Dead Sea Scrolls @ The ROM

Dead Sea Scrolls, Words that Changed the World; I like the sound of that.

From June 27, 2009 to January 3, 2010 the Dead Sea Scrolls will be exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century - the earliest record of biblical patriarchs and prophets embraced by Judaism, Christianity and Islam"

The Scrolls - Summary

The Dead Sea Scrolls are widely considered among the greatest archaeological finds of the past century. They include the earliest written sources for the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament), as well as other less well known writings. Many of the ideas and beliefs contained in this collection of ancient parchments have resonated through the centuries and remain influential today. Indeed, they reflect the foundations of important religions such as Judaism and Christianity and have influenced Islam.

Dating from around 250 Before Common Era (BCE) to 68 Common Era (CE), the Scrolls include some 207 biblical manuscripts representing nearly all of the books in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). Approximately 900 Scrolls were discovered; some almost entirely preserved and others in fragments. Together, they comprise one of the most important collections of writings ever discovered. The Scrolls are a collection of biblical writings, apocryphal manuscripts, prayers, biblical commentary and religious laws. Prior to the discovery of the Scrolls, the oldest known copies of biblical texts were written 1,000 years later.

Check out this site for more information: http://www.rom.on.ca/scrolls/index.php

This site holds ample information and facts located at 'THE SCROLLS' tab at the top under such headings as: The Discovery, Their Origins, and The Importance of the Scrolls.

I find it really neat to have such a close and great museum as the ROM, engage into an important, crucial part of our history and attract people around the area and the world so they can have the chance to view, listen and learn about the truth of the Bible.

What do you think?

Sad News....

This news item was released today by the Associated Press, and was posted on thespec.com this afternoon. I find this incredibly disheartening. I find it very sad that in North America we have made such a pill so widely available - not only available but socially acceptable. This pill will soon be widely accepted as a common form of 'birth control'.

I fear for the generation that is now entering their pubescent years, and for the generations that follow. Surely a pill like this will be so common and accepted by the time they reach their teen years, that many will not give it a second thought before swallowing it, and possibly murdering a child.

17-year-olds can get morning after pill in U.S. without prescription

April 22, 2009

A U.S. health official says the Food and Drug Administration will allow 17-year-olds to get the "morning-after" birth control pill without a doctor's prescription.

An official said the agency will announce today it's complying with a federal judge's order.
Last month a federal judge ruled that Bush administration appointees let politics, not science, drive their decision to allow over-the-counter access only for women 18 and older.

Plan B is emergency contraception that contains a high dose of birth control drugs. Religious conservatives say it's the equivalent of an abortion pill.

I find it interesting that they add "religious conservatives" at the end - as if we're the only population that might oppose such a pill. Maybe we are... I'm not sure anymore.

My heart is heavy this afternoon as I reflect on how many children are aborted, no - aborted sounds too clinical - these children are murdered - in North America each year. The statistics are nauseating. We've now made it easier than ever. God help us.

Father, forgive us - forgive our nation and our evil intentions. Forgive our nation, and our neighbors for not valuing life... forgive us for indulging ourselves - for engaging in sexual sin that would lead many to use such a pill. Forgive us for our idolatry - many will worship idols of money, careers, travel, and other selfish desires that would cause them to murder their unborn children. Oh Father, forgive them... forgive us.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that after checking out Plan B's Canadian website - this 'treatment' is available at almost any pharmacy. Nothing on the website indicated that you had to be a certain age to purchase it. On one page, I found a picture of a young lady, obviously in her teen years, with this caption: "That's life. Accident's happen, we make mistakes, and some things are out of our control."

Yeah... right.

The End Times?

Just some interesting facts within the pages of Joel C. Rosenburg's book, "The Last Days."

Author Joel C. Rosenberg writes "The Last Days" - sequel to the explosive New York Times bestseller "The Last Jihad." Despite the fact that I have not read either book, my Dad has and shared with me an interesting excerpt describing what you may say: Revelation foretells as signs of the end times. Also, the book "The Last Days" is fictional; however, it remains with the intention of arising to the reader factual past and present conflicts around the globe that stress the end times. Furthermore, I will quote a section of dialogue, which too both of us, striked as amazing proof that the end times is real and is coming fast!

“Well, think about it, Jonathan – like ‘wars and revolutions’ and ‘kingdom rising against kingdom.’ Just look at the twentieth century.”

“Yeah, but Eli, come on, man has always had wars and revolutions.”

“World War One, the war to end all wars? The Russian Revolution. World War Two. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Six million butchered by Hitler, and that’s just counting the Jews. The rise of the Evil Empire. Twenty million slaughtered by Stalin alone. Half the world enslaved by Communism. Korea. Vietnam. Pol Pot. All the Middle East wars. China and India. India and Pakistan. The rise of nationalism. Tribal warfare in Africa. I could go on and on and so could you. Of course there have been wars and revolutions throughout time. But never anything on the scale we saw in the twentieth century.”

(Bennett considered that for a moment, but wasn’t ready to concede the point).

“And what was another one, earthquakes? You can’t just say because we’ve had a few huge quakes in the last few weeks that we’re living the ‘last days.’”

“Fine. Do the research.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean ask the U.S. Geological Service. They say there are five hundred thousand earthquakes every single year. A hundred thousand that can be felt. A thousand that do serious damage. At least a hundred registering seven point zero or higher on the Richter scale. That’s a serious earthquake almost every four days. And the more urbanization occurs, the more damage a quake can do, the more people a quake can kill, the more costly these earthquakes are. In 1990, almost forty thousand people died in a quake in Iran. In ’76, a quarter of a million people died during a massive quake in China. The ’94 earthquake in Northridge, California was the most expensive in American history so far. Caused forty billion dollars in damage. Got the picture?

