My arm stretched out to the clock by the bed. "Is it possible that it's already 2:45 in the morning?" I said to Chris, awake beside me.
Sing-song-y chants competed with the normal jungle night sounds and it meant there would be no sleep tonight.
In the first months living in the jungle, we grew to love our lullaby of clicking and chirping insects as we drift off to sleep.But last night they were drowned out by hours of chanting and dancing. Even the dogs were quieted this night by the unusual activity.
What competed with the jungle began around 4:30 in the afternoon. An elderly Banwaon man chanting in staccato bursts was followed by a procession of people moving forward with measured steps to the meeting place in the middle of the village — and right beside our house.
As night fell the dim lighting illuminated the open-sided house packed with Banwaons huddled under blankets on the floor or stepping over the huddles.
Like relay runners handing off batons, the chanters belted out the sing-song-y rhythms for about 20 minutes or so until the voice began to fade and crack. That was apparently the signal for the next leader to begin.
We couldn't peel our faces away as we watched from our bedroom window, the perfect perch, out of the way and causing no distractions.
At 4 in the morning, the rhythm was notched up a bit and several young men and women scrambled out of their blankets to take part in a graceful dance that circled around those few managing to keep their spot among those sprawled around on the floor.
We watched unwearied by the long hours straining to hear the words that danced about with the people. It all finally came to an end by 11:30 the next morning as they tumbled out of the meeting house for food and rest.
As we soaked in this new experience, we prayed God would help us stay diligent studying this new language. We could understand only a few words that floated up to our window that night. It thrilled our hearts that those words were about God and His Son, Jesus and the work of His blood on the cross for them.
The chanting was of praise and thanksgiving for God the Holy Spirit teaching their hearts through the Word and guiding their praise.
We don't hear much talk about the old days of fearing the evil spirits that once ruled their lives. And we may never fully know what those all-night chants used to mean to them or for what purpose they were performed.Grund Comment: Please consider giving to New Tribes Mission. If not possible to donate, please pray for them and the important work they do.
The Banwaon tribe has second generation believers. Praise God that He has shown them His love and given them a new purpose to chant.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Faith Exposed: Missionary News - Tribal Chant
ADF: School says transportation OK for student clubs...unless they’re Christian -
Grund Comment: Please consider giving to ADF. But always pray for them.
ADF attorneys file complaint and restraining order against La. school unconstitutionally discriminating against Christian students
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit and a request for a temporary restraining order against Calcasieu Parish Public Schools Thursday. School officials prohibited students of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club from using school buses to attend an event even though the school does not prohibit other clubs from using the buses.
“Christian student groups shouldn’t be discriminated against because of their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “All student groups have the same First Amendment rights, and schools cannot deny benefits to one club while granting the same benefits to another.”
ADF attorneys pointed out in a letter to the school district that Christian students should not be denied transportation to the event simply because the club and event concern religious subject matter, especially when it allows non-religious clubs similar access to transportation. After school officials failed to respond favorably to the letter, ADF attorneys filed suit.
If the court grants the request for the temporary restraining order, the FCA club will be allowed to attend the May 1 event. Non-club-related activities for which the school has used its buses for approved field trips include movies, bowling, alligator hunting, and trips to the shopping mall.
A copy of the complaint in A.W. v. Calcasieu Parish School Board filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/AWcomplaint.pdf. The motion for temporary restraining order is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/AWTRO.pdf.ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Israel's UN ambassador calls Carter 'a bigot'
NEW YORK - Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday called former President Jimmy Carter "a bigot" for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria.
Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, "went to the region with soiled hands and came back with bloody hands after shaking the hand of Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas," Ambassador Dan Gillerman told a luncheon briefing for reporters. The diplomat was questioned about problems facing his country during a wide-ranging discussion with reporters lasting more than an hour. The briefing was sponsored by The Israel Project, a Washington-based, media-oriented advocacy group.
The ambassador's harsh words for Carter came days after the ex-president met with Mashaal for seven hours in Damascus to negotiate a cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers. Carter then called Mashaal on Monday to try to get him to agree to a one-month truce without conditions, but the Hamas leader rejected the idea.
The ambassador called last weekend's encounter "a very sad episode in American history." He said it was "a shame" to see Carter, who had done "good things" as a former president, "turn into what I believe to be a bigot."... for the rest of the story, follow the link...
Israel's UN ambassador calls Carter 'a bigot' (OneNewsNow.com)
101 Scientific Facts and Foreknowledge From The Bible
Grund comment: This is neat!
