Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

What Coral and Humans Share
Sep 30th, 2016
Commentarycreationmoments.com
Categories: Creation - Evolution

"O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker" (Psalm 95:6).

According to the theory of evolution, all life is related. There is claimed to be a hierarchy of rising complexity from the earliest simple organisms to man. The earliest organisms are said to include corals, sea anemones and jellyfish that thrived 500 million years ago. These early creatures eventually led to the first creatures to move onto land, and worms were among them.

Based on this supposed evolutionary history, one would expect the DNA of humans to be closer to worms than to coral. However, recent mapping of the DNA of these creatures has produced some surprises. While corals have the simplest nervous system of any animal, their genetic sequences are similar to those in human nervous systems. Even more strange is that worms, which are supposed to stand between us and the corals, lack these sequences. These sequences are called ESTs. Researchers have found that, in general, coral ESTs tended to be closer to human ESTs than to worm ESTs. Baffled by this and still convinced that evolution is true, the scientists simply assumed that worms must have lost these DNA sequences. However, they stressed that more creatures need to be studied.

Would it not be simpler to conclude that corals, worms, people and everything else were made by the same Creator Who created specific DNA coding for each creature without concern for evolutionary history?

Turkey: Land of Mosques, Prisons and the Uneducated
Sep 30th, 2016
CommentaryBURAK BEKDIL/GATESTONE INSTITUTE
Categories: Contemporary Issues

One way the rise of Islamist authoritarianism in a country can be seen is by the rise in the number of mosques, religious schools and prisons -- coupled with a sharp decline in the quality of education. Turkey is no exception.

Most recently, the Turkish government said that it would build 174 new prisons, increasing capacity by 100,000 convicts. This is Turkey's reply to complaints that six convicts must share a cell built for three. Convicts say they must sleep in turns in their bunk beds.

Before that, Turkey's government released nearly 40,000 convicted criminals, in order to make space for tens of thousands of suspects, including journalists, businessmen and academics, detained after the failed coup of July 15.

The other type of trendy building in Turkey is the mosque. Turkey's state-funded Directorate for Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has proudly announced that nearly 9,000 new mosques were built across the country between 2005 and 2015. 

The number of mosques in Turkey is estimated at around 90,000, or one mosque per 866 people. Iran, with a similar population to Turkey's [nearly 78 million] boasts just 48,000 mosques. In other words, Turkey has twice as many mosques as the Islamic Republic of Iran, for roughly the same population. Egypt, which has a population -- nearly 90 million -- bigger than Turkey's, has 67,000 mosques.

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has not only been building mosques and prisons to further Islamize the country. He has also passionately been building religious schools [from which he once graduated]. 

He boasts that during his term as prime minister and president (since November 2002), the number of students enrolled at religious schools, officially called "imam schools," has risen from 60,000 to more than 1.2 million -- a 20-fold increase. In his study, "The Islamization of Turkey: Erdogan's Education Reforms," Svante E. Cornell wrote that:

"The growing efforts at Islamization of Turkish society have largely gone unnoticed. For many years, Islamization was the dog that did not bark: in spite of dire predictions by secularists, the ruling AKP did not introduce conspicuous efforts to Islamize Turkey. But since 2011, this has changed. 

The main exhibit is the education sector, which President Recep Tayyip Erdo­an has remodeled to instill considerably more Islamic content, in line with his stated purpose to raise "pious generations".

Ultimately, the Islamic overhaul of the education system is bound to have implications for Turkey's civilizational identity, and on the choices it will make on where it belongs politically.

In 2012, Erdogan's government introduced a contentious 12-year compulsory education system, paving the way for religious middle schools. In 2014, it introduced a scheme which forcibly enrolled about 40,000 students at imam schools. 

In some districts, imam schools were suddenly the only option for parents who could not afford private schooling. Also in 2014, the government granted permission for girls as young as 10 to wear Islamic headscarves in class.

So, where does Turkey's increasingly Islamist education stand after all those efforts? According to a report released this month by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Turkey is one of the countries with the lowest spending per student. 

Turkey's public spending for primary and secondary school education, and its spending per university student, were all below the OECD average. The OECD study also found that 43% of Turkish women aged between 15 and 29 were neither working nor receiving education. The OECD average for that group is 17%.

