Command the Raven

From Daily Mail.Co.Uk

A system for keeping an eye on potentially dangerous ‘artificial life’ laboratories around the world is essential, say leading experts.

The Woodrow Wilson Centre, in Washington, US, warns that there is no way of monitoring labs tinkering with ’synthetic biology’ to ensure that anything created is safe.

The field ’synthetic biology’ came into being in 2010 when a scientist added synthetic DNA to a bacteria cell to create a ‘new’ life form. An Oxford ethicist warned that it opened the door to ‘the most powerful bioweapons imaginable’.

The Centre’s Synthetic Biology project has recommended a ’score card’ to ensure laboratories adhere to guidelines laid down by a Presidential Commisision in 2010.

Billionaire entrepreneur Dr Craig Venter-a controversial figure known as ‘Darth Venter’ to his colleagues- created a life form two years ago

President Obama was presented with a report from the Commission’s 13 scientists in 2010, after billionaire entrepreneur Craig Venter created the world’s first artificial life form.

Since then, the field has changed. Worryingly, enthusiasts calling themselves ‘biohackers’ - and calling the field DIYBio - have begun experimenting with their own ’synthetic biology’ projects, such as MIT graduate Kay Aull’s reprogramming of E Coli’s genome.

Free ‘Genspace’ biology labs have opened in New York, Boston and San Francisco, where scientists are provided with equipment to run their own experiments without regulation.

‘As the field progresses, the government should continue to assess specific security and safety risks of synthetic biology research in settings including the ‘do-it-yourself’ community,’ the report advised.

Valerie Bonham, executive director of the Commission, said, ‘In the report, the members emphasized the need for transparency, dialogue, and accountability around synthetic biology.’

President Obama requested the Commission’s report almost two years ago in response to the first ‘artificial life form’.

Billionaire entrepreneur Craig Venter only created ‘artificial life’ for the first time in 2010, christening his life form ‘Synthia’.

Professor Julian Savulescu, an Oxford University ethicist, said of Venter’s discovery: ‘Venter is creaking open the most profound door in humanity’s history, potentially peeking into its destiny.This could be used in the future to make the most powerful bioweapons imaginable. The challenge is to eat the fruit without the worm.’

‘The Commission’s report was a landmark document and lays out a framework, but, like many reports of this type, no mechanisms were put in place to track progress,’ David Rejeski, director of the Wilson Centre’s Synthetic Biology Project, said.
‘Our goal is ensure that this report — and others like it – can drive change.’

The centre recommends a web-based ’score card’ to highlight rogue synthetic biology projects.

‘The Scorecard, unveiled today, monitors the progress made toward implementing the recommendations in the report from the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.’

The report contains 18 recommendations covering a range of topics from risk assessment to ethics education and public engagement.’

- Prophecy News Watch

From Daily Mail.Co.Uk

Details of secret experiments by scientists who have created the most deadly form of bird flu in the lab will inevitably be leaked - potentially into the hands of terrorists - an expert has warned.

A furore erupted in December over the decision by the U.S National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) to censor details of the virus being made public, which can be transmitted by coughs and sneezes.

But now the head of that board claims they will enter the public domain anyway.

Professor Paul Keim has issued a stark warning to governments to begin preparing for an outbreak.

‘We recognise that, in the long term certainly, the information is going to get out, and maybe even in the midterm,’ he told The Independent.

‘But if we can restrict it in the short term and motivate governments to start getting busy in terms of building up the flu-defence infrastructure, then we’ve succeeded at a certain level.’

Chillingly, he added: ‘The infrastructure to stop a pandemic in this area is not there. We just don’t have the capabilities. Even if we spotted it early on, I don’t think we have enough vaccines. The vaccines aren’t good enough, and the drugs are not good enough to stop this emerging and being a pandemic.’

When H5N1 bird flu erupted over seven years ago, out of the 584 people known to have caught it, 335 died.

What stopped it from becoming a world-wide killer was its inability to jump from birds to humans easily.

