Food for Prayer
As well as wiping out more than $20 billion in stock-market value overnight
CBC's newsmaker of the year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, advocates
sending the homeless to prison....
Looks like there's a few things to pray about here
CBC's version: http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/061228/b122847A.html
A University of Alberta student fascinated by a small pocket of evangelical Cree in Northern Alberta is breaking new ground and challenging traditional ways of anthropological research.
Clint Westman, a PhD candidate in linguistic and cultural anthropology, found a small population of Pentecostal First Nations in the semi-isolated communities of Trout Lake and Peerless Lake 500 kilometres north of Edmonton while studying the 2001 federal census.
Vatican denounces Saddam's execution
Last Updated: Saturday, December 30, 2006 | 9:25 AM ET
CBC News
A Vatican spokesman on Saturday called Saddam Hussein's execution "tragic"
and said it could escalate the fighting in Iraq.
"The killing of the guilty is not the way to reconstruct justice and
reconcile society," Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement. "There is
rather the risk that it might fuel the spirit of vengeance and sow the seeds
of new violence."
Lombardi said the Catholic Church has repeatedly and clearly expressed its
opposition to capital punishment.
"A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if
it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes," he said.
In an interview published in an Italian daily earlier in the week, the
Vatican's top prelate for justice issues, Cardinal Renato Martino, said
executing Saddam would mean punishing "a crime with another crime."
Human rights groups have also condemned the execution. Zahir Janmohamed,
Amnesty International USA's advocacy director for the Middle East and North
Africa, called it a "missed opportunity and justice denied," particularly
for Iraq's Kurdish community.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/30/saddam-reaction-sat.html
Inner-City Voices
Community-Based Solutions
State of the Inner City (Winnipeg) Report: 2006
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES - MANITOBA
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/Manitoba_Pubs/2006/
State_of_the_Inner_City_2006.pdf
Interesting blog....here's another spin to consider...In light of Lk.16
where the two masters are God and Money. Read Lk 19 as if the master is
Money. It changes the whole perspective. Just a suggestion, but it helps
us with the whole "shrewd" issue ie. crafty and devious almost deceptive.
The NRSV sheds a different light. If the master is Jesus then we have to
resolve His character with the 3rd servant's summary of him.
cheers...have fun with this one...
Priests to get soccer tournament in Rome to infuse sport into religion
Published: Friday, December 15, 2006 | 10:39 PM ET
Canadian Press
ROME (AP) - The Vatican is getting ready to battle it out with priests in
Rome. On a soccer pitch.
The inaugural Clericus Cup will kick off in February 2007 with the Vatican
one of 16 teams taking part. The final will take place in the Italian
capital at the end of June, organizers said Friday.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/061215/K121511AU.html
In the parables about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, Jesus speaks about the idea that ".there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7)." It is a cause for celebration when one joins the kingdom. In the parable of the lost son (15:11-32) the father tells the oldest son that "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found (15:31-32).'" Ethically speaking then we should also be concerned about, show mercy towards, and also celebrate the return of those once lost to the Kingdom.
Read the parables: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2015&version=31
(Mark 4:10-12, Matthew 13:10-17, Luke 8:10)
Jesus is recorded as using parables many times in the scriptures. More than one third of his recorded teachings are parabolic in nature. These "sayings perform the classic function of Hellenistic histories of interpreting the meaning of the narrative"*1 as a whole, particularly in Luke. In all three accounts of this parable, the parable about the sower, Jesus tells us directly his purpose for speaking in parables before explaining it directly to his disciples.
It is interesting that Luke records Jesus as saying in verse 10, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that 'looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.'"*2 The reference to the "secrets" (mysteria, v. 10) that they have been told, "occurs in this context in all three Synoptics. Mark 4:11 uses the singular form mysterion; and Matthew (13:11), like Luke, includes the word "knowledge" (gnonai, lit., "to know"). Only in this situation does mysterion occur in the teachings of Jesus."*3 This then is significant.
Also significant in this sub-section is the fact that others are not meant to understand -as is stated in Mark's account of Jesus discourse - "so they may not turn again and be forgiven (4:12)." There is a certain irony to this in the fact that the disciples themselves in Mark's gospel often seem to be the one's who don't understand.
About the Parable of the Sower then: this is a parable that should mean something to its original audience. Israel was indeed a story-telling culture and, at the time Jesus spoke this parable, an agrarian society. The possibility that the seed may fall on each of the kinds of ground should ring true to them: the good ground, the thorny ground, the places where the soil was shallow over limestone rock, the path - in first century Palestine, instead of a fence between each man's field, there would be a narrow well-beaten path, like the one mentioned in the parable; these were often as hard as pavement. People would have been aware of this. "Jesus' parables draw upon the familiar world but the familiar is used in a new way."*4 Those listening then should have been able to listen, hear, and understand this parable. However, they could not necessarily. This is an irony that is inherent to the parable; we can only hope that the truth of this parable - and Jesus' parables in general - will not be lost on us today.
