The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

Churches apply graveyard tradition to ashes

Source: USA Today 

 

May 29, 2007 -- Just outside Fredericksburg (Va.) United Methodist Church, an arc-shaped wall hugs the church's quiet meditation garden and outdoor fountain. A closer look at the wall reveals 360 niches and the names of deceased members of the congregation.

 

The columbarium, which holds urns containing ashes of the dead, was installed two years ago and is part of a growing trend of churches that are reverting back to the old church graveyard tradition in a modern way.

 

"Rather than buying plots in a cemetery in which they have no connection, to be buried at their church where they've worshipped and celebrated their life is meaningful to many people," said the church's senior pastor, Larry Lenow.

 

Comments:  It really doesn’t matter what happens to our physical body after it passed through the portal of death.  Our spirit and soul are transported into the presence of Jesus (if we’re saved) or to Hell to await the Great White Throne Judgment (if we’re eternally lost).  The body that’s left behind is just a shell of ourselves.  It’s really not you anymore. It’s either embalmed so as to slow the decaying process or it’s cremated (returned to dust and ashes).  The place of burial is a moot point for the departed one.  Yes, for the surviving relatives and friends, where the deceased is finally put to rest may be important, but from looking at the overall picture, his/her eventual destination was determined when he/she was still alive.  I had a brother in Christ tell me once, “You have to know the real priorities of life are and not get bogged down with trivialities”.  Hebrews 9:[27] And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

 

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Pope Benedict overrides objections on traditional Latin Mass

Source: USA Today 

 

May 29, 2007 -- It was one of the most radical reforms to emerge from the Second Vatican Council. The Mass, root of Roman Catholic worship, would be celebrated in the vernacular and not in Latin. Now, little more than a generation later, Pope Benedict XVI is poised to revive the 16^th‑century Tridentine Mass.

 

In doing so, he will be overriding objections from some cardinals, bishops and Jews — whose complaints range from the text of the old Mass to the symbolic sweeping aside of the council's work from 1962-65. Many in the church regard Vatican II as a moment of badly needed reform and a new beginning, a view at odds with Benedict, who sees it as a renewal of church tradition.

 

Comments:  Colossians 2:[8] Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  The tradition of men has sent many a soul to Hell.  People, instead of looking to the Holy Bible for wisdom and guidance, have followed what mortal men have devised.  Carried on from generation to generation, people unquestionably adhere to religious traditions.  It’s a no brainer; my grandpa did it, my old man did it and now, I’m doing it.  It’s no wonder authors have portrayed people as sheep.  In the Roman Catholic Church, the Mass is No. 1 in importance.  The Mass is about taking Jesus and sacrificing Him over and over again.  The New Testament (if Catholics bother to read it) tells us plainly: 1 Peter 3:[18] For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.  Hebrew 6:[6] If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.  At the cross of Calvary, a naked Jesus was shamed as He was crucified by sinful humans.  At the Mass, Christ is publicly shamed over and over again.  Whether the Mass is conducted in English, Italian or Latin makes no difference, it’s still the Mass and it’s abhorrent in God’s eyes.  If you’re truly saved, you would have no part in this sham.

 

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Believers plan new journey to centre of the earth by searching for hole in Arctic Ocean

Source: Winnipeg Free Press Online

 

May 29, 2007 -- An American scientist and a small band of believers are planning a journey to the Canadian Arctic for what they call "the greatest geological expedition in history."

 

Are they searching for Arctic oil reserves? Documenting evidence of climate change?

 

Not quite. They're looking for a fog-shrouded hole in the Arctic Ocean that leads -- they claim -- to the centre of the Earth, where an unknown civilization is lurking inside the hollow core of the planet.

 

This time next year, Kentucky-based physicist and futurist Brooks Agnew hopes to board the commercially owned Russian icebreaker Yamal in the port of Murmansk, and to sail into the polar sea just beyond Canada's Arctic islands.

 

"Everest has been climbed a hundred times," Agnew says. "The Titanic has been scanned from stem to stern. (But) this is the first and only expedition to the North Pole opening ever attempted."