However, a mutation of the virus was made by Ron Fouchier and his team at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam in Holland, which was just as deadly and passed easily between ferrets, the animal that best indicates whether humans will catch it.

In December, the NSABB asked the journals Nature and Science to censor publication of the study, and similar research conducted by American scientists, setting off a furious debate in the scientific and public health communities.

The move followed a voluntary 60-day suspension of a study into the virus by the researchers themselves, who became worried that their work could lead to a pandemic.

Fears were raised that the engineered viruses may escape from the laboratories - not unlike the frightful scenario in the 1971 science fiction movie The Andromeda Strain - or possibly be used to create a bioterror weapon.

In a letter published in Nature and Science, 39 scientists defended the research as crucial to public health efforts.

Among the scientists who signed the letter were leaders of the two teams that have spearheaded the research, at Erasmus Medical College in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as well as influenza experts at institutions ranging from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the University of Hong Kong.

- Prophecy News Watch

From News Yahoo.Com

Iran is capable of carrying out military strikes on U.S. interests all around the world if the Islamic Republic is attacked by the United States, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow said on Wednesday.

The United States has tried to force Tehran to scrap sensitive nuclear work by imposing sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and giving U.S. banks new powers to freeze Iranian government assets.

Iran’s ambassador to Moscow said that the United States would be making a serious mistake, akin to suicide, if it risked a military strike on OPEC’s No. 2 oil exporter.

Washington has announced no such plans, but has said a military option is always on the table if Iran cannot be otherwise prevented from developing atomic weapons.

“The Americans know what kind of country Iran is. They are well aware of our people’s unity,” Iranian ambassador Seyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi told a news conference in Moscow.

“And that’s why Iran is fully able to deliver retaliatory strikes on the United States anywhere in the world,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.

“Even if it attacks, we have a list of counter actions. (The United States) would be disappointed with their huge mistake.”

Iran has increasingly issued threatening statements against the West in recent weeks as tension has increased over its uranium enrichment program, which it moved last month to a mountain bunker better protected from possible air strikes.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful while Western powers fear Tehran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.

“The issue of a military attack from America on the Islamic Republic of Iran has been on the agenda for several years,” said Sajjadi, adding that Iran would never strike first.

Iran has warned its response to any such strike would be “painful,” threatening to target Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, along with closing the Strait of Hormuz used by one third of the world’s seaborne oil traffic.

Russia, the world’s biggest energy producer, opposes further U.N. Security Council sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program and has sharply criticized U.S. and European Union sanctions.

- Prophecy News Watch

From Debka.Com

Some 20,000 marines, seamen and air crews from half a dozen countries, a US nuclear aircraft carrier strike group and three US Marine gunship carriers are practicing an attack on a fictitious mechanized enemy division which has invaded its neighbor.

It is the largest amphibian exercise seen in the West for a decade, staged to simulate a potential Iranian invasion of an allied Persian Gulf country and a marine landing on the Iranian coast. Based largely on US personnel and hardware, French, British, Italian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand military elements are integrated in the drill.

Bold Alligator went into its operational phase Monday, Feb. 6, the same day as a large-scale exercise began in southern Iran opposite the Strait of Hormuz.

This simultaneity attests to the preparations for a US-Iranian showdown involving Israel behind the words on Feb. 5 of US President Barack Obama (“I don’t think Israel has decided whether to attack Iran”) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 3 (“The war itself will be ten times as detrimental to the US.”).

Monday, Feb. 6, the US president ordered the tightening of sanctions by freezing Iranian assets in America and blocking the operations of Iranian banks including its central bank.

US Rear Adm. Kevin Scott and Brig. Gen. Christopher Owens are coordinating the exercise over large stretches of coastal terrain in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida and Atlantic Ocean from the USS Wasp amphibian helicopter carrier.

It is led by the USS Enterprise nuclear carrier with strike force alongside three amphibian helicopter carriers, the USS Wasp, the USS Boxer and the USS Kearsage. On their decks are 6,000 Marines, 25 fighter bombers and 65 strike and transport helicopters, mainly MV-22B Ospreys with their crews. Altogether 100 combat aircraft are involved.

