"Prosperity: Skill and Work Ethic are not the most important factors" - Christianity Today

A skilled artist in Nicaea, Turkey...

Turns out that personal skills and a good work ethic are not the most important factors in arriving at "Prosperity". Skills and a good work ethic are personal qualities, but it takes a whole lot more for an individual to make his / her way in the world.

Quote from a book: "Trust and its inseparable counterpart, trustworthiness, are themes that run strongly throughout Scripture. Trustworthy people are continually held in high esteem throughout the Bible (Exod. 18:20, Neh. 13:13, Dan. 6:4, Luke 19:17, 1 Cor. 4:2, 1 Tim. 3:11).

...some of the plates she painted, but she earns very little.

Trust and the way that a city or town acts, and it ability to create trustworthiness are key to healthy relationships and they are hallmarks of spiritual maturity. But academic research has only recently begun to grasp why they are so fundamental to economic prosperity," writes Wayne Wydick.

Read more.

How does your nation rate on the "trust, income and belief" scale?

The graph in this article is worth a thousand words, ranking quality of life and development against trust and GDP in the World Values Survey. ( PS. Note which countries are mostly: Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Eastern-Buddhist Orient, Muslim and Sub- Sahara.

Fabulous video of wildlife in Brazil - The Pantanal better than I ever knew it.

From 1985 until 1994, I was privileged to be in the Pantanal in Western Brazil many times. This is the largest "wetlands" area in the world, larger than England. Great friendships grew up with those hardy souls who dedicated themselves to serving the scattered populations along the Paraguay River and I thank God for each and every person who braved those unbearably hot days and endless swarms of bugs.

In 1985, the "Pantanal Project" was born, involving a holistic ministry that touched, and still touches, hundreds of people with the Good News. Thanks to Kathy and Chevy Cheveldayoff for the amazing work they did in getting that project going, and to Jose Valamatos for building the little boat, "Logos", that braved those amazingly treacherous waters. So many others developed the program / project - names too many to mention.

In the Pantanal the jaguar reins on the land and the alligators in the rivers and swamps. In between are 400 species of fish, 300 species of birds and billions of mosquitoes. Fabulous video of jaguars leaves you breathless. Click here for the video.

John Grisham's exceptional novel, "The Testament", published in 2000 is based on the Pantanal Project. Larry King wrote, "...it has the best first 50 pages for pure storytelling impact that I have ever read," and Daily News (New York) wrote, "the pages almost turn themselves."

This video is well worth the time. We watched it in our home in smaller sections, over three meals during a day. If you let the video run to its end, the next one comes along, also about the Pantanal.

As good as the video is, and it's fabulous!, read "The Testament", if you haven't ever heard of it! It's probably one of the best novels I've ever laid my hands on.

Why is Turkey being seen as the 'School Bully" in the Middle East?

Under Ataturk, the aim was for peace with all nations.

Turkey would like to have peace on all its borders. (Everyone would, too.)

But, for reasons that Burak Bekdil explains, the Turkish authorities are doing a pretty good job of forcing its enemies to cosy up to one another.

Around the entire region, Turkish influence is on the wane, and it doesn't seem to be able to stop the demise of what a few years ago seemed to be a strong, growing democracy.

Read More.


 

A Pentecost message - Dynamic witness - God's empowerment

The Promise-Keeping God

A hair-lip young man given a "new face" in Bolivia

A message at Pentecost 2015

 

Many a place is graced by gorgeous mountains and sun-drenched valleys.  The same is the case with human experience. It is a composite of inspirational moments, that we sometimes call mountain top experiences, and exasperating moments when we stagger through the valley of disappointment and pain. Moments of victory and times of suffering are part and parcel of what it means to live.

 

When we traverse the desert places of our times, we are often surprised by what triggers life's nightmares. Jolted by shock, shaken by dis
appointment, we ask why and often, despite our intense search, we find no satisfactory answers.

 

At Pentecost, we remember that, in the journey of life, we have an unfailing source of solace and empowerment. God's promises to Christ's disciples are always fulfilled. We have good reason  to trust God's word.

