Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michigan. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

USA: What Have We Become?

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.

Founding father John Adams said that the Constitution of the United States was made for a moral and religious people. That if ever the nation stops being moral and religious, the Constitution would be broken as a whale goes through a net.
He was right. Sadly, we have stopped being a moral and religious people to too great a degree!
Consider the following tragic facts:  54.5 million abortions since Roe v. Wade in 1973 (National Right to Life Fact Sheet). Homosexuality and same-sex marriage is supported by a majority of Americans , half of marriages end in divorce, the highest officers in the nation blatantly lie, laziness is rampant, we have astronomic individual and national debt and there is an overall lack of virtue. These selfish mentalities are the harbingers of the decline of a nation.
Of course, that list doesn’t describe everybody , but in all too many cases it seems the majority of people fall into the description above.

Why are we declining morally?

We have departed from God’s fundamental principles of life.
Our theologians have turned the clear and concrete Ten Commandments into abstractions. The Bible is viewed as full of allegory, story and poetry.
Even as people talk about what would Jesus do (WWJD), hardly anybody actually does what Jesus did do (WDJD).The end result of the latter results in a moral society and the former does not! WWJD leaves the situation open to speculation and convenience.
Whenever mankind departs from the example of Jesus as stated in Scripture, it leads individuals away from the simplicity and clarity of godly principles.
How have we changed from a moral and decent people into an increasingly godless society? How do we biblically justify the murder of millions of babies? We can’t—so we just throw out the Bible.
We change incrementally. A little at a time. Slowly, a tiny step at a time over a long period. Somebody will challenge an established principle with an argument against it.  The thin edge of the wedge of argument and debate is driven in. Everyone has a reason and justification for their position. A war of attrition pursues the goal of changing for the “rights” of non believers. A liberal legal climate encourages loose interpretations of a law and the split of the principle slowly grows wider and wider with each blow on the wedge.
What was once a moral principle firmly established in a mostly religious culture is changed by people pushing for tolerance and compassionate understanding. There is always a reason, always a justification, always a plea. It never ends.  Eventually, people accept the new position and the road to moral decline continues. Things like abortion, divorce, adultery, fornication and “Jimmy has two mommies” become the norm.
The cause of this sad situation is that America is becoming more and more secular.  Fewer and fewer people adhere to Scriptural principles, like the Ten Commandments.  Discipline within churches declines because pastors depend on numbers for their salaries. They don’t hold the line for fear of offending people and a loss of income, and so the moral slump continues.
How do we reverse it? By each individually acknowledging our own faults, sins and shortcomings, and fall on our knees before God in repentance. Return to God and obey Him.

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Tuesday, September 13, 2016

World News and Trends Supergerm resists antibiotics

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The bacterium, staphylococcus aureus , is the cause of most hospital infections, including pneumonia and blood poisoning. In America alone some two million such infections develop every year.
Physicians had not faced the possibility of widespread, untreatable bacterial infections since penicillin came into general use in the 1940s. Since then, bacteria have shown a seemingly relentless ability to develop resistance to antibiotics. For example, by the 1950s almost half of known strains of staph aureus had grown resistant to penicillin. Scientists successfully gained the upper hand again with the introduction of methicillin in the 1960s, but in the 1970s some strains of staph had become resistant to this drug as well. Vancomycin, the last drug known to be effective against these other antibiotic-resistant strains, had proved effective for 30 years.
Discovery of this antibiotic-resistant strain prompted an instant worldwide alert among scientists and researchers. “We have a situation which is very worrisome,” commented Fred Tenover, laboratory chief for the hospital-infections branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The newly isolated strain showed resistance to the last line of antibiotic defense for certain strains of bacteria. “If we're climbing the ladder,” said Mr. Tenover, “we're almost to the roof.”
Dr. Robert Haley, former head of the CDC's hospital-infections branch, added, “I can't emphasize enough: This is a major turn for the worse in the fight against infection.”
Researchers fear that this new strain could claim many lives in the years it takes to develop new effective antibiotics. (Sources: The Dallas Morning News, The Chicago Tribune .)