The exercise is scheduled to end on February 14, a week before the winding up of the Iranian drill, after which the participants are to be shipped out to Persian Gulf positions opposite Iran. Altogether three American aircraft carrier strike groups, the French Charles de Gaulle carrier and four or five US Marines amphibian vessels will be posted there, debkafile’s military sources report.
On Feb. this site first disclosed a flow in unprecedented numbers of US military strength to two strategic islands, Yemeni Socotra and Omani Masirah, within range of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran.

US naval officials insist that the exercise has nothing to do with Iran, but the scenario is a giveaway. A mechanized division from the fictitious hostile country of Garnet (Iran) has invaded its neighbor, Amber (Saudi Arabia), which has asked for coalition assistance to halt the enemy’s northern advance. Garnet has already mined harbors (Hormuz) and established anti-ship missiles on its coastline.

Coalition forces are required to develop strategy for defeating the enemy and carry the combat onto its (Iranian) soil. Hence, the preponderance of amphibian Marines in the exercise.

- Prophecy News Watch

From Jihad Watch.Org

Saudi faces calls for his death after criticizing Muhammad

Feb 09, 2012 06:31 pm | Robert

The blasphemy laws are alive and well in Saudi Arabia. Those who say that they have no part of Sharia as it comes to the West are not being honest; there is no school of Islamic jurisprudence that does not call for death for blasphemy. Hamza Kashgari has fled…

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Egypt: Muslims halt filming of TV show over “indecent” clothing

Feb 09, 2012 11:33 am | Marisol

Wherever Sharia experiences a resurgence, the observable effect is a decrease in tolerance and an increase in harassment. We tried to tell you. “Islamists in Egypt halt filming of TV series,” from Agence France-Presse, February 9: Islamist students halted the filming of an Egyptian television series at Cairo’s Ain Shams…

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Egypt: Muslims attempt to purge village near Alexandria of its Christian population

Feb 09, 2012 11:23 am | Marisol

On particularly prominent display here is the use of the Orwellian “reconciliation meetings,” where “reconciliation” depends in practice on Christians’ giving into whatever demands are imposed on them. “Alexandria: forced eviction of 62 Coptic families by the Salafis,” from AsiaNews, February 9: Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The radical…

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Saudi arrested in Malaysia over “sacrilegious” Twitter posting, could face death

Feb 09, 2012 11:09 am | Marisol

His crime, again, was reported earlier as comparing his poetry to the Qur’an. The Qur’an is adamant that no one can “produce a sura like thereof,” and that it has no rival (2:23). The author of the offending tweet has been hunted down like an armed and dangerous fugitive terrorist…

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Pakistan: Christian student misses out on medical school for not memorizing Qur’an

Feb 09, 2012 10:59 am | Marisol

An extraneous criterion is giving Muslim students an edge over non-Muslims with higher marks. Putting displays of piety over competence: What could possibly go wrong? “Educational bias: Memorise the Quran for twenty extra marks,” by Taha Siddiqi for the Express Tribune, February 8 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): LAHORE:…

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Iran: Strategist for supreme leader says country could wipe out Israel in 9 minutes

Feb 09, 2012 10:54 am | Marisol

More on this story. “‘Iran must attack Israel by 2014′,” from the Jerusalem Post, February 9 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s strategist provided the legal and religious justification for the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people, in a document published on conservative…

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Nigeria: Suicide bomber in army uniform targets barracks

Feb 09, 2012 10:45 am | Marisol

This may be the plainest demonstration yet of the adoption of al-Qaeda-style tactics by Boko Haram: coordinated attacks, attackers disguised in uniforms, and suicide bombing. Such an evolution in tactics would not be possible without support, training, and financing. “Suicide attack, two other blasts rock Nigerian city,” by Victor…

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UK: Muslims push for abolishing of age restrictions on marriage

Feb 09, 2012 10:15 am | Robert

“The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with ‘Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death).” — Bukhari 7.62.88 In Islam, Muhammad is the supreme example of…

