Pope: “Charity in Truth”

So he released his latest encyclical:

Pope Benedict on Tuesday called for a “world political authority” to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.

The pope’s call for a re-think of the way the world economy is run came in new encyclical which touched on a number of social issues but whose main connecting thread was how the current crisis has affected both rich and poor nations.

[…]

The pope said every economic decision has a moral consequence and called for “forms of redistribution” of wealth overseen by governments to help those most affected by crises.

Benedict said “there is an urgent need of a true world political authority” whose task would be “to manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result.”

Such an authority would have to be “regulated by law” and “would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights.”

Global economic political authority? No, thanks!

But it’s coming anyway.

The Bible tells me so (as I recall).

Unsophisticated and Unscientific

And quaint, too.

Day before yesterday I heard a Weather GuessCaster speaking of the sun setting and rising.

What’s with geocentric weather forecasters?! ๐Ÿ˜ฏ

Do they also believe the earth is flat?

Imagine that. Unsophisticated, I say. And unscientific and quaint.

(I wonder if that forecaster mocks the Bible’s use of that kind of Language of the People.)

Peace, Part II

Furious Berlusconi demands apology from wife

Now, which emoticon should I use?! ๐Ÿ™„ ๐Ÿ˜ฏ ๐Ÿ˜ฅ ๐Ÿ˜†

I don’t know if either of the Berlusconis are Christians, but I suppose one could also wonder who the real Christians are in this next story.

U.S. denies letting troops convert Afghans

The U.S. military denied Monday it has allowed soldiers to try to convert Afghans to Christianity, after a television network showed pictures of soldiers with bibles translated into local languages.

General Order Number 1 from the U.S. military’s Central Command forbids active duty troops — including all those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan — from trying to convert people to their religion, considered a crime in many Muslim countries.

[…]

“The translated bibles were never distributed as far as we know, because the soldier understood that if he distributed them he would be in violation of general order 1, and he would be subject to punishment.”

No man can serve to masters, Jesus said once upon a time.

Besides, those soldiers are there to kill people, not save them. Or am I missing something?

Other reading: Kosovo and Serbia: A Case Study Regarding Christians in the Military

Christians in the News

Got you curious who will be featured here?

Almost certainly not the ones you might expect, I suspect. ๐Ÿ™‚

IRAN: Two released; one missing

Two of the Christians who were held in custody have been released on bail and guarantee but there is no news of whereabouts of the third.

The Farsi Christian News Network reports that after the arrest of the 3 Christians by the security forces in Tehran on 21st January, and the general concern on their safety, Mrs. Nadere Javadi was released after 2 weeks of imprisonment in Evin Prison . there was no charge and no explanation as to the reason of her arrest by the security forces. She was released on bail, having left house documents as guarantee.

Also, Hamik Khachiki, another Christian leader from the Central Assemblies of God church in Tehran, who was also arrested on 21st January, was released after one week of being in custody. Another member of church leadership had to guarantee for him.

For the last two weeks, despite all efforts and enquiry, there has been no success in finding out the location and the condition of Jamal Ghalishourani, a Farsi speaking Christian, who was also arrested on the same date as the above.

Read it all

Inspirational Texting

Today, among things for which I’m thankful, is this:

Audio Bible Sent Via Text Message

In the U.S. alone, people send around 530 million text messages every single day.

Faith Comes By Hearing, the worldโ€™s foremost Audio Bible ministry, is now using text messaging to deliver Godโ€™s Word in audio.

By texting โ€œBIBLEโ€ to 80672, people can have the encouraging Word of God sent directly to their mobile phone. Once subscribed, people will receive a chapter a day of the Audio Drama Bible. In less than a year, people can listen through the entire New Testament.

I haven’t tried it yet, but it seems like a great idea.

Coming Soon to Computer Near You

One of world’s oldest Bibles to be put online

One of the worlds oldest Bibles, the Codex Sinaiticus, which was discovered in Egypt in the 19th century, is to be made available online this week, the Leipzig University library said Monday.

The Codex Sinaiticus, which dates from the fourth century, is one of the two most ancient copies of the entire Bible in Greek. The other is the Codex Vaticanus.

[…]

As of Thursday, “more than 100 pages, those from Leipzig and 67 from the British Museum, will be available online at www.codex-sinaiticus.net,” according to Leipzig library curator Ulrich Johannes Schneider.

Another part of the Codex will be made available in November and the remainder by next year, according to Schneider.

The codex, which is believed to contain the most accurate version of the New Testament, can be viewed online in high-definition pictures, with a full transcript of the Greek text, and translation into English and German of some key passages.

I think that’s pretty neat.

Above all, love God!