Church attendance and church activity has greatly fallen in this generation. But there may be hope that the belief in God and the Lord Jesus Christ may be coming alive in Europe and Canada.
by Peter J. Smith
France, once called the Eldest Daughter of the Church, has begun to awaken from her deep secular slumber, and so has her daughter Québec. France and Québec have been the respective leaders in the European and North American continents in the culture of death, but there are definite signs of a promising renewal. Better yet, France may even have found its champion against what Pope Benedict has called "the dictatorship of relativism."
Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the most visible public ministers of France and favorite for the 2007 presidential election, has publicly broken with the most sacred tenet of secularism by calling for the Republic to actively and publicly support religion. In a book entitled La République, les religions, l'espérance [ The Republic, the Religions, and Hope], Sarkozy makes a salient call to critically examine the legacy of secularism in France, and instead calls for an active secular government that funds the work of religion in France from funding church buildings to financial aid for clergy formation to church use of public property. Sarkozy says its time for France to revise the current 1905 law mandating total separation of church and state to renew a youth that he says have no ideals.
France is experiencing a renewal based in a reawakening of Catholic identity in its people that is large part due to the burgeoning number of renewal communities. In France, over 100 charismatic renewal communities have been founded in the last 30 years. This is giving rise to the new résistance against secularism, as the renewal congregations are drawing people to Christ by bringing this Catholic identity in their situation. In an interview with Deal Hudson of the Morely Institute for Church and Culture, Bishop Rey, one of the leaders of the renewal gave this cheerful view: "The Church is not dead; she sleeps, and it is my job to wake her."
The revival and slow turn away from secularism that is starting in France explain what is otherwise unexplainable: France has the 2nd highest birthrate in the European Union. Other Catholic countries, such as Spain and Italy, which have nearly the lowest in the European Union: 16th and 17th respectively, are moving towards more secularism, a road that France is slowly rejecting.
Now that the French are beginning to man the barricades against the "dictatorship of relativism," it may mean that there is renewal for her daughter: Quebec. Today, the once Catholic province of Quebec is the leader in the Canadian federation in the highest divorce, abortion, and out-of wedlock birth rates. Quebec, which until the election of Stephen Harper nearly always dominated the prime ministry and Canadian politics, was the birthplace of abortion in Canada.
However, that culture may be facing a change as over 10,000 young Québecois Catholics gathered together last Saturday at the Colisée Pepsi - numbers that haven't been seen in over 20 years. The "true army of 10,000 fervent Catholics" as Journal de Québec called them, participated in a spectacular entertaining event of over 4 hours long celebrating the 11th anniversary of Evangelization 2000. The event featured public Catholic personalities like the comedian Marcel Leboeuf, who spoke of how a pilgrimage to St. James de Compostella transformed his life at a time when he was at the bottom of his carrier. The events founder Sylvain Charron, vehemently condemned the "Da Vinci Code" saying "people are ready to believe anything! It's a novel! The Evil One does everything in order to get these very believers to doubt". The event ended with the little Jérémy Gabriel moving the energetic crowd with the song he had performed for Pope Benedict XVI a week and a half before.
SOURCE: LifeSiteNews.com
Posted by Walt as Church at 12:14 AM EDT
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Sharon Hughes
The Center for Changing Worldviews
Every time Memorial Day and Veterans Day comes around my minds goes to the many times I've attended parades and special observances put on by the cities in our area and the various veterans organizations. Several of those times my husband, Duane, participated in the events as a candidate for State Assembly and U.S. Congress. As a decorated Vietnam Vet he always received a warm welcome. Well, except for a couple of the very left-coast towns.
When our sons were growing up we would get out the picture albums of Duane's time in the Army, read together about why we observed these holidays in America out of the encyclopedia, and after dinner, which was usually a bar-be-que, we'd sit down and watch a movie or documentary on one of the wars our Armed Forces have fought in.
Some will think what we did was to indoctrinate our sons in a pro-war mindset. But, actually we were educating them in the realities of war. We wanted to instill in them an appreciation for those who laid their lives on the line to protect the rest of us, and the freedoms we enjoy, during times of war. We also wanted to make sure they had no romantic ideas about war as boys can have. If the time ever came for them to go to war it would be with their eyes wide open and the cost counted.
