Church of England to Build “Pagan Church”

What would it be like to worship the Goddess inside a Christian cathedral, or to hold a Christian sermon inside a prehistoric stone circle? The Church of England (CoE) has announced plans to make such a scenario into reality by forming a church which incorporates pagan styles of worship and ritual, but the efforts have drawn criticism from Christians and pagans alike. For Universal Life Church ministers the English church’s plans an important ethical question: are Anglicans trying to show greater acceptance for earth-based religions, or are they secretly trying to convert pagans?

News of the so-called “pagan church” came as druids, Wiccans, and other members of the pagan community gathered together to celebrate Litha, or Alban Heruin—the Summer Solstice—at Stonehenge in the countryside of Wiltshire, England. The Church’s Mission Society is currently training its ordained ministers to consort amicably with pagans in the hope of seeing more of them discover, or re-discover, Christianity. According to the Society’s Andrea Campenale, the goal is to provide spiritual meaning in a secularized Britain. “Nowadays people, they want to feel something; they want to have some sense of experience”, she said, adding that “[w]e live in reflective England where there’s much more of a focus on ourselves. I think that is something we can bring in dialogue with the Christian society”. The Society’s Web page says about its pioneer minister training scheme that “[w]herever in the world the mission of Jesus goes on, the church needs pioneer mission leaders to break new ground”.

At first glance this attempt to “break bread” suggests the Anglican Communion’s growing tolerance of paganism, and the fact that Anglicans have fielded criticism from their own seems to testify to this. In a 2010 American Anglican article entitled “Are Pagan Practices Meeting an Increasingly Receptive Audience in the Episcopal Church”, author Jeff Waltondescribes another article in the newsletter of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The article, called “Crone Power”, recounts a “croning” ritual, or celebration of female wisdom. “[T]he meditation embraced a history of mystical women and offered prayers to ‘Mothering God’ and ‘Eternal Wisdom’”, he writes, also noting the “outing” of an Episcopal priest who led a secret life as a druid named Oakwyse. Additionally, in 2009, the Institute of Religion and Democracy, which bills itself as “ecumenical”, condemned as “idolatrous” a Native American “Sacred Circles” ceremony held inside the Episcopal National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

   

But does this growing receptivity mean the Church of England wants to embrace pagans, or convert them? In a Telegraph article on the topic, one commenter wrote, “given that much of Christian culture is the result of putting a monotheistic gloss on pagan ritual, this seems like the only way that another wrote, “[t]hen again, maybe this is just what we need. Converting the pagans by co-opting some of their beliefs worked wonders the first time, and made Christianity a whole lot more fun in the bargain. Where would we be without Christmas trees?” Many, it would seem, think the CoE’s “pagan church” is really just a subtle form of missionary work.

Christianity will survive in England”, while       

The idea of a paganized Anglican worship service seems refreshingly open-minded on the surface, but talk of “mission” work and bringing pagans to Christ make it sound like a thinly-veiled attempt at proselytizing an increasingly secular British populace. Interfaith ministers ordained online should be aware of the difference between syncretism and religious co-optation. The former means to accept and integrate; the latter, to weigh up and assimilate.


The monastery.org

New device turns public transportation windows into ads by beaming sound into your head

Maybe that is why everybody it's going to love the antichrist....

They are going to beam ideas to the people mind

New technology developed by Britain's Sky Go and advertising agency BBDO Dusseldorf can turn vibrating bus and train windows into hi-tech advertisements by beaming sound into commuters' heads.

The nefariously clever device is installed on a window, where it releases high-frequency oscillations. The brain then converts those oscillations into sound.

Lean your head against the glass, and the window talks to you.

The process is called "bone conduction", which sounds rather ominous. Rightly so. This technology could stop thousands of drained and groggy commuters from dozing on their trips home.

Just watch the video above, which was put together by BBDO Dusseldorf to showcase the device. None of the featured commuters seem particularly impressed by the strange voice in their heads.