101 Scientific Facts & Foreknowledge
Science means knowledge, and true science always agrees with the observable evidence. Scientific research continues to unfold the wonders and mysteries of our universe. Interestingly, there is one book that has anticipated many of these scientific facts. That book is the Bible.
Psalm 19:1-3 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
Jeremiah 10:12 – He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
Romans 1:20 – For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
This booklet presents 101 scientific facts found in the Scriptures. Many of these facts were penned centuries before they were discovered. Scientific foreknowledge found only in the Bible offers one more piece to the collective proof that the Bible is truly the inspired Word of the Creator. How does this affect you? The last several pages provide the answer – you need to read them carefully....Follow the link below...
Eternal Productions - 101 Scientific Facts and Foreknowledge
SEED of EXTINCT DATE PALM SPROUTS After 2,000 YEARS
SEED of EXTINCT DATE PALM SPROUTS After 2,000 YEARS
It has five leaves, stands 14 inches high and is nicknamed Methuselah. It looks like an ordinary date palm seedling, but for UCLA- educated botanist Elaine Solowey, it is a piece of history brought back to life. Planted on Jan. 25, the seedling growing
in the black pot in Solowey’s nursery on this kibbutz in Israel’s Arava desert is 2,000 years old — more than twice as old as the 900-year-old biblical character who lent his name to the young tree. It is the oldest seed ever known to produce a viable young tree. The seed that produced Methuselah was discovered during archaeological excavations at King Herod’s palace on Mount Masada, near the Dead Sea. Its age has been confirmed by carbon dating.
Scientists hope that the unique seedling will eventually yield vital clues to the medicinal properties of the fruit of the Judean date tree, which was long thought to be extinct…. The Judean date is chronicled in the Bible, Quran and ancient literature for its diverse powers — from an aphrodisiac to a contraceptive — and as a cure for a wide range of diseases including cancer, malaria and toothache.
For Christians, the palm is a symbol of peace associated with the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The ancient Hebrews called the date palm the “tree of life” because of the protein in its fruit and the shade given by its long leafy branches. The Arabs said there were as many uses for the date palm as there were days in the year. Greek architects modeled their Ionic columns on the tree’s tall, thin trunk and curling, bushy top. The Romans called it Phoenix dactylifera — “the date-bearing phoenix” — because it never died and appeared to be reborn in the desert where all other plant life perished. Now Solowey and her colleagues have brought this phoenix of the desert back to life after 2,000 years.
The ancient seeds were found 30 years ago during archeological excavations on Mount Masada, the mountaintop fortress on the shore of the Dead Sea where King Herod built a spectacular palace. When the Romans conquered Palestine and laid waste to the Temple in Jerusalem, Masada was the last stand of a small band of Jewish rebels who held out against three Roman legions for several years before committing mass suicide in A.D. 73. Archaeologist Ehud Netzer found the seeds, which were identified by the department of botanical archaeology at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. Then they were placed in storage, where they lay for 30 years until Sallon heard about the cache. “When we asked if we could try and grow some of them, they said, ‘You’re mad,’ but they gave us three seeds,” she said.
Sallon took the seeds to Solowey, who has cultivated more than 3,000 date palms and rarities like the trees that produce the fragrant resins frankincense and myrrh. Solowey admits she was skeptical about the chances of success with this project. “When I received the seeds from Sarah, I thought the chances of this experiment succeeding were less than zero,” said Solowey, cradling the precious seedling in a specially quarantined section of her nursery on the kibbutz. “But Dr. Sallon insisted and I took this very seriously. Lotus seeds over 1,000 years old have been sprouted, and I realized that no one had done any similar work with dates, so why not give it our best shot – and we were rewarded.” “It’s certainly the oldest tree seed that’s ever been sprouted.
Wheat seeds from pharaohs’ tombs have been sprouted, but none of the plants have survived for very long. Before this, the oldest seed grown was a lotus from China, which was 1,200 years old,” she said. “I’m very excited. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen. I’m really interested in finding out what the DNA testing is going to show. I know that date seeds can stay alive for several decades. To find out that they can stay alive for millennia is astonishing.” …
When the Romans invaded ancient Judea, thick forests of date palms towering up to 80 feet high and 7 miles wide covered the Jordan River valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the shores of the Dead Sea in the south. The tree so defined the local economy that Emperor Vespasian celebrated the conquest by minting the “Judea Capta,” a special bronze coin that showed the Jewish state as a weeping woman beneath a date palm. Today, nothing remains of those mighty forests…. The ancient Judean date, renowned for its succulence and famed for its many medicinal properties, had been lost to history. Until now. ~Matthew Kalman, SF Chronicle Foreign Service.
