Thursday, December 31, 2009
The Two Most Avoided Things that are Costly
Suffering and Sacrifice. There two avoided hardships are sent our way repeatedly to help us grow in our love and faith in Christ, then, in the end, blessing and satisfaction replace the grievous things--greatness, nobleness, and heaven only come by way of toil and sacrifice. So face your trials in faith and all joy, knowing what a wonderful reward awaits. God bless.
Inspiring Quotes!
"What am I to do? I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good work, therefore, only kindness, or any service I can render to any soul of man or animal, let me do it now. Let me not neglect or defer it, for I shall not pass this way again." --An Old Quaker Saying
"Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." Phillips Brooks
"Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." Phillips Brooks
Commiting ALL to HIM
I read from a book simply the phrase, "You can trust the man that died for you."
Many go through their lives worried, irritated, afraid, nervous, disappointed, and scarcely think how, or why they are if they have committed themselves to god and the Lord to take care of all their sin, but hardly pondered yielding the heavy pack of troubles and concerns for Him to organize, and be guided by HIM to lead them into the best path-ways in this world.
"He guided them by the skillfulness of his hands." Psalm 78:72
We must (if I may take liberty with the pronouns) "surrender ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead." Romans 6:13. In every situation we are put in, we must ask Him His will and direction in all our courses of life.
"The Lord is righteous in ALL his ways, and holy in ALL his works.
The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon him, to ALL that call upon him in truth." Psalm 145: 17&18.
We can always trust him to hear us, but "what is man that THOU shouldest magnify him? and that THOU shouldest set Thine heart upon him?" Job 7:17. God's love for us sets us apart from creatures and things in His, attention, and care in our lives so that He is always attentive to our hurts and worries.
We can always trust Him to lead us in the correct path for us, if we just trust and obey.
Many go through their lives worried, irritated, afraid, nervous, disappointed, and scarcely think how, or why they are if they have committed themselves to god and the Lord to take care of all their sin, but hardly pondered yielding the heavy pack of troubles and concerns for Him to organize, and be guided by HIM to lead them into the best path-ways in this world.
"He guided them by the skillfulness of his hands." Psalm 78:72
We must (if I may take liberty with the pronouns) "surrender ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead." Romans 6:13. In every situation we are put in, we must ask Him His will and direction in all our courses of life.
"The Lord is righteous in ALL his ways, and holy in ALL his works.
The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon him, to ALL that call upon him in truth." Psalm 145: 17&18.
We can always trust him to hear us, but "what is man that THOU shouldest magnify him? and that THOU shouldest set Thine heart upon him?" Job 7:17. God's love for us sets us apart from creatures and things in His, attention, and care in our lives so that He is always attentive to our hurts and worries.
We can always trust Him to lead us in the correct path for us, if we just trust and obey.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Swedish Government Seizes Child from Home Schooling Family
GOTLAND, Sweden, December 23, 2009
— A Christian home schooling family could permanently lose custody of their only child simply because they home-school. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) are joining forces as legal advisors to the family in order to persuade the Swedish government to return the seven-year-old child to his parents.
“Parents have the right and authority to make decisions regarding their children’s education without government interference,” said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska, who is based in Europe. “This is about a socialist government trying to create a cookie-cutter child in its own image. Without help, the parents in these cases are really powerless since the system is so one sided.”
Swedish authorities forcibly removed Dominic Johansson from his parents, Christer and Annie Johansson, in June of last year from a plane they had boarded to move to Annie’s home country of India. The officials did not have a warrant nor have they charged the Johanssons with any crime. The officials seized the child because they believe home schooling is an inappropriate way to raise a child and insist the government should raise Dominic instead.
“It’s one of the most disgraceful abuses of power we have ever witnessed,” said HSLDA attorney Mike Donnelly. “The Swedish government says it is exercising its authority under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in their unnecessary break up of this family. In addition, the Swedish Parliament is considering an essential ban on home schooling. We have heard that other home-schooling families in Sweden are having more difficulty with local officials. We fear that all home-schooling families in that country are at risk.”