It's not all bad, mind you. In the right hands, this technology could probably give passengers access to live sports commentary, some easy listening music or even a soothing Stephen Fry audiobook.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/07/03/new-device-turns-public-transportation-windows-into-ads-by-beaming-sound-into/?intcmp=related#ixzz2Y6F3lxlf

Portugal, Greece risk reawakening euro zone beast

(Reuters) - A teetering Portuguese government has underlined the threat that the euro zone debt crisis, in hibernation for almost a year, may be about to reawaken.

From Greece to Cyprus, Slovenia to Spain and Italy, and now most pressingly Portugal, where the finance and foreign ministers resigned in the space of two days, a host of problems is stirring after 10 months of relative calm imposed by the European Central Bank.

Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho told the nation in an address late on Tuesday that he did not accept the foreign minister's resignation and would try to go on governing.

If his government does end up collapsing, as is now more likely, it will raise immediate questions about Lisbon's ability to meet the terms of the 78-billion-euro bailout it agreed with the EU and International Monetary Fund in 2011.

Portugal had been held up as an example of a bailout country doing all the right things to get its economy back in shape. That reputation is now harder to sustain and even before this latest crisis, the International Monetary Fund reported last month that Lisbon's debt position was "very fragile".

Coming soon after the near-collapse of the Greek government, which has been given until Monday to show it can meet the demands of its own EU-IMF bailout, the euro zone may be on the brink of falling back into full-on crisis.

EU officials have been at pains to talk down any unrest, buoyed by the tranquility in financialmarkets since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi made good on his pledge last summer to do whatever it takes to protect the euro via a bond-buying program.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has spoken of the worst of the crisis being over, and the economic affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn, has often dismissed "doomsayers" who once predicted the euro would collapse.

But despite the desire to project calm, EU officials quietly acknowledge that all is not well and that any number of problems could throw the region back into turmoil.

"There are always issues simmering under the surface," said an EU diplomat who has been dealing first hand with the crisis since it erupted in Greece in early 2010.

"It's far from over. The immediacy may have ebbed away, but I think we're all aware that under the surface, there's still a lot of stuff than can come back to bite us."

During a meeting of finance officials from the 17 euro countries on Tuesday, there was agreement that the "optimism in the euro zone is not justified, that we are in worse shape than it seems," according to one source at the meeting.

The situation in Portugal was a particular concern, said JP Morgan economist Alex White.

"The announcement this afternoon that Paulo Portas, the foreign minister, has resigned significantly escalates our near-term concerns," he said in a note to clients. "At the moment risks appear elevated."

All that is coming against a backdrop of rising euro zone borrowing costs once again after the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement of an exit strategy from its money-printing program put world markets back into a spin.

Portuguese 10-year bond yields spiked up to eight percent on Wednesday with reports of further ministerial resignations throwing the coalition government's future into peril.

Portas has to decide whether to stay in his post or pull his rightist CDS-PP party out of the coalition, robbing the government of its majority.

Greece, which has resumed talks with its EU and IMF lenders, is every bit as alarming.

A privatization process, which was supposed to help cut into Greece's debt mountain down, has stalled and progress on public sector reform is faltering.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has ruled out a fresh round of cuts, his government is seeking to lower its privatization revenue target after failing to sell its natural gas operation and there is a 1 billion euros black hole in the state-run health insurer, so its lenders may demand measures to fill that.

There are some suggestions that the EU and IMF may refuse to pay at least some of the 8.1 billion euros bailout tranche on offer and dribble it out instead in order to focus minds in Athens. Anything more dramatic would be risky since Greece faces big bond redemptions next month and nobody wants a default.

With German elections looming in September, Angela Merkel's government is determined not to rock the boat beforehand.

CRISIS AWAKENS FROM SLUMBER

Spain and Italy, two far larger economies, also major risks, as do banking sector problems in Slovenia, slow reforms in Cyprus and a scandal in Ireland that has shaken confidence.