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Misunderstander of Islam who threatened South Park creators over Muhammad cartoon to plead guilty

Feb 09, 2012 07:26 am | Robert

Younus Abdullah Mohammad’s lawyer, James Hundley, said that his case presented free speech issues. It did, but not the ones Hundley had in mind. Younus Abdullah Mohammad has no Constitutional right to threaten people with death. But his doing so is the other side of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s…

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Hamas-linked CAIR playing race card in defending Muslim football players charged in brutal assault

Feb 09, 2012 07:14 am | Robert

Just when you thought Hamas-linked CAIR couldn’t get any more despicable: even when Muslims commit a brutal and gratuitous act of violence, CAIR claims victim status. Said their attorney: “Had their names been John or Bill, Randy or Jason, I don’t think these charges would be standing here today. Because…

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From Daily Mail.Co.UK

Human skin can stop a bullet - with a little help from genetically modified goats.

The skin is mixed with goat ‘milk’ from goats ‘tweaked’ to produce the same protein found in spider silk. Woven spider silk is four times stronger than Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests.

The ’silk’ is layered with bio-engineered human skin grown in laboratory, and can withstand a direct impact from a bullet - although not one fired at full speed, yet.

The bio-engineered skin cushions a bullet fired at half speed. But its resistance has its limits: when shot at a full speed of 329 m/s, the bullet pierces the material and travels through it,’ says New Scientist.

Dutch researcher Jalila Essaidi said the ’spidersilk’ project was called ‘2.6g 329m/s’ after the weight and the velocity of a .22 calibre long rifle bullet. Working with the Forensic Genomics Consortium in the Netherlands, she said the goal was to replace the keratin in our skin with the spider’s silk.

The silk is produced in Utah, then spun into thread in Korea, then woven into layers of fabric in Germany.

The ’skin’ is created by weaving spider silk proteins into a cloth four times stronger than Kevlar, then growing human skin around it.

The last stage involves growing a layer of real skin around a sample of the bulletproof skin, which takes about five weeks.

Essaidi said that the project was about making science fiction a reality.
She said that silk has a long history of being used in combat - Genghis Khan once issued all his horsemen with silk vests as an arrow hitting silk does not break, meaning you can tease out arrowheads.

‘Imagine a spidersilk vest, capable of catching bullets, the modern day equivalent of Genghis Khan’s arrows,’ she said.

‘Now, let’s take this one step further, why bother with a vest: imagine replacing keratin, the protein responsible for the toughness of the human skin, with this spidersilk protein.

‘This is possible by adding the silk producing genes of a spider to the genome of a human: creating a bulletproof human.

‘Science-fiction? Maybe, but we can get a feeling of what this transhumanistic idea would be like by letting a bulletproof matrix of spidersilk merge with an in vitro human skin.’

Bullet proof vests have been around for decades but skin that can stop them has only been the preserve of science fiction.

The most famous example is Superman, or the Man of Steel - bullets simply ricochet off of him.

- Prophecy News Watch

From Rubin Reports.Blogspot.Com

Arab Liberals Lament: Here’s How the Muslim Brotherhood is Fooling the West Posted: 08 Feb 2012 05:34 PM PST By Barry Rubin Since we can’t get good coverage of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the Western media it’s necessary to turn to the Islamists’ intended victims–Arab liberals—to get a better picture. NowLebanon explains it all to you in an article on what it calls the “media blitz” of the Muslim Brotherhood and its politicians in the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). It writes: “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has been displaying great skill in handling the media over the past year. Since the revolution last January and the party’s electoral success in the recent round of polls in the country, the Brotherhood’s media outlets have tirelessly tried to project an image of moderation. But many secularists and leftists remain suspicious.” The problem is that it has had the full cooperation of the Western media and governments in selling itself as moderate. Here are the NowLebanon talking points: –“`The Brotherhood is very savvy and clever when it comes to the media, and they know their audience very well. They certainly have very good media advisors,’ says Khaled Fahmy, professor of History at the American University in Cairo.” –“The Brotherhood has set up a TV channel and a newspaper, and both it and the FJP have been keeping daily-updated websites in English and Arabic. –Their Twitter page, Ikhwanweb, has almost 8,500 followers. The managers of the account regularly engage their followers in lively discussions, and the Brotherhood’s party is the only one in Egypt that has its own smartphone App. Click here to read the entire article