Swedish social services initially limited visitation to the child to two hours per week but now have curtailed that to one hour every fifth week and no visit at all for Christmas because the social workers will be on vacation.
On Dec. 17, a Swedish court ruled in Johansson v. Gotland Social Services that the government was within its rights to seize the child. They cited the fact that Dominic had not been vaccinated as a reason to remove him permanently from his parents and also claimed that home-schoolers do not perform well academically and are not well socialized. The ordeal has left the child and his parents traumatized.
— A Christian home schooling family could permanently lose custody of their only child simply because they home-school. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) are joining forces as legal advisors to the family in order to persuade the Swedish government to return the seven-year-old child to his parents.
“Parents have the right and authority to make decisions regarding their children’s education without government interference,” said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska, who is based in Europe. “This is about a socialist government trying to create a cookie-cutter child in its own image. Without help, the parents in these cases are really powerless since the system is so one sided.”
Swedish authorities forcibly removed Dominic Johansson from his parents, Christer and Annie Johansson, in June of last year from a plane they had boarded to move to Annie’s home country of India. The officials did not have a warrant nor have they charged the Johanssons with any crime. The officials seized the child because they believe home schooling is an inappropriate way to raise a child and insist the government should raise Dominic instead.
“It’s one of the most disgraceful abuses of power we have ever witnessed,” said HSLDA attorney Mike Donnelly. “The Swedish government says it is exercising its authority under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in their unnecessary break up of this family. In addition, the Swedish Parliament is considering an essential ban on home schooling. We have heard that other home-schooling families in Sweden are having more difficulty with local officials. We fear that all home-schooling families in that country are at risk.”
Swedish social services initially limited visitation to the child to two hours per week but now have curtailed that to one hour every fifth week and no visit at all for Christmas because the social workers will be on vacation.
On Dec. 17, a Swedish court ruled in Johansson v. Gotland Social Services that the government was within its rights to seize the child. They cited the fact that Dominic had not been vaccinated as a reason to remove him permanently from his parents and also claimed that home-schoolers do not perform well academically and are not well socialized. The ordeal has left the child and his parents traumatized.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Duggar's 19th Child Born Prematurely
By James Tillman
LITTLE ROCK, AR, December 15, 2009
Michelle Duggar, of TLC's "18 Kids and Counting" reality show, delivered her 19th baby prematurely by emergency c-section on Thursday, December 10th. Josie Brooklyn was at 25 weeks gestation when the decision to deliver her was made due to the fact that Michelle had preeclampsia, which can cause serious complications for both the baby and mother.
"The obstetrical and neonatal teams reached the collaborative decision that Mrs. Duggar needed an emergency c-section to ensure the blood pressure problem would not be detrimental to her or the baby," said Dr. Paul Wendel, director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Michelle Duggar had been admitted to a hospital over the previous weekend due to gallbladder issues; while there, it was discovered that she had preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure in relation to pregnancy. It is a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death, and is cured only upon delivery of the baby.
Josie is currently in stable condition in UAMS' Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; she weighs 1 pound and 6 ounces. Babies born at 25 weeks have a 4 out of 5 chance of survival.
Over three thousand comments have been left on the Duggar blog entry announcing the birth; the vast majority of them are supportive and offer prayers and well wishes for Josie, Michelle, and the whole Duggar family. TLC has said that they will pass well wishes in comments on to the Duggars.
The Duggars have written a book about their experiences, including their decision to stop using birth control; in addition to their reality TV show they have been featured on numerous occasions in the media. Through such media they have spread their belief that "children are a heritage of the Lord," as their website proclaims.
LITTLE ROCK, AR, December 15, 2009
Michelle Duggar, of TLC's "18 Kids and Counting" reality show, delivered her 19th baby prematurely by emergency c-section on Thursday, December 10th. Josie Brooklyn was at 25 weeks gestation when the decision to deliver her was made due to the fact that Michelle had preeclampsia, which can cause serious complications for both the baby and mother.