In a note to clients late last month, Italy's Mediobanca warned that the country would "inevitably end up in an EU bailout request" in the next six months unless borrowing costs could be kept low and the economy found some traction.

Prime Minister Enrico Letta, in office only since April, faces instability in his coalition, with former prime minister Mario Monti threatening to withdraw support because of the slow pace of desperately needed economic reforms.

While Spain may have avoided a full bailout so far, its banks - which received 40 billion euros from the euro zone rescue fund in 2012 - face a long road to rehabilitation, as do those in Ireland. The IMF praised both countries for their efforts last month, but also warned of risks ahead.

"There are so many negatives outside of Greece as well. On the rest of them, we just want them postponed until after the summer," said one senior euro zone source.

In Ireland, which has performed best of the rescued countries and is expected to emerge from its assistance program later this year, the problems are more of reputation than implementation.

Transcripts of telephone conversations from 2008 have revealed how bankers at Anglo Irish Bank made light of the Irish government's decision to guarantee their liabilities, a move that ultimately saddled the nation with vast debts.

The bankers also ridiculed Germany - the chief underwriter of all the rescue loans in Europe - singing "Deutschland ueber alles" on the tapes, which has infuriated German officials, the very people the Irish government needs to keep happy.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble described the bankers as contemptuous.

While Ireland's problems are likely to blow over, those in Portugal, Greece and Cyprus, which also has tough bailout conditions to meet, are clear and present, and those in Italy and Spain show few signs of disappearing.

EU institutions effectively shut down in August. but that might not prevent a restless summer as the slumbering crisis reawakens agitated.

Reuters

Gerald Celente Unleashed - July 3, 2013

4th of July - America's Rejection of Almighty God

If George Washington, John Adams and Benjamin Rush etc... were to come back from the grave to testify against America, the majority of American’s would NOT hear them and would fully reject them. Americans would be enraged this 4th of July by their words of rebuke and seek to destroy and slander them 24/7 onthe media news outlets and then have them stoned. We are too far gone morally to restore this nation and the majority of Americans do not have an ear to hear the moral and social conservatism which our founders stood for and believed. This is the sobering reality of our hour and one must ask himself, “Am I strong enough to look into the eyes of this horrific beast of reality and by faith put ALL my trust in Almighty God and in His Word, promises and ETERNAL saving solution (Mark 11:22, Heb. 11:6)."

We are too far gone morally to restore this nation and the majority of Americans do not have an ear to hear the moral and social conservatism which our founders stood for and believed.

Many TRUE conservatives are scared and truly frightened to death about what lies ahead for our once great nation. They are trapped in a subjective world view without any ETERNAL or Heavenly objective perspective, which is based on Almighty God and His infallible Word. My dear friend, fear not about what is at hand for our doomed nation and the current over whelming crises of this temporal fallen world, for all these things MUST come to pass as the Lord Jesus said (Matt. 24).

Put NOT your trust in any man or woman in these final hours.

Put NOT your trust in any man or woman in these final hours even in the conservative talk radio voices of the right for they are oblivious to the ETERNAL realities and only present a subjective world view for their listeners (Psalm 118:8, 146:3-5, Jer. 17:5, 1 John 2:17). May we always be doing our part for our nation, but never trusting in it in such days. May our focus and strength come ONLY from Almighty God and from His precious promises which are for us in His Holy Word (Rom. 8:28-39, 2 Cor. 1:20). From Heaven's ETERNAL perspective the future is always bright.

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand my beloved! May your trust be in the Lord of hosts and this reality be seen ever clearer as we head forth to that very hour?

DJP I.F.

The Ignorant Fishermen Blog

Abbas: Israel trying to rebuild Jewish Temple!

