Chile lifts abortion ban.

Chile’s lower house of Congress has approved a proposal that lifts a ban on abortion in cases of rape, when there is health risk for the mother, or when the foetus is not viable.
The draft, which was submitted by Michelle Bachelet’s government, needs Senate approval to become law.
Despite being predominantly Catholic, Chile allowed abortion until 1989.
But the practice was banned by General Augusto Pinochet in one of the last acts of his military government.

The proposal was approved by 66 to 44 votes.
The government, which tabled the bill 14 months ago, managed to get the support of some members of the conservative Christian Democrats.
“This is a setback for protection of the unborn,” said Claudia Nogueira of conservative Independent Democratic Union party.

Abortion isnt only about the womans decision anymore. She has a fetus LIVING inside of her now. We are living since the moment we are conceived. The Bible says  “Thou shalt not kill.” You are becoming a murderer if you have an abortion. You wouldnt be here if your mom decided she wanted an abortion so lets rethink this whole thing and ask ourselves, Will I be able to kill someone?

Sudan del Sur permite a sus soldados violar mujeres como pago de su servicios.

La Oficina de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas ha elaborado un informe en el que denuncia que la mayoría de ataques contra civiles perpetrados en 2015 han sido obra del Gobierno y de sus milicias aliadas y que todas las fuerzas enfrentadas están utilizando de forma masiva las violaciones como “arma de guerra”.

El análisis de Naciones Unidas pone de manifiesto que el nivel de violencia sexual es “particularmente estremecedor”, con más de 1.300 denuncias de violación registradas de abril a septiembre de 2015 en solo uno de los diez estados del país, en Unidad.

El nivel y los tipos de violencia sexual, principalmente por parte de las fuerzas gubernamentales SPLA y las milicias afiliadas, son descritos con detalles devastadores y brutales, toda vez que hay una actitud trivial y calculada por parte de los que asesinan a los civiles y destruyen propiedades y bienes”, ha denunciado el Alto Comisionado de Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos, Zeid Raad al Husein, en un comunicado.

El trabajo analiza principalmente los estados más afectados por la violencia, Unidad y Alto Nilo, así como los estados de Equatoria Central y Occidental, también afectados por el conflicto entre las fuerzas del Gobierno y los rebeldes.

Una mujer le dijo al equipo de Naciones Unidas que le habían desnudado y violado cinco soldados delante de sus hijos en una carretera y luego le violaron más hombres en el bosque, pudiendo solo volver para encontrar a sus hijos. Otra fue atada a un árbol después de que su marido muriera y tuvo que ver cómo su hija de quince años era violada por diez soldados”, señalan los investigadores de Naciones Unidas.

Danish worker rescues a 2 year old in Nigeria

The boy was abandoned by his family, who accused him of being a witch, according to the aid worker who found him in Uyo, southeast Nigeria.

Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Loven says the boy, whom she calls Hope, had been living on the streets and survived on scraps from passersby. It is a criminal offense in Akwa Ibom state, where the boy was found, to label a child a witch, but the practice persists.

Belief in witchcraft thrives worldwide. In 2009, about 1,000 people accused of being witches in Gambia were locked in detention centers in March and forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, human rights organization Amnesty International said.

Peoples on ignorance can sometimes lead to do horrible things. We have to remember what Jesus came to do for us and what he teached: Love. Why is itso hard for us to love others so much? We have to first truly understand that God commanded us to love one another. Service to others is what we have to learn from this aid worker.

5,000 Isil-trained jihadists could be at large in Europe

Europe is currently facing the highest terror threat in more than ten years.” Mr Wainwright said.

The growing number “presents EU member states with completely new challenges”, he told the newspaper.
However, he played down fears terrorists are using the migrant crisis to enter Europe posing as asylum seekers. Prosecutors in Salzburg for the first time confirmed reports the two men, an 28-year-old Algerian and a 34-year-old Pakistani who have not been named, entered Europe posing as refugees.
The two suspects, who were arrested at a refugee shelter on December 10, have admitted they arrived in Greece with some of the Paris attackers, prosecutors said in a statement.