 

When God promised, through the prophet Joel (2:28-32), the outpouring of the Spirit in the last days, the disciples could believe it. When Jesus gave the assurance that the Father would send an advocate - the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-18) - the disciples could believe it. At Pentecost, the Spirit came like wind and fire and, with purging and cleansing power, revealed God's readiness to purify and heal those who stagger through life's arid moments unhinged from the reality of God's amazing love. We can discern in difficult moments the loving hand of the one who baptizes with wind and fire (Matthew 3:11).

 

It was Peter himself who made clear, in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, that the one who had been so terribly wronged was making things right for the people. He explained that God was forming a people for hope and life through the fulfillment of promise. This was realized in Jesus' death and resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit. And even those who had maintained a discreet distance from the center of the action during the passion of Jesus, could grasp, cherish and share the message of divine trustworthiness.

 

That is why Pentecost is a festival of dynamic witness. Those who have encountered the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit discover within themselves a passion for sharing the things they have seen and heard. Their life's transforming encounter with the faithfulness of a promise-keeping God compels them to share with others the Good News of the salvation God offers through Jesus Christ.

 

As we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, we remember those who have been traumatized by natural disasters and who now ponder what their future will be like. May our celebration of this Day be rich with the memory of the faithful God whom we serve. God never leaves us alone. God walks with us, reliably fulfilling promises made, unrelentingly making life new, and graciously placing in us the imprint of hope.

 

 

 

Neville Callam
General Secretary
Baptist world Alliance

Pearl, my wonderful sister who puts up with unbearable pain

My sister Pearl had a serious case of polio in 1952. (Other members of our family also were afflicted by it, some with longer, some lesser painful results.) Pearl continues to suffer from the long-term results, and her testimony, in the midst of unbearable pain, inspires me every day. This blog posting today is a tribute to one of the most wonderful women I know. She writes:

"The pain I have continues on, and I wouldn't know what to do without The Lord and His Word!!!  How greatly blessed I am, and have been all my life, to have known Him, or....more like, that HE has by Grace alone, known ME!!  Each day tells of calamities like never before, I realize afresh that it is urgent to pray and seek The Lord for His help and Salvation! 

"Whether a calamity is truly great or VERY small upon the global scene, the results to or within the human hearts concerned will be bigger to them, much more than any other may know or realize.   Any and every loss, has significance to the owner,...quite a thought, really.    

"In the Western nations, we are often most uncaring, un-sympathetic, and very inconsiderate of another's deepest feelings of grief and losses, troubles and crosses necessary to bear.  Whether a smaller, personal calamity, ( which IS a really good, descriptive word!-) or a major, global calamity, - I was express the fact of my treasuring The Eternal 

"I was saving this story about this Asian lad , who was born with muscular dystrophy.  I've been blessed beyond words!!   I've experienced sooo many of these feelings, and the same types of questions and wonderings of the future...etc.   And yet, because of the Lord's placing me into the family that I've been thanking Him for today,- and because of all the different surroundings and situations of my own disability - my personal story differs, even as all other disabled peoples will differ in details, but " the bottom line," parallels all the basics.

"Both are such sweet gifts from The Lord to me,....Mom( and Dad! ), in all their wisdom of accepting a disabled child, and causing me to accept myself, and to function " just as all the others" to the fullest and best degrees that I could!

"All the stories that I've read and heard in my lifetime are based for the most part, as to how the PARENTS accepted a child, and/or, how they therefore enabled a child's development.  Even as to IF they stayed together, or broke up the family, or suicide came as a result.)  Then, as a personal "layer" of my own story to build upon, meeting Dennis, and finding our lives to build upon, all the good and bad and indifferent, " the ' for better or for worse'" concept," with The Lord helping us of course, gives me today a lovely review of my/our lives just on these two most important dates as they go quickly by on the 2015 calendar!

"The pain was really terrible today, but He helps me each hour, and I'm so conscious of HIS working for me each moment.   Good night ....and get the sleep you will be needing for all the exciting days ahead!     Love and prayers!   Pearl."

"Is the UK still a 'Christian country'?" - BBC on trends of religion in UK and around the world

Is the UK still a Christian Country? The results from the Pew research may surprise, not only about the present but about future trends.

What's happening in Africa and other continents regarding the growth of the Christian faith?

Read More.