But it is not just about the quantitative findings; qualitative findings also point to an alarming education deficit in Turkey. In 2016, more than two million Turkish high school graduates took the annual national test to enroll at a post-secondary institution. 

According to the nationwide test results, the students scored an average 4.6 out of 40 questions in mathematics; 7.8 in science and 10.7 in humanities. Ironically, the test results show that the Turkish students do not even have adequate skills in their own language. The average score in Turkish was 19.1 out of 40.

This is the inevitable outcome of systematic Islamization of society in general, and of education in particular, over the past 14 years. The next 14 years will doubtless be far bleaker.

Pakistan Threatens to Destroy India With Nuclear Bomb As Atomic Enemies Edge to the Brink of War
Sep 30th, 2016
Daily NewsThe Sun - SARA KAMOUNI
Categories: Today's Headlines

Tensions have risen dramatically between the nuclear-armed neighbours

PAKISTAN’S Defence Minister has threatened to “destroy” India – after India said on Thursday it had carried out “surgical strikes” on suspected militants preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan-ruled Kashmir.

The strikes, which were a response to shots fired across the de facto border through the disputed Himalayan territory, could lead to a military escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours – risking a ceasefire agreed in 2003.

Tensions have been heightened since an attack on an Indian military base in Kashmir earlier this month, which left 18 soldiers dead.

Both countries claim Kashmir in full, but rule separate parts – and have fought three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Responding to India’s latest strikes, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said: “We will destroy India if it dares to impose war on us.

“Pakistan army is fully prepared to answer any misadventure of India.

“We have not made atomic device to display in a showcase.

“If a such a situation arises we will use it and eliminate India.”

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said: “Pakistan nuclear weapons are entangled in a history of tension, and while they are not a threat to the United States directly, we work with Pakistan to ensure stability.”

China, a traditional Pakistani ally, has also called for dialogue between the two nations.

Obama Has Learned Nothing About the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict
Sep 30th, 2016
CommentaryMITCHELL BARD/ALGEMEINER.COM
Categories: The Nation Of Israel

President Obama's failure to learn anything in the last eight years about the Palestinian-Israeli dispute was evident in his final speech to the UN General Assembly. 

In the mere 31 words that he devoted to the subject, he laid bare his ignorance: "Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel," he said. "But Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land."

Sounds reasonable enough, doesn't it? Both sides have responsibility for the conflict -- except they don't.

First, the Palestinian side of the equation was severely understated. Yes, the Palestinians must reject incitement, but they must also actively prevent terrorism. They must stop using US and EU taxpayer money to pay terrorists and their families. 

Yasser Arafat said he recognized Israel, but it has been clear since that 1993 letter to Yitzhak Rabin that the Palestinians do not accept the legitimacy of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people.

Furthermore, the Palestinians are unwilling to make any territorial compromises that would lead to a two-state solution. 

They continue to show support for the strategy whereby they would accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza only as a first stage in the eventual liberation of all of "Palestine" -- a goal reflected in Palestinian media, maps, crossword puzzles, textbooks, Fatah insignias, and every other venue one can name.

Worse, the possibility of a political solution to the conflict has been eliminated not by Israeli actions, but by the ascendancy of radical Islam -- best represented by Hamas -- in Palestinian society. 

The Islamists, who have co-opted the "secular" Palestinian leadership, will never accept the existence of a Jewish state in what they consider the Muslim heartland, nor will they tolerate a situation whereby Jews "rule" over Muslims.

Obama still fails to see these truths. In fact, he reinforces the Palestinians' bad behavior by continuing to make excuses for them and holding Mahmoud Abbas out as a partner for peace even though the Palestinian "president" has rejected Obama's calls for negotiations for nearly eight years. 

In fact, there is no better example of how weak the US has become under Obama than the fact that a pipsqueak like Abbas, who is totally dependent on international aid for his survival, has repeatedly defied Obama by refusing to negotiate and going around the president and the Israelis to the UN in search of international sanctions to impose Palestinian terms on Israel.

President Obama also continues to make the sophistic comparison between Palestinian terrorism and Jewish settlements. He seriously believes that Jews establishing homes on land that has been part of Jewish history for thousands of years is equivalent to Palestinians murdering Jews.

 Even as rockets are falling on Israel, bombs are exploding, and people are being shot, stabbed, and run over, Obama finds fault only with Israel.