"The obstetrical and neonatal teams reached the collaborative decision that Mrs. Duggar needed an emergency c-section to ensure the blood pressure problem would not be detrimental to her or the baby," said Dr. Paul Wendel, director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Michelle Duggar had been admitted to a hospital over the previous weekend due to gallbladder issues; while there, it was discovered that she had preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure in relation to pregnancy. It is a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death, and is cured only upon delivery of the baby.
Josie is currently in stable condition in UAMS' Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; she weighs 1 pound and 6 ounces. Babies born at 25 weeks have a 4 out of 5 chance of survival.
Over three thousand comments have been left on the Duggar blog entry announcing the birth; the vast majority of them are supportive and offer prayers and well wishes for Josie, Michelle, and the whole Duggar family. TLC has said that they will pass well wishes in comments on to the Duggars.
The Duggars have written a book about their experiences, including their decision to stop using birth control; in addition to their reality TV show they have been featured on numerous occasions in the media. Through such media they have spread their belief that "children are a heritage of the Lord," as their website proclaims.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Far From the Meddling Crowd
This is the January 2010 reading for a book club I've joined, called Kindred Spirits Book Club, click the link to join us in reading this wonderful British book. http://kindredspiritsbookclub.blogspot.com
Fear depopulation, not overpopulation
Canada and most European countries now have birth rates below the 2.1 replacement rate
By Maurice Vellacott
Diane Francis authored a very disturbing and 40-years-outdated column on Tuesday ("The real inconvenient truth: The whole world needs to adopt China's one-child policy," Dec. 8). Such rhetoric about overpopulation flies in the face of the depopulation dynamics that are striking fear into many politicians and economists around the world.
But just as disturbing is Ms. Francis' sanitized view of China's one-child policy, which she recommends. This policy has been thoroughly documented as being a forced abortion policy, with all the outrageous abuses against women that one might expect from such a policy. China is facing a serious gender imbalance because of its massive slaughter of unborn girls, due to parents' preference for boys.
If the Chinese hadn't been limited to only one child, they wouldn't have felt the need to make this deadly choice. This one-child policy also led to a number of high-profile refugee situations as a few brave women, threatened with the killing of their children, sought to flee China. And some are trying to fight the brutality from within the country. Ms. Francis should do more research before she conjures the image of China's one-child policy as a worthwhile depopulation strategy.
Furthermore, depopulation - not overpopulation - has already been thoroughly exposed as today's problem, not a solution. A cross-section of professionals, including economists, demographers and social scientists, have recently produced two documentaries on this problem: Demographic Winter and Demographic Bomb.
Canada and most, if not all, European countries now have birth rates below the replacement rate of 2.1. The documentaries are must-viewing for anyone serious about addressing the challenges of population today. As the producers of Demographic Winter note: "Worldwide, birthrates have declined by more than 50% in the past 30 years (since 1979). There are now 59 nations, with 44% of the world's population, with below-replacement fertility. Sometime in this century, the world's population will begin to decline. (The United Nations Population Division says that, worldwide, we could achieve below-replacement fertility by 2030.) At a certain point, the decline will become rapid. We may even reach what demographers call population free fall in our lifetimes. Russia is losing 750,000 people a year. Its population (currently 145 million) is expected to fall by one-third by 2050."
By 2015, the number of deaths in Europe will have outstripped the number of births. By 2060, the ratio of people of working age to those over age 65 will be two to one. The growth momentum of Europe's 27 member states will continue to carry it until 2035; after this the population will begin to decline drastically from a predicted 521 million to 506 million by 2060. These conclusions come from a report released last summer by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical service.
Economists have been lamenting for years a looming crisis with social welfare programs as the proportion of elderly people to workers in many Western countries declines. Nations with social welfare systems also need children to survive. A burgeoning elderly population combined with a shrinking work force will lead to a train wreck for state pension systems.
Ms. Francis pretends that economies can flourish with depopulation. On the contrary, the past century has seen the largest population growth in global history, yet simultaneously, the standard of living has risen and life expectancies have increased across the globe. People typically reduce spending as they age and children move away from home, so as the older age cohort increases relative to a nation's population, the country's economic health can be expected to decline.