On Pentecost and the Power of the Holy Spirit - Throughout the world, throughout the ages

Lamp in a church in Jerusalem called - "Light of the World"

Every branch of the Christian faith is celebrating Pentecost today. You will be encouraged by the breadth of expression:

From Persia, by the bishop and martyr Nerses of Clajes (4th Century): O Holy Spirit of God, who didst descend upon our Lord Christ at the river Jordan, and upon the disciples at the feast of Pentecost: Have mercy upon us, we beseech thee, and by thy divine fire enlighten our minds and purify our hearts; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
By Anglicans in Kenya - Read More.

From the Orthodox in Chattanooga, Tennessee - Read More.

By the passion of Roman Catholic in Taize, France - Read More

By John Calvin - Read More.

By John Stott - Read More.

And Methodists in England - Moira Slight writes in London, England in the Sunday Times:  "[Today]...is Wesley Day when Methodists across the globe mark the anniversary of the day in 1738 when their founder John Wesley underwent a deep spiritual experience.

In London, Wesley’s Chapel on City Road — the “Mother Church of World Methodism” — will be holding a day of commemorations, including prayers round his tomb, while in chapels and churches across the country a host of special services will be taking place.

An Anglican clergyman, John Wesley had lived a devout life — visiting prisoners, studying the Bible, praying, living simply and even travelling to America to be a missionary — but on May 24 something happened that changed him. That evening he went (“unwillingly” as he admitted in his journal) to a meeting of Christians on Aldersgate Street, near St Paul’s Cathedral, where someone read aloud Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans, describing the change God works in the heart through faith in Christ.

Wesley recorded in his journal how, as he listened, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” Read More.

"Nightly fight for life and death on the Aegean Sea" - 46 dramatic photos taken between Turkey and Greece

When we lived in Istanbul, we constantly heard of dangerous attempts made by refugees to leave Turkey and get to Greece, where they would be "protected" by the European Union. These refugees came from / come from about 65 nations, some of which are "failed states".

Every night, attempts are made by groups of 20 - 150, some in dinghies, some in old, leaky ships, to navigate the waters between Turkey and Greece. Their hope is to leave Turkey at night and claim refugee status in Greece the next day. At one point, the distance is only 2 miles from the Turkish main land to one of the hundreds of Greek islands.

Turkey has captured more than 1,000 smugglers in the last several years, a remarkable figure and one that should be more widely publicized.

In the world wide explosion of the number of refugees, this is an emotional story.

For 46 photos, click here.

"Turkish Christians take first step toward embittered Armenians" - World Watch Monitor

Turkish Christians take first step toward embittered Armenians

“We came to share your pain,” Turkish Christians declared in early April, standing before TV cameras at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.

“We have come here to apologize for what our ancestors did, to ask for your forgiveness,” two spokesmen for the Turks went on to say.

Shocked viewers across Armenia watching the Azdar TV News Channel  on April 11 could hardly believe their eyes and ears.

 

Turks, claiming to be Christian?  And laying wreaths at the nation’s genocide memorial? How could Turks, of all people, come to Armenia to honor the memory of more than a million Armenian Christians who had been slaughtered 100 years ago by their own forefathers, the Ottoman Turks?

Gathered around the monument’s eternal flame, the more than twenty Turkish citizens spoke out simply, and repeatedly: “We plead with you, if you can, to forgive us and the crimes of our forefathers.”

 

Significantly, the Turks were joined by a number of local Armenian Christians who formed a huge circle, holding hands together around the memorial as they prayed aloud in Turkish and Armenian for their nations and peoples.

 

“You wrote history here in Yerevan today,” one Armenian pastor declared. It was the first time, he thought, that prayers in Turkish and Armenian had ever been voiced together before the somber memorial.

 

The Turkish Christians’ April visit to Armenia was the latest step in an unprecedented reconciliation initiative between Turkish Protestants and Armenian evangelicals during the past year.

 

Organized informally by several Turkish pastors from Muslim backgrounds, the gatherings first began with diaspora Armenians in California and New Jersey, followed by an Istanbul weekend between some 90 Turkish and Armenian participants.

