is what the Romeikes will suffer if they are sent back to Germany.”

The Justice Dept. is arguing that German law banning home schooling does not violate the family’s human rights.

“They are trying to send a family back to Germany where they would certainly lose custody of their children,” Farris told Fox News. “Our government is siding with Germany.”

Farris said the Germans ban home schools because “they don’t want to have religious and philosophical minorities in their country.”

“That means they don’t want to have significant numbers of people who think differently than what the government thinks,” he said. “It’s an incredibly dangerous assertion that people can’t think in a way that the government doesn’t approve of.”

He said the Justice Dept. is backing that kind of thinking and arguing ‘it is not a human rights violation.”

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Related posts…

In case anyone is in doubt… we are at war

Fire mission, Fire mission…

Lying in plain sight…

What happens when the “magic spell” no longer works???   —Editor
Revelation 18:23 (NIV)
… The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. BY YOUR MAGIC SPELL ALL THE NATIONS WERE LED ASTRAY…

Historic Court Hearings: The BBC in the Dock for Manipulating Evidence and Providing Biased Coverage of the September 11, 2001 Attacks

www.globalresearch.ca

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, February 22, 2013

Deafening silence of the mainstream media. A historic law suit is in the making. The BBC will be in the Dock in a British court accused of manipulating the news.

What is at stake is the BBC’s coverage of the 9/11 attacks.

On February 25, in the small town of Horsham in the United Kingdom, there will be a rare and potentially groundbreaking opportunity for the 9/11 truth movement. Three hours of detailed 9/11 evidence is to be presented and considered in a court of law where the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will be challenged over the inaccurate and biased manner in which it has portrayed the events and evidence of 9/11.

Over the last 16 months, BBC has been challenged strongly by individuals in the UK over two documentaries that they showed in September 2011 as part of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, namely ‘9/11: Conspiracy Road Trip’ and ‘The Conspiracy Files: 9/11 Ten Years On’.

Formal complaints were lodged with BBC over the inaccuracy and bias of these documentaries, which, according to 9/11 activists, was in breach of the operating requirements of BBC through their ‘Royal Charter and Agreement’ with the British public.
This document requires BBC to show information that is both accurate and impartial. These complaints were supported by the US-based educational charity Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth), which submitted detailed scientific evidence to BBC to buttress the complaints. The evidence focuses in particular on the confirmed free-fall of WTC 7 and NIST’s 2008 admission of this fact. In addition, over 300 AE911Truth petition signers supported these complaints by sending letters to BBC, requesting that BBC show this evidence to the public.

Not a single mainstream media has acknowledged the court case. And it is highly unlikely that the proceeding will be the object of unbiased coverage.

Global Research will be covering this event alongside other alternative media.

We encourage people throughout the UK to attend these historic hearings.

9/11 Truth is fundamental in disarming “the war on terrorism” which is a fabrication.

And the BBC through its biased reporting, not to mention the manipulation of photographic evidence, has acted as an instrument of war propaganda. It is complicit in war crimes.

As a continuation of this process with the BBC, documentary film maker Tony Rooke has decided to take a personal stand on this issue. People in the United Kingdom are required to pay an annual TV licence fee which is used to fund BBC’s operations. Tony has refused to pay his TV licence fee on the basis of specific anti-terrorism legislation.

Section 15 of the UK Terrorism Act 2000, Article 3, states that it is offence to provide funds if there is a reasonable cause to suspect that those funds may be used for the purposes of terrorism. Tony’s claim is that BBC has withheld scientific evidence which demonstrates that the official version of the events of 9/11 is not possible and that BBC has actively attempted to discredit those people attempting to bring this evidence to the public. According to Rooke, by doing this, BBC is supporting a cover-up of the true events of 9/11 and is therefore potentially supporting those terrorist elements who were involved in certain aspects of 9/11 who have not yet been identified and held to account.