In fact, with all the violence in the Middle East, and now in the United States, it is mind-boggling that the White House and State Department remain obsessed with publicly chastising Israel over its housing policies.

Public opinion on the further development of West Bank communities is very controversial in Israel; however, in the absence of any Palestinian peace initiative, opponents have little ground to stand on. 

Left-wing critics in the US and Israel whine about the failure of the political system to produce a government that supports their minority views, ignoring the reality that the failure of prior peace efforts are responsible for the shift of Israeli voters to the right.

More than 20 years have passed since the Oslo agreement raised hopes for an end to the conflict. Yet Palestinian violence never ceased and the territorial compromises Israel made did not lead to pace.

When Israel completely withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza and gave the Palestinians an opportunity to start to build the infrastructure of a state, they demonstrated the Israeli right was correct in predicting that the Palestinians would pocket any concessions, seek more without any reciprocity, and escalate terror. 

If the "occupation" ended tomorrow, the conflict would continue and Israelis would be in more serious danger because the terrorists would be unencumbered, and have the capability to threaten Israel's airports, population centers, industrial heartland, and capital.

No settlements existed prior to 1967 and there was no peace. The Palestinians were unwilling to make peace even when settlers numbered in the thousands. They were unwilling to stop the violence when Israel evacuated Gaza. 

Today, with a settler population of 350,000, the Palestinians can denounce Israel all they want, but they have only themselves to blame. Their chance for statehood will continue to dissipate the longer they refuse to negotiate and compromise. 

Today, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to relocate 50,000 or more Jews from outlying settlements if Palestinians agreed to a two-state solution. When the number of settlers grows, as expected, to 500,000 over the next several years, territorial compromise will probably be impossible.

There's little hope for Obama to figure this out in his last months, and we can only hope he does not make the situation worse -- as he has in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. 

It would be wiser for him to focus on those debacles and the continued rise of radical Islam. I'm not terribly optimistic given the candidates, but at least there is hope that the next president will have a better grasp of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and not repeat the mistakes of the last eight years.

Let the Headlines Speakf
Sep 30th, 2016
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines

...terrifying orgy trend where mystery HIV carriers are invited to take part in unprotected sex parties may be spreading across Europe
Psychiatrists and psychologists have branded the disturbing behaviour as a form of self harm or even suicide. In the bizarre vernacular of circles where this is enjoyed "bugchasers" are the negative individuals. "Gift-givers" are the HIV positive individuals who have unprotected sex with the aim of infecting the chasers. Behaviour at so called circuit parties can demonstrate a reckless attitude towards STI infection rather than an active desire to contract the illness.  

California warns of possible stronger quake after earthquake swarm in Salton Sea
The California Office of Emergency Services has issued an earthquake advisory for Southern California following a swarm of small quakes in the region earlier this week. The advisory warned residents and officials in Ventura, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Kern and Imperial counties that there was a greater possibility of a major earthquake through Oct. 4  

Swiss Muslims claim burka is NOT required under Islamic law as they WELCOME proposed ban
PROMINENT Muslims in Switzerland have welcomed a proposed burka ban in the country and said the full-faced veil is NOT required under Islamic law.  

Iceland's Pirate Party poised for power on wave of public anger
Icelanders to vote in Oct. 29 parliamentary election; Pirate Party leads opinion polls, could form government, riding wave of public anger over perceived corruption; this would deal another blow to Europe mainstream politicians.  

A Christian and a Muslim just produced a new version of the Quran — with a twist
A Christian and a Muslim have come together to produce a unique version of the Quran — a full-text English edition of the holy book, but with a twist. “The Qur’an With References to the Bible” relies upon 7th century classical Arabic and comes complete with parallel verses from the Christian Bible.  

Pope embarks on peace mission to Caucasus
Pope Francis set off Friday for Georgia and Azerbaijan on what Vatican officials billed as a mission to promote peace in a troubled part of the world, three months after he visited neighboring Armenia.  

Popocatépetl spews volcanic ash up to 7.3 km (24 000 feet) a.s.l., Mexico
Volcanic ash produced by the eruption of Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano has reached 7.3 km (24 000 feet) above sea level at 14:37 UTC on September 29, 2016. According to the Washington VAAC, ash cloud is moving to the west and northwest of the summit.  