Once again demonstrating his penchant for theatrics, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas last month made an impassioned call to the Arab world to stop the insidious Jewish plot to rebuilt the Jewish Temple in its historic location - Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

In an interview with Saudi Arabia's Al-Watan daily newspaper, Abbas was asked to comment on the notion that "Jewish organizations are making frantic efforts, both visible and hidden, to complete the Judaizing of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and to take control of it, especially following the recurring invasions of Al-Aqsa and the attacks on worshipers."

It can only be assumed that the interviewer was referring to incidents of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount committing the hideous crime of saying prayers to anyone other than Allah.

But Abbas understood him to also be talking about what he called the "dangerous excavations Israel is conducting" in the vicinity of the Temple Mount, excavations that constantly bring to light further evidence of the city's and the holy site's rich Jewish history.

"All these actions indicate an evil and dangerous plot to destroy Al-Aqsa and build the alleged Temple," insisted Abbas. "Unfortunately, these dangers, which are clear for everyone to see, have yet to receive proper Arab, Islamic and international responses."

Palestinian Media Watch, which translated the interview, noted that Abbas' use of the term "alleged Temple" is part of an ongoing and systematic effort by the Palestinian Authority to erase Jewish history, and therefore claims to sovereignty, in Jerusalem.

Abbas is held aloft as a "moderate" leader by most in the West. His predecessor, Yasser Arafat, was not. In fact, one of the things that most convinced former US President Bill Clinton of Arafat's extremism was his open refusal to accept that the Temple Mount had once been home to the biblical Temple, and was therefore important to Jews.

One must wonder why Abbas is treated any differently when he holds the same extreme position?


Israel Today

Human liver grown inside a mouse

A human liver has been grown inside a mouse, giving hope that patients could receive new organs created from their own skin cells within a decade.

The breakthrough would eradicate donor waiting lists and the risk of the body rejecting a replacement organ.

Japanese scientists used stem cells to create liver ‘buds’ within mice which grew into a piece of human tissue measuring 5mm.

It is hoped the work carried out by researchers at Yokohama City University could also be used to grow other replacement organs.

‘This science opens up the distinct possibility of being able to create mini-livers from the skin cells of a patient dying of liver failure that, when transplanted, would not be subjected to immune rejection as happens with conventional liver transplants today,’ said Prof Malcolm Alison, stem cell biologist at Queen Mary, University of London.

Dr Matthew Smalley, of Cardiff University’s European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute, said: ‘The study holds out real promise for a viable alternative approach to human organ transplants.’

James Neuberger, of NHS Blood and Transplant, said the engineering work was ‘very exciting’ but, until organ regeneration becomes a reality, more people should consider becoming organ donors. ‘The UK’s family refusal rate remains one of the highest in Europe so it is vital that people talk about their wish to donate their organs with their next of kin,’ said the authority.

Each year more than 16,000 people die from liver disease in Britain and between 600 and 700 liver transplants are performed. In the past 20 years, the number of people who could benefit from a liver transplant is believed to have increased by 90 per cent but the availability of donor organs has remained unchanged.

Dr Dusko Ilic, of Kings College London, said: ‘Although the promise of an off-shelf liver seems much closer than one could hope even a year ago, the paper is only a proof-of-concept.’

Metro News

MISSISSIPPI RESIDENTS STUNNED AS THOUSANDS OF DEAD FISH WASH UP ON SHORES

Saudis, Gulf emirates actively aided Egypt’s military coup, settling score for Mubarak ouster

The lightening coup which Wednesday, July 3, overthrew President Mohamed Morsi put in reverse gear for the first time the Obama administration’s policy of sponsoring the Muslim Brotherhood movement as a moderate force for Arab rule and partner in its Middle East policies. DEBKAfile reveals that the Egyptian military could not have managed their clockwork coup without the aid of Saudi and Dubai intelligence and funding.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE threw their weight and purses behind Egypt’s generals aiming to put their first big spoke in the US-sponsored Arab Revolt (or Spring), after they failed to hold the tide back in Libya, Egypt and thus far Syria.