I personally think that this situation is really unfair and sad. If these statements that jihadists are posing as refugees are true, then all the aid that has been given to them would be seized. The jihadists are not only fighting a war with other countries but also with themselves. They are fighting against the same refugees that are part of their country. Children, women and many men are bound to die because of this tragic events.

12-Year-Old ‘Hero’ of Uruzgan Siege

KABUL, Afghanistan — A 12-year-old boy hailed as a hero for defending his village from the Taliban was shot dead in what appeared to be a targeted assassination by the group, Afghan officials said Wednesday. Wasil Ahmad was feted at a public ceremony for playing a key role in defending the community of Dan Sango, in the southern province of Khas Uruzgan, during a 2-month-long Taliban siege last year.

Since then, the boy carried a pistol to school — but did not have the chance to use it Monday when a gunman shot him twice in the head and chest as he bought groceries from a local shop in the provincial capital of Terin Kot.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing in a short statement issued Monday that called the boy “a stooge militiaman.” The use of child combatants is widespread in Afghanistan among both the national forces and the Taliban.

I think that what Wasil did was really admirable. Not everyone can say they stood up for his people in a life or dead situation. But when you look at the other side of the coin, children shouldnt even be aloud to fight or carry guns. Its sad because both sides use children as combatants and at the end of the day, its the children who pay.

 

White City in Honduras “City of the Monkey God”

Archeologists have begun excavations at a mysterious site on Honduras’ Caribbean coast that may be the legendary lost city of Ciudad Blanca or White City.

Among the artifacts that have been discovered are a stunning vessel with vulture-shaped handles, a tray with a jaguar’s head made from clay and a stone-made throne carved with another jaguar.

They are possibly part of a ceremonial temple. Other pieces bore decorations that appear to represent humans, jaguars, buzzards, lizards and birds.
The ruins, which appear to date to between 1,000 and 1,500 AD, do not appear to be Mayan, the culture that dominated other sites in the region. ‘It is a new culture, or a different culture,’ Virgilio Paredes, the director of the Honduras’ Institute of Anthropology and Colorado, said.
The city’s name is believed to be derived from the white limestone rock in the area and after ancient texts described ivory temples filled with treasures. Western explorers first made reference to it from conquistador Hernando Cortes to King Charles V of Spain in 1526.
One adventurer, Theodore Morde, suggested in 1940 that the city was in fact known as the White City of the Monkey God, and saw an ancient civilization worship a giant simian deity, symbolised by a statue.

Hernando Cortes said:

‘So wonderful are the reports about this particular province, that even allowing largely for exaggeration, it will exceed Mexico in riches, and equal it in the largeness of its towns and villages, the density of its population, and the policy of its inhabitants.’

 

 

 

 

 

Mega-church pastor Adam Hamilton’s scandalous take on Scripture

As pastor of Church of the Resurrection, Adam Hamilton has the honor of leading the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States. More than 8,600 attend services each week, and the Kansas congregation is considered by many to be America’s most influential mainline Protestant church. But with the release of his provocative new book, “Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today,” Hamilton is becoming known as someone who is challenging traditional understandings the Bible.

RNS: You believe the Bible is divinely “inspired.” Can you explain what you mean exactly?

AH: The biblical authors were people like us. Christians do not hold, as Muslims do, that our holy book was dictated by God. The biblical authors wrote in particular times, for particular audiences, out of a particular context. Part of rightly interpreting Scripture is reading it in the light of what we can know about its historical and cultural context, the author’s purposes in writing and knowing something about the people they were writing to.

The Bible written hundred years ago by different people with different background. And the great thing of all of this is that even the Bible was written with this huge difference, it still has a unity. This is only possible when you think that God was the one who guided the pen of every men.