 

Agnew is the latest in a long line of people to peddle the nutty, yet persistent, theory that humans live on the surface of a hollow planet, in which two undiscovered openings, near the North and South poles, connect the outer Earth with an interior realm.

   

In the 17th century, English astronomer and mathematician Sir Edmond Halley, who calculated the orbit of Halley's Comet, advanced hollow-Earth theories, as did German scientist Athanasius Kircher.

 

Comments:  What a huge waste of money!  Earth is solid with a superheated molten core (just see the movie ‘The Core’).  I was just kidding there…  Whether Earth is solid or hollow, the real question is:  Why is restless mankind expending energy and time seeking for new adventures?  Instead of settling the most important issue of life, i.e. accept Jesus as Savior or not, most are being preoccupied by the Devil’s distractions.  This puts off deciding for Christ and for many, death steps in and ends things.  This expedition to the Arctic Ocean is fraught with physical danger.  A few may perish as a result.  If they do find a pathway to a hollow Earth, what then?  Will they discover that UFO’s little green men are really Earthlings and not terrestrial beings?   Perhaps, they’re demonic beings in human form (a theory formulated by Dr. Jack Van Impe).  It’s all conjecture.  Meanwhile, the fate of one’s soul rests in the balance.

 

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Eurozone outracing US on economic growth

Source: EUObserver

 

May 29, 2007 -- The eurozone will in 2007 take over from the US as the driver of world economic growth, according to Paris-based think tank the OECD, with a strong performance by Germany giving Europe the edge.

 

The 13-state strong European currency union will see 2.7 percent GDP growth this year compared to 2.1 percent in the US, the OECD predicted in a report out Thursday (24 May). Last year the euro states lagged 0.5 percent behind the US.

 

"Europe [is] taking over the baton from the United States," OECD chief economist Jean-Philippe Cotis said. "A vibrant German-led recovery has remained on track...[and] the so-far lagging Italian economy has been sharing in the upswing."

 

Comments:  You knew it would happen eventually that the Revived Roman Empire surpasses the USA on economic growth.  The emerging EU superstate is comprised of 500 million people as compared to the US’s 300 million.  Europe is the hub of economic activities these days.  Go to any major European city and feel the vibrancy in the air.  Excitement is all around you.  Meanwhile, back in the USA, you feel a sense of stagnancy and negativism and it’s not mainly due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Perhaps, America has already reached the pinnacle and it’s now on the downward slope.  Prophecy students have surmised that the US will decrease while the EU will increase.  America isn’t specifically mentioned in Bible prophecy while the Revived Roman Empire will be front and center.  Perhaps, we’re seeing the harbinger of things to come on this side of the Rapture event.

 

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Peretz 'loses' Israel's Labor Party vote: PM Ehud Olmert may be forced out of office

Source: BBC NEWS

 

May 29, 2007 -- Israel's Defence Minister, Amir Peretz, has lost his bid to remain head of the Labour Party, exit polls indicate.

 

One exit poll predicted a win for former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, while another poll forecast a victory for the former head of Shin Bet, Ami Ayalon.

 

But neither contender appears to have won the 40% needed to avoid a second round run-off in two weeks' time.

 

Both men have threatened to pull Labour out of the ruling coalition unless Prime Minister Ehud Olmert steps down.

 

Comments:  There’s a popular saying in dating, “leave them wanting more”.  In this instance, PM Olmert ought to exit before he gets unceremoniously booted out.  He has outworn his welcome.  His partner in crime, Defense Minister Peretz, has seen the writing on the wall and he’s got his résumé brought up‑to‑date.  Both men won’t get to collect unemployment insurance, but they’ll be well taken care of.  During their short time in government office, they’ve made the necessary contacts with industry leaders so they’ll have the pick of litter when it comes to a career after politics.  They made a mess during last summer’s excursion into Lebanon which didn’t put Hezbollah out of existence.

 

Ehud Barak is ready to be the “comeback kid”.  They say, “it’s better the second time around” and with his experience as a battle field general and a short stint as prime minister, the people might just give him another chance.  Surely, with an all-out war looming in the south Lebanon horizon, Israel needs experienced leadership at this most critical juncture in her modern history.

 

 

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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