 

For the past 100 years, Turks and Armenians have remained outspoken enemies. Their historic enmity rooted in the Armenian genocide of 1915  is both political and ethnic, but also religious. Early in the 4th Century, the Kingdom of Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion. But the rulers of the crumbling Ottoman Empire which carried out the genocide were Muslim Turks.

 

In today’s Turkey and Armenia, strong nationalist elements in the current political climate are so prevalent that the Turkish and Armenian Christians who spoke to World Watch Monitor about their reconciliation gatherings requested strict anonymity for their own protection.

 

“When we Armenians saw that the Turks felt pain for what their grandfathers did, we understood that we must forgive them,” one participant said. It took meeting Turkish Christians in person, one admitted, to be convinced “it is a fault for us to nurture hatred to our children.”

"We want to tell you we are sorry for what happened, and beg your forgiveness."--Turkish pastor

 

©2015

World Watch Monitor reports the story of Christians worldwide under pressure for their faith. Articles may be reprinted, with attribution.

                                               

"Can Islam undergo a 'Reformation"? - Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants to see it happen.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has written a remarkable book, "Heretic - Why Islam needs a Reformation Now".

She "she fled an arranged marriage as a very young Somalian Muslim woman and abandoned her faith, going first to Germany and then to the Netherlands. She began her new life as a factory cleaning lady and rose to be a Dutch member of parliament and a prominent activist for the victims of militant Islam. She is now a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the wife of eminent Anglo-American historian Niall Ferguson"

You may be interested in an evaluation of her book. I found the topic of 'Reformation' useful and I am also appreciative of this book review. The difficulties facing an "Islamic Reformation" seem overwhelming.

Read More.

Water in the Middle East - Is the decline of water a worse nightmare than ISIS?

Evening on the Nile River in Cairo

"The water war is a ghost threatening the Middle East.

Though the poor populations of this region are the only ones paying for the price of the oil conflict, the water wars will not spare anyone."

These dire words are found at the end of an important article about the declining water resources in one of the most conflict-prone regions of the world.

Water in the Middle East: this topic doesn't make the headlines every day, but it is an extremely urgent issue.

Recently, Egypt had to use its limited reserves in the Aswan Dam to generate electricity for the growing population of a nation that exists on either side of one single river. Read more.

Egypt and Ethiopia are at logger-heads over Ethiopia's new dam on the Blue Nile. Read more.

Water shortages affect Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Israel, not to mention the nations of North Africa.

Iran's water shortage may be one of the worst crises, but we do not hear much about that, since our preoccupation seems to be taken up with geo-political issues, especially the issue of a possible treaty to "solve" the urgent concern surrounding the "nuclear deal".  For an excellent article on the desperate shortage of water in Iran, read here.


 

"The Real but Overstated Decline in American Christianity" - Russ Douthat in NYT

A church in South Bend, Indiana

The recent Pew survey covering American Christianity showed a decline in the number of people calling themselves "Christian".

What does this mean?

Are the facts and figures correct?

Is there any good ne
ws for Christian churches in the data?

Russ Douthat makes some interesting comments in the New York Times on the Opinion Pages.

Read more and find links to other writers, too.

"Seniors who exercise add five years to their lives" - BBC

We, who graduated in the '50s and '60's, owe a lot to science.

We, who graduated in the 1950's and 1960's, owe a lot to scientific studies on aging. Many of us will be living close to a 100 years.

This affects retirement and planning for the funds we will need to live longer - (hmm, finances for many more years is a whole different topic!)

Various life choices may add several years to ones' life.

Cutting out smoking (and other drugs) can add five years, or more.

Being happily married, according to McLean's magazine, (quoting significant sources) can add up to 15 years. (Hint No. 1: Seniors look out for each other). (Hint No 2: Men, especially, benefit from the nutritious meals they might otherwise not enjoy!)

Obviously, a healthy diet can extend a person's life. This SINGLE topic probably adds a trillion bits of data to the web every day!

BBC posted a useful hint for seniors, especially men. Exercising 150 minutes per week can add, on average, five years of life to men between the ages of 68-77 year olds, as compared to the same age group that lives a sedentary life. (This is not such a popular topic, unfortunately.)

(Note: simply knowing facts about a healthy life style doesn't guarantee that it gets translated into practice. Forming habits is a choice - sometimes painful, but worthwhile.)

Read more about how exercise affects how long we live.

"Chango Unchained": The Economist on the Ancient Yorba religion growing in Cuba

While the President of Cuba visits the Pope in Rome, many common people go elsewhere for their spiritual comfort.

"In Cuba: "Santería is a blending of the Yoruba religion, which acknowledges 401 orishas, or deities, with the Catholicism of the Spanish colonisers. Although at least 60% of Cubans today call themselves Catholics, far fewer are regular churchgoers.

Many see no reason not to incorporate Santería rituals into their spiritual santero might foretell their destiny and, later on, counsel them on how to revive their flagging sex life."
lives. A Catholic priest will marry a couple, but a

Read more.
 

Generosity: How much giving counts as "charity"?

Donna Maria, a widow, and 8 children, a very generous woman

C.S. Lewis didn't talk about percentage giving.
He said the only safe
rule is to give more than we can spare.
Our charities should pinch and hamper us.

If we live at the same level of affluence
as other people who have our level of income,
we are probably giving away too little.

Obstacles to charity include:
greed for luxurious living,
greed for money itself,
fear for financial insecurity,
and showy pride.

Kathryn Ann Lindskoog in
Hymns for the Family of God,
Paragon Associates, Nashville, Tennessee, 1976

 

Understanding Isis: Research, Failed states and slaughter of Ethiopian Christians

Here is a short collection of links on ISIS and conflicts, from Iraq to Libya:

1. Research on Isis is found here.

2. Five states have effectively ceased to function in the past five years. Iraq, Syrian, Lebanon, Yemen and Libya. How Iran is influencing this is found here.

3. The Al Qaeda group in Yemen is gaining strength. The war in Yemen is helping Al-Qaeda.

4. The tensions in Egypt's Sinai continue with violence, many Egyptian security guards dead. Tension in Egypt's Sinai - read more.

5. 30 Ethiopian Christians were killed in Libya, called "worshipers of the cross belonging to the hostile Ethiopian Church." Is the Ethiopian Church hostile, or is this just propaganda? Read more.

6. ISIS is growing in Syria, but struggling in Iraq. Isis pushes further into Syria.
 

Oldest copy (2,000 years) of the Ten Commandments on Display: Jerusalem

The oldest copy of the Ten Commandments is on display for two weeks in Jerusalem. The document is brittle and sensitive to light and moisture, so it is always kept in a secure, humidity-and-light-controlled location.

You may disagree with the estimated dates of the other objects being viewed in the "Through the Ages of Human Civilization" display.

Read more.

Lebanon is caught in the jumble of Middle Eastern woes

Peaceful villages, such as this one in the mountains, are rare.

Lebanon, in some ways one of the more fragile countries in the Middle East, is being squeezed yet again because of conflicting loyalties. Perhaps about 50% or less of the population is Christian (various traditions). Perhaps 50%, or more, are Muslim, with the views from Iran, Shia Islam, prevailing among the Palestinian refugees.

This carefully written article sheds light on how we might pray for the increasingly desperate situation in Lebanon, the need for a stable government, the refugee crisis with hundreds of thousands coming over the border from Syria, and the still developing situation in Yemen and how it affects the politics in Beirut.

Read more.

 

"Armenian Church files law suit against Turkey seeking reparations" - Zaman

The province of Adana- rich lands and some bitter memories

The Armenian Church of Cilicia has filed a law suit in Turkey's Constitutional Court, seeking damages for a piece of land in Turkey.

The law suit states that the authorities in the town of Kozan, located in the province of Adana, was seized by the Ottoman Authorities in 1921.

As if the "Armenian Genocide" question was not complicated enough, ... now comes a new situation in which Payam Akhavan  prepared the lawsuit on behalf of the Armenian Catholicosate.

He says that the lawsuit is an effort by the Armenian Church to use the Turkish legal system to recover property seized 100 years ago.

Of further note, 20 states, including Germany, Austria, Russia and Bulgaria, plus the EU, officially recognize the "Armenian Genocide".  Also, Pope Francis described those events as “the first genocide of 20th century” during a Sunday Mass in the beginning of April.

Read more.