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Friday, September 9, 2016

World News and Trends Britain vulnerable to Iranian-sponsored terrorism

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Noted British columnist Melanie Phillips has alerted London to the indigenous dangers posed by Hezbollah. She pointed to its Islamic designation as the so-called Army of God, “a military force funded, trained by and answerable to the Islamic Republic of Iran”—a nation pledged to “the destruction of Israel and the genocide of the Jews, as a prelude to destroying the West and infidels everywhere” ( The Spectator, Aug. 5).
The Islamic Human Rights Commission [IHRC] in the United Kingdom encourages Muslims in Britain to supply Hezbollah with “financial, logistical and international support” in its attacks on Israel.
And Britain itself is still a target, as recent events at Heathrow Airport have shown. Recently Iran 's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on TV that ” England was the founder of this sinister regime”—meaning Israel—and was “an accomplice to all of its crimes” (ibid.)
British Jews may be even more vulnerable than the general public. The Times stated, “The Jewish community in Britain is facing a wave of anti-Semitism as a result of the conflict in Lebanon ” (Aug. 8). The Jewish Chronicle referred to it as a “wave of intimidation.” Already occurring are abusive telephone messages, hate mail to Jewish organizations and various incidents like the name Hezbollah being painted near one of Glasgow 's synagogues.
The stakes are high for the whole Western world. As British Member of Parliament Michael Gove wrote: “Western failure to support Israel will have global consequences . . . When the West fails to offer an appropriate defence of Israel it succeeds only in undermining its own long-term security” ( The Times, Aug. 4).
Melanie Phillips concluded her article with these somber words: “But if Israel were to lose to Iran, it would herald a catastrophe for the entire world.” (Sources: The Spectator, The Times, The Jewish Chronicle [all London].)

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Thursday, September 8, 2016

Does the Koran Promote Peace and Cooperation?

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.

All are quoted from the Dawood translation of the Koran.
• “Fight against them until idolatry [worship of any god other than Allah] is no more and [Allah's] religion [Islam] reigns supreme” (Sura 2:193).
• “Let those who would exchange the life of this world for the hereafter, fight for the cause of [Allah]; whoever fights for the cause of [Allah], whether he dies or triumphs, on him we shall bestow a rich recompense . . . The true believers fight for the cause of [Allah], but the infidels fight for the devil. Fight then against the friends of Satan” (Sura 4:74-76).
• “Those that make war against Allah and His apostle [Muhammad] and spread disorder in the land shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land. They shall be held up to shame in this world and sternly punished in the hereafter” (Sura 5:33).
• “Believers, take neither Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship becomes one of their number. [Allah] does not guide the wrongdoers” (Sura 5:51).
• “[Allah] revealed His will to the angels, saying: 'I shall be with you. Give courage to the believers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers!' That was because they defied [Allah] and His apostle [Muhammad]. He that defies [Allah] and His apostle shall be sternly punished by [Allah]” (Sura 8:12-13).
• “[Allah] will separate the wicked from the just. He will heap all the wicked [i.e. non-Muslims] one upon another and cast them into Hell. These will surely be the losers” (Sura 8:37).
• “Let not the unbelievers [non-Muslims] think that they will ever get away. Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your command, so that you may strike terror into the enemy of [Allah] and your enemy, and others besides them who are unknown to you but known to [Allah]” (Sura 8:59-60).
• “Prophet, rouse the faithful to arms. If there are twenty steadfast men among you, they shall vanquish two hundred; and if there are a hundred, they shall rout a thousand unbelievers, for they are devoid of understanding” (Sura 8:65).
• “A prophet may not take captives until he has fought and triumphed in the land” (Sura 8:67).
• “Make war on them. [Allah] will chastise them at your hands and humble them” (Sura 9:14).
• “Believers, why is it that when you are told: 'March in the cause of [Allah],' you linger slothfully in the land? Are you content with this life in preference to the life to come? Few indeed are the blessings of this life, compared with those of the life to come. If you do not go to war, He will punish you sternly, and will replace you by other men . . . March on and fight for the cause of [Allah], with your wealth and with your persons” (Sura 9:38-41).
• “Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate” (Sura 9:73).
• “They [faithful Muslims] will fight for the cause of [Allah], they will slay and be slain” (Sura 9:111).
• “Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them. Know that [Allah] is with the righteous” (Sura 9:123).
• “When We resolve to raze a city, We first give warning to those of its people who live in comfort. If they persist in sin, judgment is irrevocably passed, and We destroy it utterly” (Sura 17:16).
• “We have destroyed many a sinful nation and replaced them by other men. And when they felt Our might they took to their heels and fled. They were told: 'Do not run away. Return to your comforts and to your dwellings. You shall be questioned all.' 'Woe betide us, we have done wrong' was their reply. And this they kept repeating until We mowed them down and put out their light” (Sura 21:11-15).
• “When you meet the unbelievers on the battlefield strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly. Then grant them their freedom or take a ransom from them, until war shall lay down her burdens” (Sura 47:4).
• “Mohammed is [Allah's] apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another” (Sura 48:29).
• “It is He [Allah] who has sent forth His apostle [Muhammad] with guidance and the True Faith [Islam], so that he may exalt it above all religions, much as the idolaters [those who worship gods other than Allah] may dislike it” (Sura 61:9).

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Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Can Apple Make You Happy?