The World Media Goes Bonkers: An Israel-Attacks-Iran Case Study Posted: 08 Feb 2012 12:49 PM PST http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2012/02/world-media-goes-bonkers-israel-attacks.html The World Media Goes Bonkers: An Israel-Attacks-Iran Case Study By Barry Rubin For the second time in a few months we have seen a crazy global Israel-About-to-Attack-Iran Story. I don’t want to go into all of the details but this tale is an example of how the media has just lost it completely due to a combination of laziness (reporters don’t really do research or check sources); agenda; ignorance; and good old sensationalism. Partly, too, it arises from the difficulty of the mass media in dealing with the Internet media era and the difficulty of the Internet media in achieving decent journalistic standards. A couple of months ago a level of hysteria was reached on the basis of three stories: –A Jerusalem Post article, which could have been published just about any time in the last five years, saying that the Israeli air force was practicing fo ran attack on Iran. –An interview with a former Israeli intelligence official who opposes attacking Iran saying that Israel had decided not to attack Iran but worrying that the prime minister might want to reopen discussion of the issue. –A sensationalistic article in an Arab newspaper with no Israeli inside sources speculating that an attack was going to happen. Out of this was built a worldwide story claiming something was going to happen that wasn’t. It was quickly shown to be wrong but no lesson was learned. Now we’ve just been through phase two. A Washington Post columnist, not known for his accuracy, claimed that the U.S. defense secretary said that Israel was about to attack. This was immediately accepted as if the cabinet member had said so publicly when the supposed statement was completely unproven.  The man in question, Leon Panetta, denied the story. Within a few days President Barack Obama said he knew Israel was not going to attack Iran. Think of what that means. Israeli leaders and American intelligence assessments have been daily reporting that no attack was imminent. If Obama knew it, Panetta knew it. It is true that a respected Israeli journalist wrote an article based on interviews in which he concluded that some day Israel would attack. But my reading of the article concludes that those interviewed are clearly expressing concern and trying to influence Western policy by saying: Do something so we don’t have to attack Iran some day. If Israel was about to attack, he wouldn’t have written the article at all. And consistent Israeli statements to the contrary were simply ignored. The most important was by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak who said what everyone knew: Israel would only attack if Iran had deliverable nuclear weapons, no decision had been made, and that was well in the future. I could go on but what is lacking here is the equivalent of common sense.  There are many good reasons why Israel won’t attack Iran now which I have presented already. To its credit, the Los Angeles Times finally came up with a story noting that Israelis were “bemused” by all the hysteria that ran totally contrary to what they knew. People have written about why Israel should not attack Iran but very few have written about why Israel would not attack Iran at this time. There has been indifference to all of the totally known factors involved regarding this decision. In the end, the issue is one of fact. It is easily observable that Israel has not attacked Iran and still has not done so on any given date in the future. Yet what does this say about media coverage and public debate over other stories, especially international ones? Doesn’t anybody think there’s a lesson to be learned in that fact that they were just plain wrong? Just as they were wrong about the Israel-Palestinian peace process progressing, Syria becoming moderate, the “Arab Spring,” and so many other things? Might all these errors prompt some reconsideration of premises and methods?

From PJ Media.Com

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The Santorum Surprise By Roger L. Simon Definite perils are ahead for the Republican Party if it allows Santorum-style social conservatism to dominate the election. And those perils go well beyond the obvious that the campaign will be largely about the economy. The Obama Effect in Latin America By Jaime Daremblum Obama has learned the hard way that personal diplomacy and unilateral concessions will not turn hostile autocrats into friendly democrats. (Read this article in Spanish here.)