Ted Turner's Next Prophecy: Food Riots 'Going to be More Commonplace'
After forecasting cannibalism from global warming, media mogul-turned-U.N. Foundation chairman appears on CNBC and ties 'global climate change' to 'an ever-increasing population.'
The current food shortage is going to get worse before it gets better – at least that’s the way the founder of CNN sees it.
Ted Turner was interviewed by CNBC’s Bob Pisani on the April 25 “Closing Bell.” He addressed the recent food shortages causing rationing and riots all over the globe and said it’s just a sign of things to come.
“There are a lot of different problems being caused by an ever-increasing number of people in a finite-sized world,” Turner said. “The resources of the planet just can’t keep up with the demand and I’m afraid this going to be more commonplace. I’m afraid we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg. It’s very complicated I do want to say.”
...follow the link for the rest of the story...
Ted Turner's Next Prophecy: Food Riots 'Going to be More Commonplace'
Global rice squeeze hitting U.S. consumers
George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, April 25, 2008
The climbing global price of rice and other staples shows no sign of leveling off, given caps placed on exports and various supply-side squeezes. As a result, food experts predict hunger and poverty in poor nations along with a restricted supply of grains coupled with rising prices in this country.
The worldwide rice crisis lapped over into the United States this week when Costco Wholesale and Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, the two biggest warehouse retail chains, limited the amount of bulk imported rice customers can buy. Sam's Club said the restriction is due to "recent supply and demand trends."
The shortage reflects restrictions on exports by major rice producers, notably India, Vietnam and Egypt, followed on Wednesday by Brazil, causing imbalance in world markets. These nations acted to ensure adequate domestic supplies amid rising world prices for preferable varieties of long-grain rice. Drought has contributed to the shortage, as has hoarding, experts say.
...follow the link for the rest of the story...
NHS Lothian and Ramadan - Statement
Grund Comment: It has been brought to my attention that the story Daily Express- Doctors give in to Muslims which I posted on 9/11/07 was not correct. I posted the statement below the purple text.
One of my questions: why are not emails sent from top management to senior managers about the sensitivities to Jews cultural issues or Hindu cultural issues or Buddhist cultural issues or Christian cultural issues?
When my CIO (my boss) gets an email from the CEO (*his* boss) suggesting that he do something, you darn well know that the CIO will take it as a "do it" type suggestion, kinda like the "i'm volunteering you' type thing.
So although the particulars may be incorrect, the essence of the article is correct.
One group, based on religion is making everyone else jump through hoops.
NHS Lothian and Ramadan - Statement
THERE is no question - despite reports in the national and local media - that staff in NHS Lothian have been ordered not to eat at their desks for fear of offending Muslim colleagues. Nor is there any question that NHS Lothian will be moving vending machines.
However NHS Lothian has a duty to be sensitive to needs of people of all faiths and no faith.
This story stems from an email sent to NHS Lothian and other health boards by a private public affairs consultancy. This email gave helpful background information to organisations across Scotland about Ramadan, a major Muslim religious celebration.
The email contained information on the requirements placed on Muslim colleagues and patients in observing Ramadan.
It contained a couple of suggestions for maintaining productivity. It suggested that working lunches could be difficult for Muslim colleagues who would be fasting, if observing the celebration. It also suggested organisations should consider, if felt appropriate, temporarily changing the route of food trolleys to be sensitive to colleagues who adhere to the Muslim faith. These suggestions - not orders - have been greatly exaggerated in the media and given a force they do not have.
The email was forwarded to a small number of senior managers across NHS Lothian for background information only.
It was not forwarded as a policy directive, nor was it in any way an official NHS Lothian document.
15 August 2007
Behind the Run on Rice
Despite bumper crops in Vietnam and India, export limits and bans have created a global shortage and driven up prices
At the Costco in San Francisco, rice is all the rage. Not long after the 10 a.m. opening on Apr. 24, the warehouse club was well on its way to selling out the day's supply of Thai jasmine rice. Within an hour, customers cleared three pallets loaded with 50-lb. bags of Super Lucky Elephant brand jasmine rice from Thailand. Real estate broker Mary Jane Galviso snapped up two bags—the limit imposed by this particular store. "This is very frightening," says Galviso, who hails from Orosi, a rural community in California's Central Valley, more than 200 miles southeast of San Francisco. Her local grocery, which specializes in Filipino foods, has run out of Thai jasmine.
In a dramatic development for U.S. consumers this month, shoppers and Asian and Indian restaurant owners started panic-buying two of the highest-premium varieties of rice—Thai jasmine and Indian basmati. That led many grocers to run out of the rice, and warehouse clubs including Costco and Sam's Club imposed limits on how much rice shoppers can buy.