Hurricane Matthew grows to Category Two in Caribbean
Hurricane Matthew strengthened to a Category Two storm early Friday as it churned through the Caribbean near the island of Curacao, US weather forecasters said. The hurricane was packing winds near 100 miles per hour (155 kilometers per hour) with higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center said. That makes it a Category Two storm on a scale of one to five, with five being the strongest.  

Jewish leaders react to Rodrigo Duterte Holocaust remarks
Mr Duterte said he would kill as many addicts as Hitler did Jews in his crackdown on users and dealers. "Hitler massacred three million Jews... there's three million drug addicts. I'd be happy to slaughter them," he said.  

Middle East, Europe Will Be Swallowed in War of Gog and Magog, Warns Mystic Rabbi
Rabbi Ben Artzi, an Israeli rabbi who gained followers after rumors began to circulate of his prescient abilities in his youth, warned of the impending messianic war of Gog and Magog, which he said is a part of a spiritual process becoming clearly visible in the Middle East.  

Earthquakes Rattle Two Caribbean Nations Four Times In One Month
Four earthquakes have rattle two Caribbean countries twice this month, according to The Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies. The UWI Seismic reports this month indicate that Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis have been rattled twice by earthquakes.  

Facebook artificial intelligence chief developed SURVEILLANCE systems
Facebook’s artificial intelligence chief worked on the development of systems which could one day help computers automatically spy on humans, The Sun Online has learned. Yann LeCun, leader of Mark Zuckerberg’s AI research division, contributed to academic papers exploring the creation of software which would serve as a “key component” in an automated surveillance network.  

France 'conducts operations against IS'
France has begun air operations over Iraq from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, reports say. A number of Rafale fighter planes took off from the carrier early on Friday, news agency AFP said. The Charles de Gaulle, France's only aircraft carrier, was sent to the region earlier in September.  

US invests $50m in Niger drone base for counterterrorism
The US is investing at least $50m in a military air base in Niger that will be capable of deploying drones. The US already has a presence in the capital Niamey, where it shares an airbase with France's anti-Islamist force, Operation Barkhane. MQ-9 Reaper drones are stationed there.  

NUKE FACE-OFF Pakistan threatens to DESTROY India with nuclear bomb as atomic enemies edge to the brink of war
PAKISTAN’S Defence Minister has threatened to “destroy” India – after India said on Thursday it had carried out “surgical strikes” on suspected militants preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan-ruled Kashmir. The strikes, which were a response to shots fired across the de facto border through the disputed Himalayan territory, could lead to a military escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours – risking a ceasefire agreed in 2003.  

Putin and Assad Are Outdoing ISIS at Mass Murder
The all-out assault on Aleppo by Russian and Assad regime aircraft, targeting as it does aid convoys, hospitals, homes, market places, and mosques, seems to have mildly surprised and deeply upset senior American officials.  

Risk of Zika-Related Birth Defects 'Very Disturbing,' Official Says
The risk posed by the Zika virus to developing fetuses is likely far greater than current estimates suggest, a top U.S. health official said Thursday. Microcephaly, a rare birth defect in which babies develop abnormally small heads, is one of many Zika-associated problems increasingly being seen in children born to mothers infected during pregnancy with the Zika virus.  

Christians Shouldn't Be Pacifists, Christian National Security Experts Claim; Unveil New Foreign Policy Declaration
Dozens of Christian scholars and theologians have signed a joint declaration on American foreign policy in a scholarly journal that outlines a thoughtful, distinctly Christian vision for engaging world affairs.  

A Conspiracy Theory About Conspiracy Theories
One of the funny things about conspiracy theories, including false flag attacks, is how often they are proven to be true. You have to wonder how long the shame-inducing slam, “That’s a conspiracy theory,” will keep working.  

The Run Begins: Deutsche Bank Hedge Fund Clients Withdraw Excess Cash
Deutsche Bank concerns just went to '11' as Bloomberg reports a number of funds that clear derivatives trades with Deutsche Bank AG have withdrawn some excess cash and positions held at the lender, a sign of counterparties’ mounting concerns about doing business with Europe’s largest investment bank. 

Obama: Why I won't say 'Islamic terrorism'
President Barack Obama has taken a lot of criticism from political opponents over his rhetoric when it comes to terrorism. But on Wednesday at a CNN presidential town hall, he was asked to defend why he refuses to say "Islamic" terrorism to a Gold Star mother. 