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Jews, Party Identification, and Political Realignment By Abraham H. Miller The formidable nine percent change in party identification among American Jewish voters favoring the Republicans changes a pattern begun by Franklin D. Roosevelt. ‘It’s Your Fault’: U.S. Gets the Israel Treatment Over Iran By Shoshana Bryen Iran makes threats; the United States gets blamed for “saber-rattling.” But the belief that America will be at fault if it antagonizes Iran comes at least in part from Americans.

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February 9, 2012

A Balanced Life

Part 2

Mary Southerland

Today’s Truth

She (Martha) had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying (Luke 10:39).

Friend to Friend

A balanced life is focused on right things. Focus is always found at the feet of Jesus. Mary lived out this truth.  In fact, Mary, more than any other person in the New Testament is associated with sitting at the feet of Jesus.

What does it mean to “sit at the feet of Jesus”?  We must first stop. Now that is a novel idea for most women. Mary stopped what she was doing - helping Martha in the kitchen - and came to sit at the feet of Jesus. Of course, Martha immediately began complaining that she had been left to do all the work while her sister wasted time sitting at the feet of Jesus.  I have discovered there will always be someone who will misunderstand or complain when you choose to do what Jesus told Martha was “the better part.”

Luke 10 [show/hide]Luke 10 Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two [10:1]After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. [2]And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. [3]Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. [4]Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. [5]Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' [6]And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. [7]And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. [8]Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. [9]Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' [10]But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, [11]'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' [12]I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Woe to Unrepentant Cities [13]"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. [14]But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. [15]And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. [16]"The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me." The Return of the Seventy-Two [17]The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" [18]And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. [19]Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. [20]Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will [21]In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. [22]All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." [23]Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! [24]For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." The Parable of the Good Samaritan [25]And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" [26]He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" [27]And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." [28]And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." [29]But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" [30]Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. [31]Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. [32]So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. [33]But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. [34]He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. [35]And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' [36]Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" [37]He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise." Martha and Mary [38]Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. [39]And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. [40]But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." [41]But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, [42]but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (ESV)
: 40-42 “But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Mary made a choice and so must we. Choosing to sit at the feet of Jesus requires decisive planning, purposeful scheduling and a willful determination. Every day, God wants relationship building time with us, which means that time at His feet, in His presence must be our highest priority. Jesus gently rebuked Martha because she had forgotten what was really important.

It is amazing to me how I can squander away the best part of my day, leaving Him with the leftover scraps of time and then have the audacity to complain that my life is void of power and purpose. Distractions come from every side. Some of those distractions are good and wonderful things, but they are all still wrong things if they keep us from stopping to spend time with God.

Every day, we choose where to invest our time. We plan everything from committee meetings and church activities to lunch appointments and choir practice - but fail to schedule the most important activity of all, spending time with God. Are you desperate for the peace and balance only He can bring? Then it’s time to stop, take inventory of the demands upon your time and begin investing the best part of everyday sitting at His feet. Being wrapped up in God’s work can easily become a shabby substitute for being wrapped up in His presence. And we can only be wrapped up in God’s presence when we learn to wait on Him.

I absolutely hate to wait, on anyone or for anything. Waiting robs me of control and forces me to face the unknown. But waiting on God brings priorities into a right focus and releases the catalyst that may very well change my life course. Waiting is not a passive use of time.  Waiting is active spiritual obedience.  In each waiting room of life, He is at work preparing me for the circumstance and the circumstance for me. Psalm 5:3 (NLT) “Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” From those still, quiet moments of waiting and seeking comes a balance and focus that takes root and grows. It is through the choice to wait on God that the seeking heart – the expectant heart finds every need met.

We not only must stop and be still in order to sit at the feet of Jesus, we must learn to listen. Time spent seeking God and listening for His voice is vital. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV) “Now choose life…listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.”