The restrictions placed by Issaquah (Wash.)-based Costco (COST) vary across the country, while Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), limited its customers to four 20-lb. bags of rice. "We've heard of cases where restaurant owners are hoarding three weeks' supply of rice in their basement, which is obviously more than they currently need, which makes the situation even worse," says Richard Galanti, Costco's chief financial officer.
...follow the below link for the rest of the story...
Friday, April 18, 2008
Most Israelis Agree Jerusalem is Being Discussed--April 17
ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS
(IsraelNN.com) Nearly 60% of Israelis say the Israeli government is secretly negotiating the division of Jerusalem with the Palestinian Authority - despite government attempts to blur the existence of such talks.
This and other findings were the results of a survey carried out by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies in Bar Ilan University. The official numbers will be presented this Tuesday at a special seminar at Bar Ilan. The Guest of Honor will be Trade Minister Eli Yishai, the head of the government coalition member Shas Party. Yishai has stated frequently that the moment it becomes clear that Jerusalem is being negotiated, his party will quit the coalition.
View Full Article
Olive Tree Ministries - prophetic signs, current issues, and the Messianic Jewish movement.
Global Food Riots: Made in Washington D.C.--April 18
To paraphrase the late, great William F. Buckley, Jr., someone must stand athwart the federal ethanol program yelling, “Stop!” The emergency brake should be pulled -- NOW -- before ethanol wreaks further havoc.
Poor Haitians rioted last week outside Port-au-Prince’s presidential palace, forcing Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis’ April 12 ouster. Haitians are enduring food prices 40 percent higher than last summer’s. Some have resorted to eating cookies made of salt, vegetable oil, and dirt. That’s right: Dirt cookies.
Developing-world denizens are taking it to the streets with growling stomachs. In Bob Marley’s words, “A hungry man is an angry man.”
View Full Article
Olive Tree Ministries - prophetic signs, current issues, and the Messianic Jewish movement.
Earthquake Rocks Illinois--Wash.Times--April 18
5.4 earthquake rocks Illinois, felt elsewhere
April 18, 2008
WEST SALEM, Ill. (AP) — A 5.4 magnitude earthquake that appeared to rival the strongest recorded in the region rocked people up to 450 miles away early today, surprising residents unaccustomed to such a powerful Midwest temblor.
The quake just before 4:37 a.m. was centered six miles from West Salem, Ill., and 66 miles from Evansville, Ind. It was felt in such distant cities as Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Des Moines, Iowa, 450 miles northwest of the epicenter, but there were no early reports of injuries or significant damage.
View Full Article
Olive Tree Ministries - prophetic signs, current issues, and the Messianic Jewish movement.
The Middle East Club of Four Is Founded in Sharm
February 8, 2005, 11:36 PM (GMT+02:00)
Grund Comment: This is an odd piece of news..., I wonder what it means...
The most significant feature of the four-way summit that took place on Tuesday, February 8, at the Egyptian Red Sea resort to Sharm el-Sheikh, was that it was the first time in Israel’s 57 years’ life that one of its leaders was asked to join three Arab rulers at any forum without outside mediators or an international aegis. The key to this unique event was embodied in President George W. Bush’s directive Thursday night, February 3, to secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, not to show up at the Middle East summit. The European Union followed her lead, as did Arab leaders who planned to attend like the King of Morocco, the emir of Qatar and the Tunisian president. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, the newly-elected Palestinian Authority chairman, Mahmoud Abbas – Abu Mazen, Jordan’s King Abdullah and their beaming host, President Hosni Mubarak, were thus thrown together alone and confronted with the task of forging a form of accord.
In full
War with Israel is possible and we are getting ready – Assad
April 17, 2008, 1:31 PM (GMT+02:00)
The Syrian ruler Bashar Assad made this statement in a speech in Damascus reported Thursday, April 17.
Earlier this week, DEBKAfile’s military sources reported that Damascus has deployed the 10th armored corps at the Massaneh crossing of Mount Hermon. It links up with the northwestern positions the 14th division took up last month on the Syrian-Israeli border which cuts through the Hermon range.
More...
DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security
China's escalates Bible crackdown
Shi Weihan and his family (China Aid Association photo)
The Chinese owner of a bookstore near the 2008 Olympics complex in Beijing has been re-arrested and detained, only about a dozen weeks after he was cleared of allegations of illegally publishing Bibles and Christian literature due to "insufficient evidence," according to a new report from Compass Direct.
As WND reported earlier, Shi Weihan was released in January after being taken into custody shortly after Thanksgiving 2007 during police raids on his home and office.
...read the rest of the story by following the below link...