There is no glamour in war. War is hell. But, even the Bible states there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is, unfortunately, part of life on planet earth. While we debate and work and pray for peace, wars still rage. And while I understand the reasons some chose a passivist position, passivity never brings peace, only the rule of aggressive, totalitarian governments and leaders.
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Posted by Walt as Family Values, General at 6:35 AM EDT
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A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates.
St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a point."
"One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points, " he says.
"TWO POINTS!!" the man cries, "At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!"
"Come on in!"
Posted by Walt as Humor at 4:17 AM EDT
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I received the following emaiol from K.P. Yohannan, the Founder & President of Gospel for Asia. His email illustrates the fact that prayer will overcome the ruthless and relentless attacks against the persecuted Christians in Nepal of which he gives great thanks.
Dear Walter,
A revolution has taken place in Nepal, and it could have a major impact on the work of Gospel for Asia and other Christian ministries. I invite you to read the full story here:
http://www.gfa.org/gfa/newsupdate051906
On Thursday, the parliament of Nepal stripped the king of his powers and took the reins of government in the name of the Nepalese people. All of this came as a result of massive demonstrations on the part of the people, who expressed their unwillingness to either be ruled by a tyrant or intimidated by Maoist rebels, and after years of prayer by Christians.
One key provision of the new decrees is that instead of being known as "the world's only Hindu kingdom," the new Nepal will be a secular state. This could have major implications for Christians.
Please be in prayer for the people of Nepal, especially for our fellow believers and GFA leaders there.
Thank you for your prayers for Asia.
Yours for the unreached,
K.P. Yohannan
Founder & President
Posted by Walt as Persecuted Church at 9:55 PM EDT
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Speak of evolution,—here it is,—“When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Darkness never begets light, filth never creates purity, hell never yields heaven, and depravity never produces grace. - C. H. Spurgeon
Posted by Walt as C.H. Spurgeon Gems at 1:25 PM EDT
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Rev. Michael Bresciani
I have seen the odds of having the right amino acids and other components coming together from the primordial ooze and creating life mathematically computed. It produces a number followed by so many zeros that if I used the smallest font on my computer it would take the rest of this article to write them in, plus another several hundred pages to record them all.
Mathematics being a far more exact science than some others there is little room for speculation, pontifical statements or what is commonly called prior philosophic postulation. Such is what is commonly used by evolutionists, archaeologist, paleontologists and others when making statements about the beginning of life. In the plainest language, scientists who use prior postulation are making statements that require faith to believe – just like a preacher who proclaims the gospel.
I never did well in math. It seemed I could comprehend the value of literature and philosophy better. But I am not so foolish as to disregard the findings of the math crowd. Indeed, I rather respect them and their no-nonsense findings.
Calculating odds for or against something is given great credence today. It can free an innocent man or condemn a guilty one. The odds of some ones DNA being the same as someone else is sufficient grounds to free or convict them in a trial. Why then, do we ignore the odds when it comes to matters like the beginning of all life or what happens at the end of life?
Being ignorant doesn’t always mean you are dumb. It can mean that while you may be superbly intelligent you are ignoring certain obvious facts or figures. Often ignoring these facts is due to a prior philosophic postulate. So what’s that? It is a pre-disposition or a mindset to believe something else that you’ve been taught, something you have read or just a pet belief that you have attached to yourself without any examination and scrutiny. Here is an example.
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Posted by Walt as Creation at 1:46 PM EDT
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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Sealing a victory for religious free speech, a federal district court judge issued a declaratory judgment Monday in favor of two preachers muzzled by city officials from speaking in a public park. An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney represents the preachers’ organization of which one of the men, Pastor Jim Grove, is a part.
“Christian speech shouldn’t be treated differently than any other kind of speech,” said ADF-allied attorney Leonard Brown of the law firm Clymer & Musser. “This ruling, coming after a jury found two police officers had violated Pastor Grove’s First Amendment rights when they arrested him, clearly shows that other Harrisburg officials violated this basic constitutional guarantee when they had a city police officer stop the two men from speaking near the event.”
In 2003, Harrisburg officials restricted the speech of James Grove and Michael Marcavage as they expressed opposition to the “PrideFest” event in Riverfront Park, which celebrates homosexual behavior.