Rooke has been charged with a crime for not paying his TV Licence Fee. However, he has lodged a legal challenge to this charge and has now been successful in being granted an appearance in a Magistrate’s court, where he has three hours available to present his evidence to defend himself against the charge. Tony has put together a formidable team to support him in presenting the evidence, including the following two outstanding 9/11 researchers:

Tony Rooke has set the stage in the UK for not paying the TV Licence fee used to fund a media entity routinely involved in media disinformation and war propaganda.

The evidence about 9/11 that will be presented by the various individuals above has rarely, if ever, been seen in any court of law in the United Kingdom, so this court case represents a unique and valuable opportunity for the 9/11 Truth movement.

The BBC has been on the defensive.

It has not made any statements in anticipation of the court hearings.

One expects that there will be attempts to block the presentation of evidence on procedural grounds.

Why is this important?
9/11 is the pretext to wage war and repeal civil liberties.

The BBC turn realties upside down. The Lie is portrayed as the Truth.

When the lie becomes the truth there is no turning backwards.

The Lie of the mainstream media including the BBC must be exposed for what it is and what it does.

September 11 has been used profusely by US and its allies as a justification for waging a preemptive war without borders.

The so-called “War on Terrorism” is a lie.

Acts of war are heralded by the main stream media as “humanitarian interventions” geared towards restoring democracy.

Military occupation and the killing of civilians are presented by the BBC as “peace-keeping operations.”

This system relies on the manipulation of public opinion.

Millions of people have been misled regarding the causes and consequences of September 11.

Exposing the BBC is an important step in reversing the tide and dismantling war propaganda which sustains a criminal military agenda.

The date and location of the hearing are as follows:

February 25th at 10:00 am

Horsham Magistrates’ Court [Court 3] The Law Courts Hurst Road

Horsham

West Sussex England RH12 2ET

Tel:     01444 417611
Fax:     01444 472639
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Related posts…

Lying as a science…

False flag operations…

The Lord has not forgotten the perps of 9/11

How do deceivers engage in damage control???

With friends like these…

Texas judeo-whores…

Demolish their strongholds… in the name of Jesus Christ

Fire mission, Fire mission…

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Deuteronomy 18:14 (World English Bible)
… For these nations, that you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice sorcery, and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you so to do…

The attitude of a winner…

An effective soldier must kill the enemy… If that cannot be done one way, then he will accomplish it in another way… Christian soldiers have authorization to use God’s armor and His arsenal… High tech destroys low tech… That is why satan would like us to engage in combat in non effective ways and with non effective weapons…   —Editor
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II Corinthians 10:4 (ESV)
… For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds…

Milwaukee Police Purchase Massive Tank To Patrol Streets

http://12160.info (12.160 MHz)

Added by Site ADMINS on March 5, 2013 at 8:34am

With the recent news of the DHS Purchasing 2,700 light-armored tanks and the countless ammunition buys made by many different factions of the Government, it should come as no surprise that feds and local municipalities are preparing for something big. http://govtslaves.info/milwaukee-police-purchase-massive-tank-to-patrol-streets/

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Related posts…

If I be a man of God…

Investing in lead…

Comic relief for The Almighty…

The Lord enjoying a good laugh…

Demolish their strongholds… in the name of Jesus Christ

Veterans comparing notes…

Ancient evidence of a “wicked seed”

Fire mission, Fire mission…

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Psalm 2:1-6 (NIV)
… Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
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I John 5:4-5 (NIV)
… for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God…

Rediscovering shelved technologies???

Technologies that are either shelved altogether or barely used… Every once in a while someone reinvents the wheel, but what if evil lost it’s power to only plan with greed in mind???   —Editor
John 10:10 (NIV)   Jesus came to bless… They are here as murderers and parasites…
… The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full…
Research team creates potential food source from non-food plants

www.vtnews.vt.edu

By Zeke Barlow   April 16, 2013
540-231-5417   zekebarlow@vt.edu

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 16, 2013 – A team of Virginia Tech researchers has succeeded in transforming cellulose into starch, a process that has the potential to provide a previously untapped nutrient source from plants not traditionally thought of as food crops.

Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, led a team of researchers in the project that could help feed a global population expected to swell to 9 billion by 2050. Starch is one of the most important components of the human diet and provides 20 to 40 percent of our daily caloric intake.

The research was published this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Cellulose is the supporting material in plant cell walls and is the most common carbohydrate on earth. This new development opens the door to the potential that food could be created from any plant, reducing the need for crops to be grown on valuable land that requires fertilizers, pesticides, and large amounts of water. The type of starch that Zhang’s team produced is amylose, a linear resistant starch that is not broken down in the digestion process and acts as a good source of dietary fiber. It has been proven to decrease the risk of obesity and diabetes.

This discovery holds promise on many fronts beyond food systems.

“Besides serving as a food source, the starch can be used in the manufacture of edible, clear films for biodegradable food packaging,” Zhang said.  “It can even serve as a high-density hydrogen storage carrier that could solve problems related to hydrogen storage and distribution.”

Zhang used a novel process involving cascading enzymes to transform cellulose into amylose starch.

“Cellulose and starch have the same chemical formula,” Zhang said. “The difference is in their chemical linkages. Our idea is to use an enzyme cascade to break up the bonds in cellulose, enabling their reconfiguration as starch.”

The new approach takes cellulose from non-food plant material, such as corn stover, converts about 30 percent to amylose, and hydrolyzes the remainder to glucose suitable for ethanol production. Corn stover consists of the stem, leaves, and husk of the corn plant remaining after ears of corn are harvested. However, the process works with cellulose from any plant.

This bioprocess called “simultaneous enzymatic biotransformation and microbial fermentation” is easy to scale up for commercial production. It is environmentally friendly because it does not require expensive equipment, heat, or chemical reagents, and does not generate any waste. The key enzymes immobilized on the magnetic nanoparticles can easily be recycled using a magnetic force.

Zhang designed the experiments and conceived the cellulose-to-starch concept. Zhang and Virginia Tech visiting scholar Hongge Chen are the inventors of the cellulose-to-starch biotransformation, which is covered under a provisional patent application. Chun You, a postdoctoral researcher from China at Virginia Tech, and Chen conducted most of the research work.

Support for the current research comes from the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Additional resources were contributed by the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Biodesign and Bioprocessing Research Center, the Shell GameChanger Program, and the U.S. Department of Energy BioEnergy Science Center, along with the Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy. Chen was partially supported by the China Scholarship Council.

Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the science and business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives more than 3,100 students in a dozen academic departments a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. Students learn from the world’s leading agricultural scientists, who bring the latest science and technology into the classroom.
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Related Links

—  Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel production could revolutionize alternative energy market
—  Zhang’s research enlists enzymes to deliver renewable energy

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Related story…

Now non-food plants can help feed the world (Rod Addy 16 April 2013 foodproductiondaily.com)

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Related posts…

Was this a reason for the Fukushima event???
Deuteronomy 32:35 ‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.’

What if they were the ones looking over their shoulder???

What if the thieves were plundered???

“The Thief” of John 10:10…

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Psalm 92:6-9 (ESV)
… The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; but you, O Lord, are on high forever. For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered…

It is important to know why bad things happen…

Deuteronomy 28:58 (World English Bible)
… If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD…
6 Dead After North Texas Tornado Outbreak

dfw.cbslocal.com

May 15, 2013 8:57 PM    Updated May 16, 2013 3:15 PM

GRANBURY (CBSDFW.COM) – At least six people were confirmed dead, more are missing, and extensive damage was reported after as many as three tornadoes slammed into the lakefront town of Granbury on Wednesday evening, flattening homes and buildings and tossing vehicles like toys.

At a Thursday morning press conference Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said some 37 people had been taken to Lake Granbury Hospital. Fifteen of those individuals were transported to larger North Texas hospitals — including Harris Methodist where eight people from Granbury are being treated, two in critical condition and one in serious condition as of Thursday morning. Three people were admitted to the Granbury Hospital and 19 people were treated and released. As many as 100 other people were injured.