Countless voices clamor for our attention. The key to a balanced life is training our hearts toward God and teaching our spiritual ears to listen for His voice above all others. I taught third grade for several years while my husband attended seminary.  My class was one of seven third grade classes, which meant that the first few days of school were chaotic. The PE teacher was a welcome sight when she appeared at my door to take the students outside. It was the responsibility of each teacher to pick up her students when PE was over. Seven teachers trying to get the attention of over two hundred students was especially interesting on the first or second day of school when the teachers didn’t know their students and the third graders didn’t know their teacher. However, after only a few days, an amazing thing happened every year.  When the teachers lined up, it took only a word or two for the students to come running. They quickly learned to recognize the voice of their new teacher above all the rest because they listened to her voice all day long.

The voice of God comes to us in many ways but every voice must be held up and measured against His main voice, the Word of God. To sit at the feet of Jesus, we must learn to stop, be still, and listen for His voice and then rest. Rest will not come until we have heard His truth.  However, when we have learned and applied the truth of God we can then rest in Him and our world falls into perfect balance.  Resting in Him requires trust.

When our son, Jered, was seven years old, he fell while skateboarding, cut his chin and needed stitches. We raced to the nearest emergency clinic where we met a young doctor, who at first glance, seemed friendly enough. Jered, however, took one look at the strange doctor and panicked. It was his first experience with stitches. After several attempts to gain Jered’s trust and cooperation, the doctor grew impatient and said, “Son, this won’t hurt.  If you cannot be still we will have to put you in restraints.” Now I had two major problems with those statements.  First of all, there were not going to be any restraints placed on my son. And secondly, of course it would hurt. Glaring at the doctor I explained, “If you will just tell Jered the truth and explain what you are doing he will be still for you.” The doctor looked at me as if I had just arrived from another planet and said, “Right!”  Before I could rip off his head, Dan told the doctor we had a plan. I knew what my plan was but thought it wise to consider Dan’s. Holding Jered’s head still, Dan softly explained what the doctor would do and told him to fix his eyes on me while I told a story. It worked. Jered calmed down and the stitches were done in a matter of minutes. Even though he did not fully understand or trust the process, Jered did fully understand and trust us.

Truth is always the basis for trust and trust is always the basis for rest. We rarely take time to stop, be still and listen, allowing His truth to soak into our hearts and minds where trust and faith grow strong on a steady diet of truth. As a result, our faith is weak and rest is hard to find. When we learn to sit at the feet of Jesus, we will know Him better, trust Him more and find the rest we so desperately crave. Clarity of purpose and a right focus will come.  And that, my friend, is the cornerstone in a life of balance.

Now It’s Your Turn

Oswald Chambers writes, “We can choke God’s Word with a yawn; we can hinder the time that should be spent with God by remembering we have other things to do. ‘I haven’t time!’ Of course you have time! Take time, strangle some other interests, and make time to realize that the center of power in your life is the Lord Jesus Christ.” What is the main focus of your life? For the real answer, take a long, hard look at where you spend your time, money and energy. What changes do you need to make to bring your life into a right balance with God?

Did Jesus Perform Miracles?

Today’s reading: Mark 6:1-6

Most New Testament critics today admit Jesus performed what we would call miracles. Granted, they may not all believe these were genuine miracles, but the idea of Jesus of Nazareth as a miracle worker and exorcist is part of the historical Jesus that’s generally accepted by critics today.

Rudolf Bultmann, who is recognized as one of the most skeptical New Testament critics of the last century, wrote:

The Christian fellowship was convinced that Jesus had done miracles and they told many stories of miracles about him. Most of these stories contained in the Gospels are legendary or are at least dressed up with legend. But, there can be no doubt that Jesus did such deeds, which were, in his and his contemporaries’ understanding, miracles; that is to say, events that were the result of supernatural divine causality. Doubtless he healed the sick and cast out demons.

Even Bultmann says miracles and exorcisms belong to the historical Jesus. In Bultmann’s day these stories were considered legendary because of the supposed influence of Greco-Roman mythology on the Gospels, but scholars today realize this influence was virtually nil. They now believe the role of Jesus as a miracle worker must be understood against the backdrop of first-century Palestinian Judaism, where it fits right in.

The only reason to be skeptical that these were genuine miracles would be philosophical-do you believe that such events can occur or not?

- Bible Gateway.Com