Friday, April 11, 2008
Olmert to snub Carter over Hamas visit
By Joshua Mitnick
April 11, 2008
TEL AVIV — Former President Jimmy Carter will receive the cold shoulder in Israel next week over his plan to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in the Syrian capital during a tour of the Middle East.
Citing scheduling difficulties, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu turned down requests for meetings from the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
“You draw your own conclusions,” said an Israeli official who declined to be identified. “Israeli officials have expressed outrage at the possibility that he'll meet Mashaal. ... He's the leader of a terrorist organization.”
The meeting could undermine a joint policy by the U.S. and Israel to keep Hamas politically isolated. Mr. Carter would become the most prominent Western figure to meet with Hamas, which is considered by the U.S. and the European Union to be a terrorist organization.
Grund Comment: Carter has had the wool pulled over his eyes...
...follow the link for the rest of the story...
America drafts plan to divide Israel capitol
O Jerusalem! America drafts plan to cut in 2
Allows Palestinian security control, asks Israel to forfeit Temple Mount
Posted: April 09, 2008
11:30 pm EasternBy Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDailyJERUSALEM – The United States, which has been mediating negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority here, has proposed a plan to divide Jerusalem, WND has learned.
The plan, divided into separate phases, among other things calls for Israel eventually to forfeit parts of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.
According to the first stage of the U.S. plan, which was obtained by WND, Israel would give the PA some municipal and security sovereignty over key Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem.
The PA would be allowed to open some official institutions in Jerusalem, could elect a mayor for the Palestinian side of the city and would deploy police forces to maintain law and order.
...for the rest of the story, follow the link below...
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
A Muslim Journey to Hope; Journey to Faith, Journey to God
Grund Comment: Okay guys and gals, you want to see the glory of God; see how he changed this brother. If I could *make* someone watch a video, this would be the one. What a testimony. Glory to God.
47
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The cowardice and intolerance of slapping a Darwin fish on your car bumper.
Grund comment: Really good commentary! You can find Fitna on Youtube (you have to login first) or get it zipped here Fitna zip
April 1, 2008
I just watched "Fitna," a 17-minute film by Geert Wilders, head of the Dutch Freedom Party, which takes a hard-line stance against Muslim immigration.
Released on the Internet on Thursday, "Fitna" juxtaposes verses from the Koran with images and speeches from the world of jihad. Heads cut off, bodies blown apart, gays executed, toddlers taught to denounce Jews as "apes and pigs," imams calling for global domination, protesters holding up signs reading "God Bless Hitler" and "Freedom go to Hell" -- these are just some of the powerful images from "Fitna," an Arabic word that means "ordeal."Predictably, various Muslim governments have condemned the film. Half the Jordanian parliament voted to sever ties with the Netherlands. Egypt's grand imam threatened "severe" consequences if the Dutch government didn't ban the film.
Meanwhile, European and U.N. leaders are going through the usual motions of theatrical hand-wringing, heaping all of their anger on Wilders for sowing "hatred."
Me? I keep thinking about Jesus fish.
During a 1991 visit to Istanbul, a buddy and I found ourselves in a small restaurant drinking, dancing and singing with a bunch of middle-class Turkish businessmen, mostly shop owners. It was a hilariously joyful evening, even though they spoke nearly no English and we spoke considerably less Turkish.
At the end of the night, after imbibing unquantifiable quantities of raki, an ouzo-like Turkish liquor, one of the men came up to me and gave me a worn-out business card. On the back, he'd scribbled an image. It was little more than a curlicue, but he seemed intent on showing it to me (and nobody else). It was, I realized, a Jesus fish.... for the rest of the story, follow the link below...
Student Sues Wisconsin School After Getting a Zero for Religious Drawing -
Student Sues Wisconsin School After Getting a Zero for Religious Drawing
FNC
A copy of the drawing made by the student 'A.P.'
MADISON, Wis. — A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.
The lawsuit alleges other students were allowed to draw "demonic" images and asks a judge to declare a class policy prohibiting religion in art unconstitutional.
"We hear so much today about tolerance," said David Cortman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group representing the student. "But where is the tolerance for religious beliefs? The whole purpose of art is to reflect your own personal experience. To tell a student his religious beliefs can legally be censored sends the wrong message."
Tomah School District Business Manager Greg Gaarder said the district hadn't seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.
According to the lawsuit, the student's art teacher asked his class in February to draw landscapes. The student, a senior identified in the lawsuit by the initials A.P., added a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love" in his drawing.
His teacher, Julie Millin, asked him to remove the reference to the Bible, saying students were making remarks about it. He refused, and she gave him a zero on the project.
... for rest of story, follow the link...