More than 250 people were evacuated from the heavily damaged Rancho Brazos neighborhood, southeast of Granbury, according to Deeds. He said the identities of the deceased had not been confirmed, but that all of the dead were adults. Authorities had reported 14 people were missing immediately after the storms, but several of them had been located by Thursday morning. “We are doing a through search of the area again, with Search & Rescue Task Force 2 Team from Dallas Fire Rescue,” he said.

The tornado was part of a massive system of severe thunderstorms that spawned several tornadoes across North Texas, dropping large hail stones in some areas. The National Weather Service estimates that 10 tornadoes may have touched down.

As for warnings issued in the communities hit by twisters Sheriff Deeds said, “I worked very closely with the storm spotters last night when my dispatch center notified me at approximately 6:14 [p.m.] that we had storms coming in and to activate the storm spotters. We worked very closely with them [and] had, it was between 12 and 15 storm spotters on the ground… very good trained people and coordination was good, radio communication was good,” he said. “I was talking directly to the National Weather Service. We gave them the information of what we saw, they confirmed it, and they did recommend the warnings. They put it out. We put it out basically at the same time.”

Deeds went on to say that officials used the Code Red Notification System and sounded sirens. “We got information out there as fast as we could, as soon as we realized it was getting bad. So, we did it as fast as we could. As fast as the information was coming out.”

Likely tornadoes also did extensive damage in Cleburne and Ennis, officials in both cities said. The Cleburne Independent School District canceled classes on Thursday because of widespread damage and power outages. Two school buildings were also damaged. Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain said that rescue teams would resume their search through ravaged neighborhoods at first light to check for more injured residents.

Steve Howerton, the city manager in Ennis, said that roughly 25 homes and 40 other buildings were damaged, including some in the city’s historic downtown area. This number is expected to grow as daylight breaks. Most of the damage was from high winds and fallen trees. There was also one minor injury.

In Granbury, Mayor Pro-Tem Nin Hullet said that most of the damage was confined to a concentrated area with “probably over 50 homes that have been damaged severely, some of them even flattened.”

People who live in the hard hit de Cordova Ranch area were evacuated after the tornado due to a gas leak. CBS 11 News reporter Andrea Lucia spoke with several residents who had been evacuated from their homes, who described a terrifying experience. “It started hailing, and so we opened up the curtains and stood in the middle of the house. Then, all of a sudden, things just started swirling. You could see stuff going all through the air,” said a resident identified only as Paul. After the storm passed through, he said that just about every home he could see had at least minor damage, and others were destroyed. “At the top of the hill, you could tell where the tornado went through directly, ’cause it’s just wiped out. Trees gone. Houses completely demolished.”

Patricia, a mother of five kids, said that she barely had time to gather her family together as the storm approached. “I just held on to them,” she said. “There was nothing else I could do. I heard the alarm. The wind was blowing. I felt my house shake. I felt the wind gushing through it.” She said that she prayed with her children and felt relief once the storm passed through. But, she said, that feeling did not last long once she stepped outside. “I went out to check on my neighbors and there was nothing left… there was nothing left.”

Deeds described the Rancho Brazos subdivision as having about 110 homes, many built within the past five years through Habitat for Humanity. He now described the area as a “war zone.”

Granbury Independent School District spokesman Jeff Meador said that 20 to 30 people were treated by medical personnel at a school. The district will have classes as scheduled on Thursday.

The American Red Cross set up shelters for evacuees at First Christian Church, 2109 West Highway 377, and at First United Methodist Church, 301 Loop 567. About 50 people and twice as many volunteers had shown up at the shelters by Midnight. Teams from the Salvation Army were also set to deploy to Hood County to provide help for victims and first responders.

The same storm spawned another tornado that storm spotters told the National Weather Service was a mile wide. That twister tore through part of Cleburne, about 25 miles southeast of Granbury. Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain said that he had no reports of fatalities and had no estimate on injuries. But his inspection of the affected neighborhood in the southwestern part of his city, he said, revealed dozens of homes destroyed or damaged.