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Posted by Walt as Constitutional Issues at 4:19 AM EDT
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By: Rev. Michael Bresciani 
Research for this article was easy because of all the hype about Dan Brown’s new movie about the Da Vinci code. The question is simple. How can an educated public anywhere in the world take this novel or the movie it spawned seriously? I have found a few answers and some of them come from the bible itself which the Da Vinci code obviously does not take very seriously. There are those who would insist that if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck it still may not be a duck but even this crowd could hardly deny that it at least sounds quacky.
The bible says that in the last days that people will not endure or allow sound teaching or admonition from the bible or just about any other source, 2 Timothy 4:3. It says people would rather scour the earth looking for teachers who will scratch their itching exactly the way they want to be scratched. Of course Dan Brown has repeatedly said that after all it is only a novel and is not meant to be a history or an immutable heretofore un-acknowledged truth. Against that claim I can remember the night I watched two of TV’s most prominent movie reviewers discuss all that we the public have learned from various movies over the past forty years. Let’s get real. Whether Dan Brown insists that his novel was meant to be didactic or not, it will teach the weak minded and those hungry for any new thing that’s hot off the secular media buffet.
Posted by Walt as Apostasy at 7:55 AM EDT
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by Tony Pearce
Khaled Mash’al, leader of the Hamas movement which won the Palestinian elections in January 2006 gave a speech in Damascus which was broadcast on al-Jazeera TV on February 3rd 2006. He told the European nations to apologise to Islam because: ‘Tomorrow, our nation will sit on the throne of the world. This is not a figment of the imagination, but a fact. Tomorrow we will lead the world, Allah willing. Apologize today, before remorse will do you no good. Our nation is moving forwards, and it is in your interest to respect a victorious nation.’ His speech went on to say that the first phase of the Islamic world conquest would be the elimination of Israel and the defeat of the West in Iraq.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agrees. He said in Iran’s holy city of Qom on 5th January, ‘We must believe in the fact that Islam is not confined to geographical borders, ethnic groups and nations. It’s a universal ideology that leads the world to justice.’ He believes his main mission is to ‘pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance.’ According to Shiites, the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the year 941. They believe he will return and be known as the ‘Mahdi’ and reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world.
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Posted by Walt as Islam at 4:22 AM EDT
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WHEATON, Ill., May 2 /Christian Wire Service/ — Who better than the authors who’ve sold 
more than 63 million books featuring the antichrist, Left Behind Series writers Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, to use the number most closely associated with “the beast” as the street date for their next title? The duo’s fifteenth book together, "The Rapture" ($25.99/Tyndale), releases on June 6, 2006 or 06-06-06.
LaHaye and Jenkins are not the only ones to give a nod to the 666 sequence. The remake of “The Omen” featuring the young antichrist Damian releases on June 6 as well.
“Why not make the connection?” says Jenkins. “Our novels use the Book of Revelation as a framework and it’s in Revelation 13:18 that 666 is used in reference to the antichrist. The funny thing is that number never appears anywhere in our books.”
Jenkins thought it was too predictable to use 666 in the Left Behind® novels, but he’s found a few clever ways to work it in. For instance, the number 216 occurs often in regard to the antichrist character Nicolae Carpathia.
“Almost every significant number in the story is the sum, remainder, product, or divisor of 666, i.e., 6+6+6, 6-6-6, 6×6x6, etc.,” answers Jenkins. “In this case, 216 = 6×6x6.”
But LaHaye and Jenkins don’t stop with math problems. Note the name of the antichrist’s assistant, Viv Ivins. Look carefully and see that it is 666 in roman numerals.
On June 6, some Christian retailers are embracing the 666 theme by selling paperback editions of the Left Behind books for $6.66.
“It seemed very natural to release ‘The Rapture’ on June 6,” says Cheryl Kerwin, Tyndale marketing manager. “We knew it would make the street date memorable. We’ve had a few people who were a bit rattled by the number call and ask ‘Do you realize what day that is?’”
Jenkins advises that people have nothing to fear on June 6. “People are naturally afraid of the number because of who it is associated with. It’s just a number. It’s the antichrist who is evil.”
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Posted by Walt as Book Reviews, Prophecy at 4:48 AM EDT
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