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MP4 Video - 720p (79.85 MB)
MP3 Audio (1.23 MB)
Video of BT Daily: Can Apple Make You Happy?

Can happiness be found in an electronic gadget?

Transcript


[Darris McNeely] So I’ve got my latest iPhone here. No, wait a minute. It’s not the latest iPhone. Just a few months after I bought this iPhone, the next one came out, and then another one. You know, the gadget game is one that when you get into, there’s always going to be something newer even after you’ve spent hundreds of dollars on what is, you think at that moment the latest. I was reading an article about Apple computer, and recently people have been complaining that Apple hasn’t come out with anything in recent years, or recent months that’s new and a whole game changer when it comes to electronics. And the article is saying it’s as if people want Apple to unveil a happiness device, and otherwise they won’t be happy until it does, which raised the question do things make us happy?
[Steve Myers] There’s always the latest, the greatest, the next thing. Same thing with computers, whatever it may be. Buy one and it seems the day you walk out of the store it’s already obsolete. The next one is coming. And so if that’s what makes us happy, then there’s always something else just beyond our reach that we can never quite get to.
[Darris McNeely] I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a gadget freak and I do like new gadgets. And I am sold on Apple and I usually buy, try to buy the latest that I can or keep up fairly current with their products. But it’s also caused me over the years to step back and realize, hey, these things don’t really make me completely happy. I enjoy them and they make life very convenient in many ways, but happiness deep down, that’s another issue.
[Steve Myers] Absolutely, and Jesus Christ Himself taught that very things. Now He didn’t mention iPhones, but over in Luke 12:23 He said, “Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” And you could substitute iPhones or computers or gadgets or videogames or whatever it might be. Those things do not make life happier. We can get some enjoyment out of them, that sort of thing. But if we’re counting on them to make us happy, Christ says we’ve got our priorities out of line.
[Darris McNeely] A good way to look at what Christ said in this statement is to ask yourself the question, how many things do you need to be happy? That’s probably the most important question to answer, and then you will know what and where true happiness comes from.
[Steve Myers] Absolutely. In fact He concludes, “Seek the Kingdom of God.” Seek the Kingdom of God because that’s really where the true happiness lies - in a spiritual relationship with God.
[Darris McNeely] That’s BT Daily . Join us next time.

Friday, September 2, 2016

"In It You Shall Do No Work" A Labor Day Look

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MP3 Audio (4.97 MB)
According to the United States Department of Labor , Labor Day was created to honor the contributions that workers have made to the social and economic well-being of America. President Grover Cleveland first made it a federal holiday in 1894. Labor Day is the first Monday in September, falling on Sept. 5 this year. As an American college student myself, it makes a nice transition from working full-time to going back to classes for the year, giving summer one last hurrah.
God’s “work week” is a marvelous schedule that works. He pushes us to work hard at our jobs and various other responsibilities throughout the week, and then gives us the seventh day off to both relax and focus on Him.
Here’s an odd question: Have you ever stopped to consider God’s perspective on labor, or, as we might say today, “work”? It’s interesting to think and read about. God actually expects us to work for most of the week. In Exodus 20:9 we read God’s command that for “six [out of seven] days you shall labor and do all your work.” He also encourages us to work with passion and diligence: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Work is important and allows us to do many honorable things in life, such as provide for our families, grant help to those in need, and leave an inheritance for our children.
Are we then to work and slave away at all times? Certainly not! God understands that we aren’t tireless robots who can run all seven days of the week. He tells us—commands us even—to take the seventh day off!
Let’s return to Exodus 20 to get the rest of God’s important directive: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God . In it you shall do no work” (Exodus 20:9-10; emphasis added). God wants us to take the seventh day off so bad that He makes it the fourth requirement in the most well-known section of His law: the Ten Commandments!
But there’s still more to the story besides not working! What are we supposed to do with these 24 hours of seemingly free time? The core of God’s Fourth Commandment is this: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy .” (Exodus 20:8; emphasis added).
One important way that we keep this day holy is by resting instead of working, as we already mentioned. Another significant way we honor the Sabbath is by attending church services, which are a holy convocation appointed by God Himself (Leviticus 23:3). Going to church allows us to converse with and encourage others who believe as we do and to worship and learn more about God and His truth. Please click here to find the congregation closest to you.
God’s “work week” is a marvelous schedule that works. He pushes us to work hard at our jobs and various other responsibilities throughout the week, and then gives us the seventh day off to both relax and focus on Him. This “recharge day” doesn’t come around just once a year; you can reap the benefits of God’s Sabbath every week! As you prepare for fall and for the upcoming holiday weekend, remember to always put God first and keep His Sabbaths holy. Have a blessed and restful Sabbath and Labor Day weekend.
For a more in-depth look at God’s instruction to keep the Sabbath, how to keep it, and its plethora of benefits, please reflect on the following writings:
Sunset to Sunset: God’s Sabbath Rest our extensive booklet investigating the seventh-day Sabbath as it is mentioned throughout the Bible, from beginning to end.
“The Fourth Commandment: Key to a Relationship With Our Creator” a look at the Sabbath as a command from God, demonstrating its deep importance to you individually.
“The Benefits of the Sabbath” this article examines just a handful of the many benefits that you can experience right now by keeping God’s Sabbath.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Current Events & Trends: China's worrying military ambitions