A Christian and a Muslim Just Produced a New Version of the Quran ? With a Twist
Sep 30th, 2016
Daily NewsThe Blaze
Categories: Contemporary Issues

A Christian and a Muslim have come together to produce a unique version of the Quran — a full-text English edition of the holy book, but with a twist.

“The Qur’an With References to the Bible”relies upon 7th century classical Arabic and comes complete with parallel verses from the Christian Bible.

Dr. Safi Kaskas, a Muslim businessman, and Dr. David Hungerford, an orthopedic surgeon who is a practicing Christian, have compiled the Quran in hopes that the translation will help bridge the divide between Christians and Muslims in America.

Hungerford and Kaskas recently told “The Church Boys” podcast that they first met as board members of Bridges to Common Ground, an organization that works to foster greater understanding between Christians and Muslims.

“When we met, Dr. Kaskas had this as a dream and (it was) something he had been working on in his mind,” Hungerford said. “We were both kind of prepared for this project (and the) collaboration just became so obvious to us and we’ve been working on it together ever since.”

Kaskas said he believes their version of the Quran offers up a unique opportunity for readers to have a true contemporary reading of the text along with important parallels between what is written in both Islamic and Christian scriptures.

He appealed to his own back story in sharing his motivation for embarking on the project, focusing specifically on his experience after coming to America.

“When I first came to the United States, if it wasn’t for my American neighbors opening their hearts and their homes for me, I wouldn’t have made it,” Kaskas said. “I feel a debt to this country.”

He continued, “I hate to see that the same Americans are feeling bad about Muslims now. I want to repair this relationship.”

Kaskas said he believes fixing the situation is predicated upon finding and highlighting common ground between Christians and Muslims.

“The best way to do this is from our holy books,” he added.

Hungerford and Kaskas noted that they discovered more than 3,000 verses in the Quran that have similar meanings and purposes in the Bible, so they set out to place biblical references at the bottom of each relevant page in the Quran.

They’re hoping that the book will help to dispel the “ignorance” that they see when it comes to the ongoing friction between the two groups; they’re also hoping the Quran edition helps spark “an open discussion.”

“What our hope is is that Christians will read it and the eyes of their misunderstanding and the depth of their ignorance will be dispelled so they can now look upon Muslims as part of the Abrahamic tradition,” Hungerford said.

But they want people to know that the book isn’t intended to blur the lines between the two faiths or to merge them.

“I am a practicing Muslim, David is a practicing Christian,” Kaskas said. “I want him to have the freedom to practice worshipping God his way and I want him to give me the freedom to worship God my way.”

As for why the two men believe so many extremists have claimed to commit acts of terror in the name of Islam, Hungerford pointed to a long human history of people co-opting and perverting peaceful religious sentiment.

“If you look at religion, there has never been a time in mankind where somebody who professes religion has not taken aspects of it out of context and distorted its meaning,” he said. “If we look at Christianity, Christianity was used to justify the Inquisition, burning witches, slavery.”

He said these elements weren’t a part of Christianity and were, instead, distortions, comparing that to what’s happening among Muslim extremists.

Kaskas added that he believes it’s essential for people to stop spouting anti-Muslim sentiment, as he said it can contribute to radicalization. Instead, he called on people to be more accepting and welcoming.

“If we continue to beat the Muslims on the head and call them names and call their religion names they’re going to feel that they’re unjustifiably attacked,” he said. “This is the first step to get somebody to be radicalized.”

Kaskas also said Christians might be surprised to discover some of the Quran’s contents, particularly when it comes to the text’s treatment of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity.

“The way Jesus was born in the Quran he had a miraculous birth his life was miraculous, the Quran states miracles that were not even stated in the Bible,” he said. “Everything about Jesus as far we’re concerned is miraculous.”

While the theological views are quite different, Kaskas noted that Muslims also believe that Jesus will one day return and that Muslims will follow him, though it should be noted that Muslims see Jesus as a prophet and not a deity as many Christians believe him to be.

In the end, Kaskas warned that he and Hungerford are trying to prevent some Muslims from misinterpreting the faith.

“We are fighting for survival to defend what we believe to be a religion of peace,” he said, adding that it’s still uncertain whether the fight can be won.