“I guess so.”

“You could say the same thing about ‘famine and pestilence.’ Just look at Africa. Ethiopia, Somalia – hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation. And disease? We’ve got ten million AIDS orphans in Africa alone, the numbers are climbing every day. Are we supposed to do nothing? Are we supposed to say, ‘Oh well, it’s just a sign of the end times’?”

“No. Of course not.”

And to that I must answer with Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Not only do we have to help the dying and suffering, but we must also spread the good news of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to all!

"The magnitude of these problems and the convergence of all these signs and events in the same century and right up to the present moment should be all the evidence we need."

Well this is just plain concerning!

An American polling agency released some new statistics this month that paint a grim picture of the state of the Christian church. More and more we hear of Christians who are making their own decisions about what the Bible says, and what it means, rather than interpreting the Scriptures correctly and actually believing what it says.

Perhaps most concerning is the statistic that 1 in 3 "born-again" Christians say that they are confident that Jesus sinned while on earth. That statistic breaks my heart. Perhaps there is nothing more foundational to my faith than the truth that Jesus is the unblemished lamb that died - that I might be saved.

I encourage you all to read the article here (ignore the pesky advertisements on the site - they are distracting to me!) - we need to be well-informed - and in constant prayer for the state of our church. We need to be a church that holds to the solid truth that is found in God's Word - uncompromising, unashamed, and unwavering.

May God bless you this week as you seek to know His truth.

As always, I welcome your comments, opinions, thoughts and prayers! Please add them!!!

Ah, the sweet smell of politics...

Two posts in one day! How about that.

As I was taking a much needed break from work this afternoon, I came across an interesting blog that I thought would be helpful for those of you who are following the political race south of the border.

For those who haven't heard of Mark Driscoll, he is the teaching pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washingon (not to be confused with the Mars Hill in Michigan which is associated with the emerging church). Mars Hill Seattle is a multi-site church with thousands in attendance. Mark Driscoll is known for being somewhat outspoken, at times very blunt, but always very biblical.

I frequent Mark's blog regularly, and find it very thought provoking. This week his blog was titled, In God We Do Not Trust; his reflections on the election and the issues that have weighed heavily on our brothers and sisters who prepare to vote today.

I urge you to read the blog - it is truly humbling - at least it was for me. Our country is not far behind our neighbors to the south - and the same principals and insights that Mark identifies, apply to us as well. Here's a quote from his blog:

The bottom line is obvious to those with gospel eyes. People are longing for Jesus, and tragically left voting for mere presidential candidates. For those whose candidate wins today there will be some months of groundless euphoric faith in that candidate and the atoning salvation that their kingdom will bring. But, in time, their supporters will see that no matter who wins the presidency, they are mere mortals prone to sin, folly, and self-interest just like all the other sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.

For more, click the link above, or this link here, for In God We Do Not Trust, by Pastor Mark Driscoll.

Missions Conference 2008: Special Project

Hey Westside: The following is an email from Bob Cowling (via Brett) regarding this year's special project. Please read, and be in prayer (and in your wallets) for this opportunity to give.

From Brett:

Every year during the conference we announce a special missions project. We usually let it go for 3 Sundays and then wrap it up. I have sent you the info that I was given for our project this year. There are a lot of Jewish families that have been left stranded in Georgia after Russia attacked them about 2 months ago, I'll let you read for yourself...

Our goal will be to support a family for a month... can Westside surpass the goal again...?

The details from Bob Cowling:

I appreciate your committee's willingness to consider this as a focus for your Missions project. Here are the details from our office in Georgia, Former Soviet Union (FSU):

We are currently supporting Jewish families who are now refugees as a result of the fighting and believe this would make a good project for this church to support. I have included some details below from Anya in Pyatigorsk who is helping these families. Any amount the church could send would be much appreciated. The value of $1,000 to $1,500 would cover the cost of supporting a refugee family for a month. This is a big need at the moment.

Anya in Pyatigorsk has sent possible spending plan for two families. They are now refugees, many have no clothing (except for what they had on them), no food and so on. At the moment those people are living in the refugee camp. Here are the translated values of what whose people would need.

First family of Gagievy (3 people):
1) Accommodation (rent of a flat) - 7000 rubles
2) Food (for a month roughly) - 7000 rubles
3) Documents (transport, payments and so on) - 5000 rubles (maybe there will be a need for more)
4) Clothing (bare necessities) - 10000 rubles
Total for the first month: 29000 Rubles (1185 US dollars with today's rate 24,48)

Second family of Rubshtain (1+6 people):
1) Accommodation (rent of a flat) - 5000 rubles
2) Food (for a month roughly) - 5000 rubles
3) Documents (transport, payments and so on) - 3000 rubles + 6000 rubles for the children and grandchildren
4) Clothing (bare necessities) - 5000 rubles
5) Medication - 3000 rubles
Total for the first month: 27000 Rubles (1103 US dollars with today's rate 24,48)

Please be in prayer about this opportunity and come prepared to give a little extra during the next few Sunday morning worship services.

For more information about the Russia/Georgia conflict - click here.

Christians Under Attack

Late last week I came across an article in the Spectator (found here) about the persecution of the church in India. Surprisingly (at least it was surprising to me), the Sikh PM of India called the attacks "acts of national shame". Even though India considers itself a "secular state... multireligious, multicultural", Christians are being physically attacked, churches are being damaged, and at least one person is dead. "Hindu hardliners" are blamed for these attacks that have destroyed church buildings, driven people into the wilderness and left many dead.

We are so blessed to be in a country where we face very little overt persecution. This type of conflict is far too common in other countries and we need to be reminded of it. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters across the world. Please read the article and be in prayer.