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A major feature article in The Sunday Times of London showed that, as its drophead states, “the test of a new missile is heightening concerns over Beijing's arms build-up” (“China's Carrier Killer Unnerves US Navy,” March 24, 2013). The article continues, “China has successfully tested a 'carrier killer' missile designed to change the military balance of power in Asia by deterring American aircraft carrier operations up to 1,250 miles from Chinese shores.”
Clearly the Chinese military has its aggressive generals. China's Liberation Army Daily opts for an end to “romantic pacifism” and urges “full preparation” for war. A headline in The Wall Street Journal reads, “For Xi, a 'China Dream' of Global Military Power” (Jeremy Page, March 14). The article that follows presents new Communist Party and military chief Xi Jinping as appearing to embrace the hawkish worldview of the nation's generals.
Are we going to see a new, updated version of World War II's old Axis Powers, with China in the role of principal Asian foe rather than an “Americanized” Japan? In World War II the Japanese army invaded China. Will the reverse occur in the future? Time will tell.
Isn't it troubling that the Republic of China holds so many billions of American dollars in its own treasury? Why is America being challenged on so many fronts today—military, economic and otherwise? What is America doing wrong? The answer, as revealed in the Bible, is clearly revealed in the Bible study aid The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy . (Sources: The Sunday Times [London], The Wall Street Journal. )

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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Current Events & Trends Demographic shifts changing the face of America

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MP3 Audio (6.1 MB)
“At its core, demography is the act of counting people,” begins a new report from the Pew Research Center about U.S. population changes. “But it’s also important to study the forces that are driving population change, and measure how these changes have an impact on people’s lives.”
The report went on to summarize 10 demographic changes that are reshaping the United States in significant ways. Among them are:
Immigration is making the country more racially and ethnically diverse . Almost 60 million immigrants have come into the country over the last 50 years, largely from Mexico and Asia (“Asia” in this case being primarily the Middle East, Pakistan and India rather than China and Japan). The percentage of America’s foreign-born population has nearly tripled over the same time to 14 percent, meaning one out of every seven were born outside the United States.
The numbers of Asian and African immigrants are rising, while the number of net immigrants from Mexico has leveled off and is slowly decreasing.
Millennials, those born after 1980, likely now outnumber the “Baby Boomer” generation (born 1946-1964)—and differ from them significantly. They are racially diverse (43 percent are non-white), politically more liberal, and more highly educated—with the result that many struggle with student debt and still live at home.
Mothers are now the sole or primary wage earner in 40 percent of all households with children. This means that large numbers of children spend little time with either parent. More than a quarter of all children under 18 live with a single parent; 5 percent live with no parent at all.
American families are changing in other ways. The percentage of Americans over 25 who have never been married is the highest ever at 20 percent. This is more than double the 9 percent of never-married adults in 1960. About one in four young adults aged 25 to 34—the prime childbearing years—are not married but living with a partner.
The middle class is shrinking. In 2015, after four decades in which middle-class families were the majority, only half of U.S. adults lived in middle-income households. As the middle class has shrunk, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” has grown.
The percentage of Americans identifying as Christian is shrinking while the number of those religiously unaffiliated is growing. From 2007 to 2014, the percentage claiming Christianity dropped from 78 to 71 percent while the religiously unaffiliated climbed from 16 to 23 percent.
These trends have sobering implications for the nation.  The changes due to immigration show that America’s leaders are repeating the mistake that is currently bringing so much chaos to Europe—opening doors to millions of immigrants from other cultures and religions who will never fully assimilate into American culture.
The changes in family life show that the nation is drifting farther from the God-designed family model (of a husband and wife bound in a loving marriage and bringing up children who are taught godly principles and values). Veering from God’s design brings only greater personal and societal costs.
And rejection of biblical Christianity to embrace other religions (or none at all) leads to only further moral, cultural and societal breakdown as people look to human government or themselves to find solutions for their problems. As Proverbs 14:12 said some 3,000 years ago, “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.”
To learn more about where these trends are leading and why, download or request our free study guide The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy . (Source: Pew Research Center.)

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