II Peter 1:20-21, “You must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

2 Tim. 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Inspired literally means God-breathed. It is basically saying that Scripture come from the mouth of God.

Spreading the Word From Behind Bars

A church inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, one of many in the sprawling prison, draws about 200 inmates for biweekly services. Daryl Walters, 45, is serving life without parole. He is one of 241 graduates of the Bible college run by the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. This man is a great example of faith. He could decided to end his life as a bitter person but instead he choosed the Lords way. He wanted to give this inmates a second chance for eternal salvation and so that they could repent from their past sins. 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

“God is merciful,” intoned Mr. Walters to fellow inmates, most facing life sentences. “God gives us so many benefits.” The seminary teaches counseling skills as well as Bible study.  Mr. Walters lives in a dorm with men who face lesser sentences. Once infamous for being brutal and bloody, Angola is now relatively peaceful.  Warden Burl Cain says the Bible college helped change the culture. A great example that people can change and expirience true repentence is Peter Laxey, 36, serving life without parole for murder, is a current student at the Baptist seminary and mentors men in the re-entry program.

Mr, Walters is helping many lives daily . He said: “If I can help other people while I’m marching to the grave here,  I’ll have lived a good life.”

How do people sell God in the 21st century? More heaven, less hell

A couple of years ago, a Chicago-based corporate-identity consultant Chris Herron gave himself the ultimate challenge: rebrand hell. It was half gag, half self-promotion, but Herron took the project seriously, considering what it would take for a place like hell to become a premier destination in the travel market. Herron decided that what hell needed was a complete brand overhaul. The new hell would feature no demons or devils, no tridents or lakes of fire. The brand name was rendered in a lower-case, bubbly blue font designed to evoke “instant accessibility and comfort”. The slogan, which was once “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here”, would be “Simply Heavenly”. The joke was posted as a “case study” on Herron’s personal website and quickly went viral in the marketing blogosphere – a testament to the power of effective branding.

I think it is highly important for Christians to mention hell. I mean it isnt the prettiest thought we want to have but that doesnt mean it is not true. Hell is a place where we will suffer eternally and as sinners we all deserve to go to hell. Thats why Jesus sacrifice is so important! He loved us so much He gaved His only son to save us from a life of misery. The Bible says that if we believe that Jesus came and saves us from sin then we can rest assured knowing that God has a special place in heaven for us.

Revelation 20:15 “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”

One of the objections to the biblical view of hell is that a loving God would not send people to hell. But the thing we have to understand is that even though He is a loving God, He is just as well. Romans 2:11 For there is no partiality with God.

In this day and age we dont know when our time to leave will be so dont waste anymore time and accept Christ in your life!

Romans 10:9 Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Teen Abortion

PARK RIDGE — The controversy over abortion is incredible. There is no give or take, no compromise. Right now abortion is legal, but anti- abortionists are trying their hardest to make it illegal.

The teenage pregnancy rate has gone up a considerable amount in the last few years. Yearly, more than 300,000 teens receive abortions, which is one-third of the total abortions performed each year. If they were made illegal, then that`s about 300,000 unplanned and unwanted children.

I dont understand why teenagers decide to do this kind of abomination. Why would you think it human to kill an inocent human being? Even wild beasts such as bears will fight to the death to defend their young. Yeah I understand you dont want to ruin your life but couldnt you have thought of that before taking the decision to have sexual relationships?

“Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man. Genesis 9:6

God gave us women a great gift which is to conceive life and children are Gods gift to us. Actually the Bible says that the love that God has for us is most closely realted to the love of a mother for her children.  Even if God does give a family a handicapped child, does that make Him any less sovereign or loving? A great example is Helen Keller. She surpassed the expectations of everybody by learning how to talk even though she couldnt hear. Every child is precious for the Lord. God doesnt make mistakes!

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mothers womb… Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.
—Psalm 139:13, 16