Mark's Views, Perhaps — from behind my eyeballs
🙂 I’m warmer than the 25 degrees outside.
🙂 A quick glance at the news shows an absence of USA No Longer Free news.
🙂 We had a very nice non-traditional Christmas Day.
🙂 I’m glad I’m up, though I didn’t want to get up.
🙂 “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.”
🙂 I expect WordPress 2.9.1 to be available by Monday at the latest.
🙂 Time for some hot green tea with a drop of oregano oil in it to help finish off the cold bug.
“And the light shineth in darkness” (John 1:5).
“He was in the world” (John 1:10).
“He came” (John 1:11).
“But as many as received him” (John 1:12).
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
He came…to turn my darkness to light.
He came…enlighten me.
He came…that I might know Him.
He came…so I could receive Him.
He came…to give me the option of becoming a child of God.
He came…to show me His glory.
He came…to live among people such as I am.
He came…full of grace and truth…for me.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming!
![[The Scriptures say in John 1:5 -- The light shineth in darkness]](/pantinghart/wp-content/the-light-shineth.jpg "God's Word says: The light shineth in darkness (John 1:5)")
Yup. It happened last night.
We live on a lonely-at-night country road — up a somewhat-long, somewhat-tree-shrouded driveway.
And a car showed up. (Yeah, there were people in it.)
Unannounced.
So I gave our big black dog my special whistle to switch him from Welcome Waggin’ mode to Vicious Attack K9 mode. Then I took down the double-banger shotgun from over the back door and opened the door.Read it all
In Mexico’s state of Veracruz, human life begins at conception:
On Nov. 16, 2009 the legislature of the Mexican coastal state of Veracruz passed a law declaring that life begins at conception and ends at natural death.
So, do you think the source of this story is sympathetic or scornful toward the decision? To help, here’s more of the article begun above:
Veracruz now becomes the 17th state in Mexico to criminalize abortion in a string of hotly contested and reactive measures set off by Mexico City’s April 2007 legalization of abortion.
The reforms to the Veracruz State Constitution include a last-minute stipulation by the National Action Party PAN that women who illegally obtain abortions can avoid jail time by accepting medical and psychological treatment.
[…]
The debate in Veracruz, fueled by passion and anger, is characteristic of the larger fight throughout Mexico on the issue of abortion that spans the personal and the political. The abortion wars in Mexico involve political issues, such as the direct intervention of the Catholic Church in a secular state, and health issues deriving from the high incidence of complications from clandestine abortions.
On a personal level, the abortion debate forces the society and politicians to examine the hidden implications of stringent abortion policies and clandestine abortions on the health and lives of Mexican women.
If you’re still not sure where the article’s author stands, here’s the title: Mexico’s Abortion Laws: A Step Backward for Women’s Rights.
Therefore, laws that ban organ sales could be announced in articles similarly titled?
For example, US Organ Sale Laws: A Step Backward for Human Rights
Well, anyway, I’m thankful to believe that human life begins at conception.
I am again grateful for religious freedom here in the United States.
New anti-conversion legislation coupled with more “extreme” Hindu extremist cells rising up across India make the future of Christians throughout the country look much more challenging.
First, “To further its campaign against Christianity, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party BJP has demanded an amendment in the Indian constitution to check religious conversions,” according to Christian Today.
While seven states across India already have anti-conversion legislation, if this amendment passed, all of India would have to abide by its regulations and not just scattered states throughout the country.
[…]
In addition to anti-conversion legislation, accompanying the good news of BJP slowly losing ground and facing “a potentially uncertain and unstable future,” according to Christian Today, there is also more bad news for Christians.
As BJP loses popularity, new extremist groups who claim to breakaway factions of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu extremist umbrella organization, are launching their campaign against Christians. These groups go by names such as the Abhinav Bharat (Pride of India), the Rashtriya Jagran Manch (National Revival Forum) and the Hindu Dharam Sena (Army for Hindu Religion).
These new organizations viewed RSS and BJP as “too mild,” according to Baptist Press, and they advocate increased violence against Christians. These beliefs have been supported in their actions with several attacks in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jabalpur since 2006.
As persecution worsens in India, Christians need to step up and not be afraid to share their faith, Stavers said.
Also, though many actions are restricted, Christians can still do several things to reach the searching of India.
Source: Mission Network News: Political climate makes conditions even worse for Indian Christians.
Two dollars a day and no Bible. And without the ability to read one anyway.
And how many of them have more joy than I do?
So read this info and recount the blessings you have.
Seven billion people in the world in two years
Half the world lives on less than $2 a day. Right now, that’s more than three billion people, but new research suggests the population will hit the seven billion mark within the next two years.
Researchers with the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) also found that the least developed regions, like Africa, Asia and Latin America, are projected to double in population by 2050. PRB, one of the most trusted sources for world population information, recently released these statistics in their 2009 World Population Data Sheet.
International Director for Faith Comes By Hearing Morgan Jackson said that these new figures are troubling because billions of people may never hear the message of hope and truth in God’s Word.
“Already, the world’s poorest of the poor are cut off from the Bible,” said Jackson. “Half of the world’s people are illiterate and too poor to afford a Bible. Five of six African believers will never own their own Bible. And when people don’t have Scripture in a format they can use and understand, the results can be devastating to villages and whole countries.”
[…]
“Small bits of Scripture may be the only truth they have. They just don’t know any different,” said Jackson.
“But modern technology is helping overcome centuries-old barriers of poverty, distance, language, illiteracy, and culture. For the first time in history, we have the tools to reach every person in the world with the Word of God — no matter where they are,” said Jackson.
One of these tools is the Proclaimer, a self-powered audio player that can be used in the most remote and rugged locations. The Proclaimer’s embedded microchip is pre-loaded with the Audio Drama New Testament in the heart languages of the world. Indigenous believers take these life-changing Audio Bibles into their villages and towns and start listening groups. Villagers in groups up to 300 gather around to listen and then discuss what they’ve heard. By interacting with the Word of God, people come to know and follow the God of the Bible.
Currently, New Testament recordings in more than 397 languages are being used in Bible listening programs in 150 countries.
Learn more about The Proclaimer.
I’m thankful to know how to read. In two languages. And to have Bibles in both. And to earn far more than two dollars a day.
Disclaimer: It appears the Mission Network News article comes from a post at the Faith Comes by Hearing site.
Every summer (for the last eight?!), we try to get down to the mid-Willamette Valley to take rides with Russell in “his” bale stacking outfit.
We almost missed it for this season.
But after lunch yesterday, Ruby and Andrew and I took off.
Here are eleven photos I took. Read it all