An article published in The Globe and Mail in January of this year (Baby Boom best bet to cure China's ills, Jan. 28), presented evidence that even China was in urgent need of population growth: "Population is at the heart of long-term economic expansion," writes China scholar Derek Scissors in a paper for the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. think tank. "China is soon to leave what has been an extended demographic pattern supporting economic growth and enter a very different pattern entailing difficult policy choices."
In summary, I was shocked to read Ms. Francis' advocacy for depopulation, especially drawing on the imagery of China's ruthless one-child forced abortion policy. Hopefully Ms. Francis will have further opportunity to examine this significant topic and explore the current relevant studies.
Maurice Vellacott is a Conservative Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin.
By Maurice Vellacott
Diane Francis authored a very disturbing and 40-years-outdated column on Tuesday ("The real inconvenient truth: The whole world needs to adopt China's one-child policy," Dec. 8). Such rhetoric about overpopulation flies in the face of the depopulation dynamics that are striking fear into many politicians and economists around the world.
But just as disturbing is Ms. Francis' sanitized view of China's one-child policy, which she recommends. This policy has been thoroughly documented as being a forced abortion policy, with all the outrageous abuses against women that one might expect from such a policy. China is facing a serious gender imbalance because of its massive slaughter of unborn girls, due to parents' preference for boys.
If the Chinese hadn't been limited to only one child, they wouldn't have felt the need to make this deadly choice. This one-child policy also led to a number of high-profile refugee situations as a few brave women, threatened with the killing of their children, sought to flee China. And some are trying to fight the brutality from within the country. Ms. Francis should do more research before she conjures the image of China's one-child policy as a worthwhile depopulation strategy.
Furthermore, depopulation - not overpopulation - has already been thoroughly exposed as today's problem, not a solution. A cross-section of professionals, including economists, demographers and social scientists, have recently produced two documentaries on this problem: Demographic Winter and Demographic Bomb.
Canada and most, if not all, European countries now have birth rates below the replacement rate of 2.1. The documentaries are must-viewing for anyone serious about addressing the challenges of population today. As the producers of Demographic Winter note: "Worldwide, birthrates have declined by more than 50% in the past 30 years (since 1979). There are now 59 nations, with 44% of the world's population, with below-replacement fertility. Sometime in this century, the world's population will begin to decline. (The United Nations Population Division says that, worldwide, we could achieve below-replacement fertility by 2030.) At a certain point, the decline will become rapid. We may even reach what demographers call population free fall in our lifetimes. Russia is losing 750,000 people a year. Its population (currently 145 million) is expected to fall by one-third by 2050."
By 2015, the number of deaths in Europe will have outstripped the number of births. By 2060, the ratio of people of working age to those over age 65 will be two to one. The growth momentum of Europe's 27 member states will continue to carry it until 2035; after this the population will begin to decline drastically from a predicted 521 million to 506 million by 2060. These conclusions come from a report released last summer by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical service.
Economists have been lamenting for years a looming crisis with social welfare programs as the proportion of elderly people to workers in many Western countries declines. Nations with social welfare systems also need children to survive. A burgeoning elderly population combined with a shrinking work force will lead to a train wreck for state pension systems.
Ms. Francis pretends that economies can flourish with depopulation. On the contrary, the past century has seen the largest population growth in global history, yet simultaneously, the standard of living has risen and life expectancies have increased across the globe. People typically reduce spending as they age and children move away from home, so as the older age cohort increases relative to a nation's population, the country's economic health can be expected to decline.
An article published in The Globe and Mail in January of this year (Baby Boom best bet to cure China's ills, Jan. 28), presented evidence that even China was in urgent need of population growth: "Population is at the heart of long-term economic expansion," writes China scholar Derek Scissors in a paper for the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. think tank. "China is soon to leave what has been an extended demographic pattern supporting economic growth and enter a very different pattern entailing difficult policy choices."
In summary, I was shocked to read Ms. Francis' advocacy for depopulation, especially drawing on the imagery of China's ruthless one-child forced abortion policy. Hopefully Ms. Francis will have further opportunity to examine this significant topic and explore the current relevant studies.
Maurice Vellacott is a Conservative Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin.
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