Click HERE to read the Parable of the Sower in Luke (8:1-15) and see what it says for yourself...
Canada's official opposition has just selected Stephan Dion, a former Minister of Environment for its leader. He has a dog named Kyoto. This got my mind thinking about God's commands about the land (specifically relating to Palestine) in Leviticus 25, 26.
The land itself shall enjoy its Sabbath rest (25:2, 26:34,35) just as man is commanded to (Exod. 20: 8-11, Deut 5:15), and as God did (Exod. 20:11, Gen. 2:3). If the 'tenants' (25:23)fail in their responsibility to carry out that duty, then the owner of the Land -who cares about His land- will remove them from it. And He did remove Israel: "He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfilment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah. (2 Chronicles 36:20-21)." The land is the LORD's. He cares about His land and therefore so should we.
Any thoughts about this or what it means for us here today - if anything- e-mail me at ramsay@havelock-viha.com
"The nation of Israel...was a theocracy. God was the Head of the nation. He had chosen Israel and had promised in that period to channel his saving grace particularly through that nation...To Israel he gave his revelation through the prophets. To Israel he gave the order of true worship at the tabernacle and temple. God dwelt in the midst of Israel and at last became incarnate as a Jew of Nazareth. Therefore, in Israel things that we call sacred and profane were mingled together. Before the monarchy much of the secular administration was in the hands of the priests. There was no separation of church and state."
(Expositor's Bible Commentary)
"In a sense Israel had a kind of communism. The wealth was partially redivided every few years... This was the communal sharing that works well in a family where all have the strongest ties of love and interest...Israel, like the early church, was a community of people united in worship of the true God and sanctified in him. In times of revival, at least, the bulk of Israel's citizens would have been God-fearing men and women earnest in obeying God's law."
(Expositor's Bible Commentary)
How's this for a discussion topic? Anybody have any thoughts on this?...send me an e-mail: ramsay@havelock-viha.com
Yet another perspective...
From Holiness and How to Get It!
by Andrew Bale
the Journal of Aggressive Christianity (JAC):
. Holiness is both possible and essential ('without holiness none shall see the Lord!)
. Holiness makes Christians fruitful and effective
. Holiness leads to revival
. Holiness is conditional upon
- Conviction
- Renunciation of all that is sinful and doubtful
- Consecration (absolute surrender)
- Obedient faith
. Holiness is the work of God not man
. Holiness brings about complete and instant deliverance from sin (Holy people do not sin)
. A holy life is exemplified by a love for God expresses in practical love for others
Read whole article: http://www.armybarmy.com/article3-46.html
JAC Home: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html
| Margery Garraway |  | |
GARRAWAY, Margery (Marge) Margery passed away peacefully on November 28, 2006 at the age of 90. Margery was born in Silver Stream, Saskatchewan. She was predeceased by her loving husband Francis and her brother Allan. She is survived by her son Lyle (Mary) Garraway, her daughter Linda (Keith) Ramsay and her sister Joan (Neil) Christensen. Gramma Marge played an important role in the lives of her grandchildren: Dale Garraway, Helene (George) Hayek, Renee (Paul) Kelly, Michael (Susan) Ramsay and Lorinda Ramsay. Margery was so proud of her seven great granddaughters: Amanda, Miranda, Rachel, Rebecca, Sierra, Sarah-Grace and Abigail. Margery will be missed by her many friends, especially Jo White and Ina Harris. She, also, leaves behind her sisters-in law Nellie, Alice, Pat and May (Don), as well as many nephews and nieces. Margery and Francis lived in Flin Flon, Manitoba; Colonsay and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Victoria, BC. They owned grocery stores in Colonsay and Victoria. In Victoria, Margery worked at Woolworth's, Kelly Douglas and Sears. Margery was very involved in many activities at First Baptist Church. Her faith was important to her. It was a comfort to know that she was going to be welcomed Home when she closed her eyes for the last time. The family would like to thank the many people at Esquimalt Pharmasave, John Alfred Manor and Mount Tolmie Hospital who helped to ease Margery through her final months. We thank you all so much! You were so supportive to us all! A memorial service will be held during the Christmas holidays to allow her family and friends to say goodbye. The time and place will be announced at a later date. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallbros.com 321190 Published in the Victoria Times-Colonist on 12/2/2006. | ||
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