To learn the name of the Egyptian politician designated to lead his country when the army bows out, read the coming issue of DEBKA Weekly due out Friday.
To subscribe to DEBKA Weekly, click here

The coup leader, Defense Minister and army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, had two more Saudi-Gulf commitments in his pocket, say DEBKAfile's Middle East sources:

1. Should the Obama administration cut off the annual US aid allocation of $1.3 billion, Saudi Arabia and the UAE would make up the military budget’s shortfall;

2. The Saudis, UAE and other Gulf nations, such as Bahrain and Kuwait, would immediately start pumping out substantial funds to keep the Egyptian economy running. The Egyptian masses would be shown that in a properly managed economy, they could be guaranteed a minimal standard of living and need not go hungry as many did under Muslim Brotherhood rule.

According to our sources, the Saudis and the UAE pledged to match the funds Qatar transferred to the Muslim Brotherhood’s coffers in Cairo in the past year, amounting to the vast sum of $13 billion.

This explains President Barack Obama’s caution Thursday morning, July 4, in his expression of deep concern over the ousting of the Egyptian president and the suspension of its constitution. He urged the military to restore government to civilian hands - without accusing them outright of a coup d’etat - and to “avoid arresting President Moris and his supporters.”

The US president refrained from cutting off aid to Egypt, now under military rule, only ordering his administration “to assess what the military's actions meant for US foreign aid to Egypt.”

Thursday morning, Washington ordered US diplomats and their families to leave Cairo at once, leaving just a skeleton staff at the embassy for emergencies.DEBKAfile: This step is only one symptom of the broad gulf developing between the Obama administration and Egypt’s post-coup administration headed by Defense Minister and coup leader Gen. El-Sisi

By means of the successful military putsch in Cairo, Saudi King Abdullah had his revenge for the toppling of his friend Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, for which he has never forgiven President Obama whom he held responsible.
The Saudi-Gulf intervention in Egypt’s change of government also ushers in a new stage of the Arab Revolt for the Middle East. For the first time, a group of traditionally pro-US conservative Arab governments has struck out on its own to fill the leadership vacuum left by the Obama administration’s unwillingness to pursue direct initiatives in the savage Syrian civil war or forcibly preempt Iran’s drive for a nuclear bomb.

The removal of Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt has far-reaching ramifications for Israel. In the immediate term, it gives Israel some security relief – especially, easing the dangers posed from Sinai to its southern regions. The radical Palestinian Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot which rules the Gaza Strip, has suffered the most damaging political and military setback in its history with the loss of its parent and patron in Cairo.

The big question facing Egypt’s still uncertain future is: Will Riyadh and the UAE follow through on their backing for Gen. Fattah El-Sisi, the most powerful man in Egypt today, and release the promised funds for rehabilitating the Egyptian economy?

DEBKAfile

BlueCrest's BlueTrend hedge fund slumps 16.9 percent

(Reuters) - BlueCrest Capital Management's BlueTrend fund, one of the world's biggest computer-driven hedge funds, has suffered one of its worst ever peak-to-trough losses over the past six weeks.

A listed feeder fund (BBTS.L) that channels capital into the $16 billion BlueTrend fund lost 16.9 percent between May 17 and June 28, regulatory filings show.

The feeder fund closely replicates the performance of BlueTrend's flagship fund, headed by Brazilian-born Leda Braga, one of the hedge fund industry's highest-profile women.

A BlueCrest spokesman declined to comment.

The losses reflect the difficulties faced by computer-driven funds amid the recent sell-off in financial markets.

The feeder fund's performance equates to a loss of roughly $2.7 billion in the main fund, which was launched in 2004 and has never had a losing calendar year.

Data from HSBC Alternative Investment Group shows the fund's worst historical peak-to-trough loss since launch is 12.55 percent in 2006.
Reuters

Is A Military Takeover & Financial Collapse Of AMERICA Upon Us?