Another tornado hit the town of Millsap, about 40 miles west of Fort Worth. Parker County Judge Mark Kelley said that roof damage was reported to several homes and a barn was destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

Hail up to the size of grapefruit pelted the area around Mineral Wells on Wednesday evening. A police dispatcher reported only minor damage.

*****

Video Coverage

Granbury Tornado Forming

Tornado In Granbury

Tornado Damage In Granbury

Granbury Family Describes Damage

Granbury Residents Help Injured

Granbury Family Describes Loss Of Relative

Granbury Mayor Pro-Tem Discusses Tornado

Granbury Damage: The Morning After

Hood County Sheriff Holds News Conference

Hood County Witness Describes Tornado

Cleburne Mayor Discusses Storm Response

Cleburne: The Morning After

Ennis: The Morning After

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Related posts…

The Almighty remembers why… even if Texans don’t

You ain’t seen nothing yet

Texas judeo-whores…

Idolators are always legends in their own minds…

Majority rules…

No statute of limitation on attempted murder…

My sheep hear my voice…

Blow the dust off of your Bible… and find out who you are

Consider the source…

—

Amos 3:2 (NET Bible)
… “I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Not all have faith…

And some do not seem to have any consistency…   —Editor
II Thessalonians 3:2 (NIV)
… and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith…
+++
James 1:8 (KJV)
… A double minded man is unstable in all his ways…
+++
I Kings 18:21 (NIV)
… Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing…
+++
Revelation 3:16 (Young’s Literal Translation)
… So — because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to vomit thee out of my mouth…

“Atheist Churches” on the Rise

www.christianpress.com

By Dr. Jim Denison

You probably attended church services yesterday. It’s possible that an atheist you know did as well, in a way. The rise of “atheist churches” is an oxymoronic fact in our culture.

One of the fastest-growing is in London. Its leader asks, “Why is it that people who are atheists get married in a church?” He then answers his question: “There is just something about these places, it’s a place of worship, where people have gone for more than 400 years and it’s the sort of place where your heart can rise up to those inspired things which is great.” Here’s my question: What “inspired things” can their hearts “rise up to” if the God who inspired them doesn’t exist?

We might expect “atheist churches” in England, where Christianity has been in decline for decades. But what about Houston, Texas, my hometown and arguably the “buckle of the Bible belt”? A group called Houston Oasis describes itself as “a community grounded in reason, celebrating the human experience.” The group was founded by Mike Aus, a onetime Lutheran pastor who is now an atheist. He states, “We are open to any message about life as long as no dogmatic claims are made.” However, Houston Oasis’s website makes six such dogmatic claims. The first: “People are more important than beliefs.” Is this a belief?

Dallas is home to several such “churches” as well. One seeks “to offer atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and freethinkers all the educational, inspirational, and social and emotional benefits of traditional faith-based churches” but without God. However, if there is no God, the “benefits” offered by “traditional faith-based churches” would be based on a lie. If so, how can they be “benefits”?

My last question is really the most important: What can Christians learn from the growth of atheist churches?

A pastor in New Jersey offers this answer: “The church has lost touch. We have been dealing with the politics of God in churches [so much] that we forget to really allow people to have an experience with God. Once you have a true experience with God, you do not want to leave his presence. We have done a poor job of welcoming his presence into church.”

Do you agree? When you attended worship yesterday, did you encounter God? Theologian Rudolf Otto coined my favorite description of the Almighty: the “mysterium tremendum.” Read those words out loud to yourself, slowly. Sense their gravity and mystery. Every person in Scripture who genuinely encounters God is transformed by the experience, from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5, “Woe to me!”) to Peter (Luke 5:8, “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man!”) to John on Patmos (Revelation 1:17, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead”).

When last were you awed by God?

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Related posts…

A harmless soldier is just another oxymoron…

Dialectical terms… such as “virgin whore”… “judaeo christian”… “christian bitch”

My sheep hear my voice…

You can’t fool God and you’d best not fool yourself…

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John 8:24 (ESV)   Both the Lord Jesus and the devil believe in you… regardless of what you believe…   —Editor
… I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins…