The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

New Noah's Ark replica ready to sail

Source: Associated Press

 

April 30, 2007 -- The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday -- you could say it was the first time in 4,000 years -- drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.

 

Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark, built by Dutch creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.

 

A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -- biblical scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.

 

Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005.

 

Visitors on the first day were stunned.

 

"It's past comprehension," said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.

 

"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big."

 

In fact, Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger than Johan's Ark.

 

Genesis says Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals and one breeding pair of all other creatures, plus his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law together on the boat for almost a year while the world was deluged.

 

Perhaps it was only logical that the replica project would be the brainchild of a Dutchman: Fear of flooding is ingrained in the country's collective consciousness by its water-drenched history.

 

Lois Poppema, visiting from California, said she thought the Netherlands was exactly the right place for an ark.

 

"Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television ... saying that all Holland will be flooded" by rising sea levels, she said.

 

"I don't think the man who made this ever expected that global warming will become (such an important) issue -- and suddenly having the ark would be meaningful in the middle of Holland."

 

Under sunny skies Saturday, Huibers said he wasn't worried about another biblical flood, since according to Genesis, the rainbow is the sign of God's promise never to flood the world again. But he does worry that recent events such as the flooding of New Orleans could be seen as a portent of the end of time.

 

Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where churchgoing has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years. He also plans to visit major cities in Belgium and Germany.

 

Comments:  Genesis 6:[4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. [5] And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  [6] And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. [7] And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.  [8] But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. The remnant of Noah’s Ark has made the news the past 10 years or so when photographs purportedly showed it nestling on top of snowy Mount Ararat in Turkey.  There has been no official confirmation yet.  Johan Huibers’ completed construction of a replica of the Ark fuels the interest in the Biblical account (that naysayers deny ever happened) as recorded in the Book of Genesis.  Even though archaeological findings have turned up ancient drawings of a deluge, the critics of the Bible still rail against its existence.  Indeed, God destroyed the wicked world in Noah’s day and started all over with Noah and his family members.  That period of time saw man’s heart being evil in every way.  Violence filled the world.  Demonic beings engaged in sexual activity with human females.  To say it was vile beyond imagination would be a gross understatement.

 

Yes, the rainbow that you see in the sky is a promise by God that He won’t ever again destroy the entire world with a flood, but that doesn’t preclude Him allowing regional flooding.  God speaks to wayward man through natural disasters to wake him up as to his perilous condition.  Get saved spiritually before it’s too late.  Johan Huibers’ Ark will be the conscience of many who view it and enter it.  The Holy Spirit will use the Ark to awaken souls to the reality that judgment upon this sinful depraved world is just around the corner; a judgment not by water, but by fire.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Big belly laughs deliver big physical, mental-health benefits, city program instructor believes

Source: Winnipeg Free Press Online

 

April 30, 2007 -- When Rolande Kirouac lets out one of her deep, from-the-belly laughs, she knows that some people think she's crazy. But the startled stares of onlookers don't bother the Winnipegger too much. In fact, it's her goal to get the whole city laughing -- no joke required.

 

"When we look at children (laughing), we think, 'Oh, how cute.' And as we get older, we learn that society interprets laughter as being kooky -- off the wall," says Kirouac. "And yet it's something that we need to do."

 

Kirouac -- who often lets out all kinds of laughs, from soft coos to giddy giggles -- teaches Laughter Yoga, a class invented a decade ago by Dr. Madan Kataria.

 

The family physician from Mumbai, India -- along with his wife, Madhuri -- has thousands of followers around the world who believe in the physical and mental-health benefits of laughter. "We do not laugh because we are happy -- we are happy because we laugh," the doctor has said.

 

There are now more than 5,000 Laughter Yoga clubs worldwide.   

According to Kataria, laughter is not only good for the spirit, but it's also good for the body -- lowering blood pressure, decreasing stress hormones, increasing pain-killing endorphins and boosting the immune system.

 

Kataria has declared Sunday, May 6 to be World Laughter Day. Kirouac plans to celebrate the event here in Winnipeg at St. Vital Park by leading a free laughter yoga session.

 

"It's very simple. People are going to get together and share laughter together," says Kirouac, who came across Laughter Yoga in 2004 while surfing the web.

 

Since that time, she has attended Kataria's workshops and has helped found the four laughter clubs in Winnipeg and train the city's 14 laugh instructors.

 

Though labeled "yoga," Kirouac is quick to point out that Laughter Yoga is not true yoga, but rather "85 per cent laughter."

 

The yoga element comes from the stretching and breathing exercises that are designed to facilitate laughter, which Kirouac says can be taxing.

 

"Oh yes! After a laughter session, I'm sweating. It's a full workout.... The type of laughing we do -- the big belly laugh -- it's physically exhausting," says the St. Boniface resident.

 

So what happens in a laughter class? "You really have to get rid of all your inhibitions. The first time you get to laughter club, your mind is working overtime. You're thinking, 'I look stupid.' And that answer to that is, you do. The next question you need to ask yourself is, 'So what?'"

 

During laughter sessions, students are encouraged to "fake it." Pretend laughter, says Kirouac, will lead to the real thing.

 

"It comes out of the smile, it comes out of the giggle and afterwards it moves on to laughter. Those are the three levels where we move back and fourth. When we're doing this, it feels like a wave," she explains.

 

The laughing coach says that students in her classes occasionally have emotional breakthroughs that cause them to burst into tears.

 

"When you're laughing, the other emotions will also be triggered... and that's healthy," she says.

 

When Osborne Village resident Josee Vaillancourt first tried a laughter session a couple of years ago, she thought it was "strange."

 

"It was the weirdest thing the first time," says the Festival de Voyageur's director of marketing. "It's hilarious. After 30 seconds of forcing a laugh, you just laugh hysterically."

 

"I think that it's really hard to explain. It's something you have to experience. But once you do, you're hooked."

 

Over the last few years, Kirouac has conducted laughter workshops for at least 50 local organizations -- including Provincial Court Judges of Manitoba. She says the organizations contacted her, proof that word about the stress-busting benefits of laughter is spreading. Kirouac's dream is to follow the Indian model and get laughter yoga into schools, hospitals -- and maybe even in jails.

 

She notes that Sunday's St. Vital Park event will not come close to matching the massive 12,000-person debut World Laughter Day session that took place a few years ago in Mumbai.

 

But she hopes to attract at least 50 people who are open to giving unbridled laughter a whirl.

 

"I really believe that it's a very spiritual experience. Dr. Kateria's motto is laughter for world peace. I really believe in that as well."

 

Comments:  Matthew 22:[13] Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Laughter Yoga is just another new fangled gadget in the Devil’s bag of tricks.  He laughs at the foolishness of his deceived minions knowing that they’ll follow him to the Lake of Fire.  In Hell, there’s no laughter, but torment, weeping and the gnashing of teeth.  The eternally lost won’t lambaste the Devil and his demons.  No, they’ll lash out at God and Jesus for their eternal separation from God.  They’ll be reminded over and over again about their conscious rejection of Jesus’ way of salvation, instead preferring to indulge in Laughter Yoga and other pagan methods of spiritual self-enlightenment.  The body, mind and spirit are paramount to one’s self.  The Bible’s prescription of happiness for now and in eternity is not followed through.  They run after Eastern methods of self-fulfillment hoping to find the answers to their mundane existence.  Encouraged by their relatives, friends and neighbors who have tried Laughter Yoga, they too want in on it.  Anything that’s not of God is temporal.  Laughter might arrest some illnesses and stave off cancer, but it’s a short term band-aid solution to what’s troubling mankind, i.e. the sin condition.

 

Indian yoga specialists find there’s no shortage of gullible Westerners eager to plop down green currency to try out the latest fad.  So desperate are they to find the fountain of youth and attain physical and spiritual fulfillment that they don’t even bother to do their homework.  Eastern mysticism and practices are soul damming as they open your subconscious mind to demonic influences.  Once your mind is controlled in such a way, only a miracle from God can extricate you from vice-like spiritual bondage.  To be forewarned is to be warned.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Planned Parenthood confesses to committing more abortions than ever

Source: www.christiannewswire.com

 

April 30, 2007 -- In 2005 alone, Planned Parenthood accepted money to put a 'hit' on 264,943 preborn human beings," Scott said. "And just like other paid killers, a failure to slay the intended victim would have been considered 'a complication.'" The 2005 figure represents an increase of 3.9 percent over 2004.

 

Planned Parenthood has confessed to having sold 1,245,506 "emergency" birth control kits in 2005 (nearly 26.6 percent more than in 2004). Every Planned Parenthood "clinic" dispenses "emergency" birth control. Most prescribe it over the phone and accept orders over the Internet, without conducting an examination. In the vast majority of cases, "emergency" birth control causes an abortion.

 

Comments:  Revelation 21:[8] But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.  Take heart, saints of God.  These baby murderers will have their just reward in the Lake of Fire.  They will have deserved it for they knew what they did was morally wrong and against God’s will.  Ignorance won’t be their defence. They did it to spite the God of Heaven and to add to their catalogue of sins.  Their degree of punishment will be greater than the Christ rejecter who robbed a bank to feed his impoverish family.

 

Planned Parenthood is a contradiction of terms.  Killing a baby before it’s delivered means no live baby, therefore no parent.  Planned Parenthood is really Planned Murders.  Yes, this world is over populated.  There are not enough resources to sustain some 6.5 billion souls.  Yes, abortions of the unborn removes parental responsibility from two people who only wanted a 1-night stand to satisfy their lust.  Their argument is: It’s better to abort than bring a baby into this world unwanted and unloved.  What kind of argument is that?  It’s really about selfishness.  Engage in all the fornication and adultery your flesh craves and if pregnant, go to a baby killer clinic or take an after-morning pill and presto, no more problem.  Easy as taking candy away from a helpless baby.  How Jesus must cry over these dear little ones who are presently in His presence.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Rebuilt Iraq projects found crumbling

Source: www.nytimes.com

 

April 30, 2007 -- In a troubling sign for the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq, inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that in a sampling of eight projects that the United States had declared successes, seven were no longer operating as designed because of plumbing and electrical failures, lack of proper maintenance, apparent looting and expensive equipment that lay idle.

 

Comments:  It’s a given that a post-Saddam, post war in Iraq will see a massive rebuilding of the destroyed infrastructures within Iraq.  Some Iraqi oil profits will be used to finance this enormous undertaking.  Meanwhile, American cash is leading the way to total reconstruction.  The Europeans, the Japanese and South Koreans will be urged to open their fat wallets and chip in their share.  The recent talks about relocating the U.N. from New York City to a rebuilt Babylon (located on the outskirts of Baghdad) could be just that, talk only, or it could become a reality.  A rebuilt Babylon to be the headquarters of rebellious mankind is going back to the past when Nimrod began the construction of the famed Tower of Babel designed to reach into Heaven and dethrone God.

 

It’s not surprising that poor workmanship defines the state of the newly erected structures.  If contractors can cut corners, they will and besides, the Iraqi people wouldn’t know the difference between quality and ship-shod workmanship.  They’ve been so used to dilapidated buildings that anything new, no matter if it’s of low grade quality, would be welcome.  They’ve seen with their own eyes the luxurious palaces that Saddam and his relatives lived in.  They can never aspire to that kind of opulent lifestyle.  If Babylon is to be restored to its past glory, you can bet that the royal palaces will be top notch while the common folks will have to settle for homes with a 6-month warranty and a $10,000 deductible for each claim.  In this life, there are the haves and the have nots.  It’s always been that way since Adam sinned.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

'Olmert made the decision to go to war unprepared'

Source: Jerusalem Post

 

April 30, 2007 -- After months of waiting and speculation, the Winograd Committee's interim report harshly criticizing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and former IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz over their actions during the first five days of the Second Lebanon War was released to the public Sunday afternoon.

 

According to the report, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert bears the responsibility for the decision to go to war without sufficient preparation, a decision the committee called "lacking in judgement, responsibility, and caution."

 

According to the final chapter of the report, which includes the committee's conclusions, Olmert is described as a passive leader who was led by the nose by the army and who did not take charge of the war he was supposed to be commanding

 

Peretz, who should not have accepted the Defense portfolio in the first place, did not do what he should have to make up for his lack of knowledge of security matters after he accepted the post, according to the report.

 

Comments:  What an indictment against the Olmert led government!  This ought to speak to Olmert about thinking seriously about stepping down and let a more experienced military trained leader take the helm of the Good Ship Israel.  Israel’s salivating enemies already suspected that Israel was caught off guard last summer during the initial days of the south Lebanon war between Hezbollah and Israel.  Like the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel was caught napping on the watch tower.  When she should have been watching and warning, she was lulled into a complacent condition.  Her vaunted military would take care of business no matter what so she thought.  Such prideful thinking had cost many more Israeli lives than should have been.

 

Yes, some in Israel believe that God will protect Israel no matter what.  You could have 6 million Arab soldiers push at Israel’s perimeter borders at the same time and God could blind them all so that in their confused state, they would turn against each other.  God isn’t scared about the number of His foes.  The Israeli leadership either believed this also or it failed its people at the most inopportune time.  A spiritual blind Israel still rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ finds herself in a very precarious state.  The next war could find many of her people killed than in the past.  Preparedness is not just simply militarily, but more importantly, their standing before a Righteous and Holy God.

 

 

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

Watchmen Watching HOME PAGE

Millennium Weekend Ministries Home Page