Politics and Religion

Are you satisfied with your life?

Sometimes in our lives we all have pains, we all have sorrow. Sometimes our prayers help us to avoid them sometimes not. So, we become miserable and unhappy with our lives–that we start to play the blame game, which if not checked can make things more difficult.

However, most often than not, if we took the time to look around, we’ll see lots of people who are worse off than we are, and to our surprise, they are thankful and happy as a clown.

I have learnt that the happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Furthermore, until you make peace with who you are, you’ll never be content with what you have.

The apostle Paul to the Church in Philippi: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Are ye doers of God’s Word?

Over half-way...

Image by Brett Jordan via Flickr

The scripture says Christians should be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. Are you a doer of the Word?

What does it profit a man if he hears the Word and do not apply it to his life? Nought.

How can you be a true follower of God, if you do not do what His Word says?  “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” No. (Matthew 7:16 NIV).

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror” (James 1:19-23).

Fellow believers, the Word of God is not superfluous. It comes to us in the right dosage, and we should apply it to our lives. If we don’t. Luke 12:47 tells us what will happen: “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.”

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Give Jesus the wheel at the start of your journey

Give Jesus the wheel at the start of your journey. He will bring you safely to your destination. Do not wait until you are in difficulty before you surrender to Him. It may be too late.

God wants us to trust Him with the wheel. He said if we trust Him, He will keep us safe. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

When God is in control of the wheel, we have nothing to fear. He knows the road on which we travel. He knows when to stop, when to turn and when to detour from the difficulty which lies ahead. Simply put, God wants us to put Him at the center of our lives. He wants us to use Him as our first choice and not as a last resort, as we so often do.

When God is at the center of our lives, His words challenge the “status quo.” Things are no longer the same, and we find that many of the bad decisions we used to make start to diminish. The scripture says: “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creäture: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, Webster Bible Translation)

Sadly enough, many of us refuse to change. We want to keep “things the way they were,” on one hand, and Jesus on the other. But Scripture says: No one can serve two masters, so we press the pause button, and place God in the back seat, and continue life as usual.

It is only when we are face with great difficulty that we are willing to put God back in charge. And that is usually when we have no other way out, (“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner” Psalm 118:22, Webster Bible Translation) so we throw our hands in the air and say: “Jesus, take the wheel. Take it from my hands, because I can’t do this on my own.”

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The Catholic Church Standardize Mass

Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome

Image via Wikipedia

Catholics attending church in the English-speaking world on Sunday; the first Sunday of Advent, heard a new version of Mass (liturgy). That’s because as of Sunday, churches across the globe are required to do the same mass.

These changes may cause some to use cheats sheets as their churches adopt a more formal translation of the original Latin service. But according to the Vatican, the changes were necessary to more accurately reflect the original Latin version, based on a principle called “formal equivalence.”

Thus, instead of saying Jesus “was born of the Virgin Mary,” Catholics will say he “was incarnate of the Virgin Mary.”

Instead of saying, “I have sinned through my own fault,” they will say, “I have greatly sinned,” and add, “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”

Instead of saying Jesus is “one in being with the Father,” they will say that he was “consubstantial with the Father.” Consubstantial, which comes from the Latin word “consubstantialis,” which means: having the same substance or essential nature.

Some of the more noticeable changes for churchgoers include the much-used response “And also with you” being replaced by “And with your spirit.”

“It’s a historic moment in the life of the Church and the English-speaking world,” Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast told the Catholic Register earlier this month.

Prendergast was the Canadian representative on the Vox Clara Committee, formed to oversee the new English translation of the Roman Missal.

“The hope is that the higher register of the vocabulary and the restoration of biblical allusions will enrich our life of prayer, heightening reverence and making the liturgy more solemn, more beautiful,” Prendergast said.

The prayer that has undergone the most change is the Gloria, said Prendergast. “When translators translated it in the 1970s, they not only abbreviated it but they rearranged the wording,” he said.

What was lost in translation was the going overboard with praise of God, he said. “We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you” has now been added.

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Bill O’Reilly Attacks OWS with Contempt

Bill O’Reilly makes no secret about his disdain for OWS protesters. So, it’s not surprising that he continues to attack them with contempt. He seems to forget that OWS protesters have the right to protest–just like he had the right to protest in a TV studio, some years ago.

In his recent article on Townhall.com, titled, “Memo to the Occupiers,” Mr. O’Reilly continues his subtle but vicious attack on the movement, referring to protesters as “you protest people,” and “hypocrites.” He even interject Cuba in his argument, as if to say if protesters did not like it here, they should go to Cuba.

This is how O’Reilly addressed the OWS movement:

Listen up, you protest people! You have gone and alienated Newt Gingrich, who wants you to take a bath and get a job. Or vice-versa. And his words were greeted with applause from coast to coast. You guys should take notice.

A couple of months ago, the polls showed that many Americans sympathized with your movement. After all, who likes greed-head Wall Street folks manipulating the financial markets? They bathe, but so what? They’re corrupt, and you are right to demand that the government provide oversight on them.

But that point has been largely lost because the Occupy movement is now perceived as radical and incoherent. The loons moved in, and the sincere protesters ceded the spotlight. All of a sudden, the Sons of Anarchy were getting all the camera time. Most Americans are willing to listen, but not to guys with scorpions tattooed on their necks. And then there were the ugly displays of police-baiting and mindless destruction.

The result: According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, just 28 percent of Americans now approve of the Occupy movement, and James Carville will no longer take their calls.

But the primary reason this correspondent has turned bearish (sorry) on the Occupy Wall Street movement is hypocrisy. Recently, the feds announced that executives at the near bankrupt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac agencies would receive close to $100 million in bonus money. Also, the guy who ran Solyndra into bankruptcy got a nice departure package despite the fact that the solar-panel company wasted about $500 million of taxpayer money.

So where are you on those things, Occupiers? Why are you besieging a Burger King in San Diego when the real corruption is in Washington, D.C.?

What Bill O’Reilly and his heartless conservative friends at Fox News, and elewhere fail to understand is this: OWS protesters or( the 99%) are the 99ers, who have lost their jobs, homes and personal belongings as a result of reckless behaviour on Wall Street. These are the same people who had their unemployment benefits ran out because Republican in congress refused to extend them. These protesters are hurting, and they are crying out for help. Politics and government have failed. The only alternative is to take to the streets in protest.

Read article here:  http://townhall.com/columnists/billoreilly/2011/11/26/memo_to_the_occupiers

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