The Plain Truth

JOIN OUR DISCUSSION BOARD-- See Latest News and Views

Newest message board threads:

Title

Author

Date

VISIT OUR DISCUSSION BOARD

CLICK HERE

Wrong to insist on keeping 10 Commandments?

Serpent-handling pastor dies from rattlesnake bite

Mack Wolford, a flamboyant Pentecostal pastor from West Virginia whose serpent-handling talents were profiled last November in The Washington Post Magazine , hoped the outdoor service he had planned for Sunday at an isolated state park would be a “homecoming like the old days,” full of folks speaking in tongues, handling snakes and having a “great time.” But it was not the sort of homecoming he foresaw.

Instead, Wolford, who turned 44 the previous day, was bitten by a rattlesnake he owned for years. He died late Sunday.  More>>>>>>>>

Lost photos prove Greenland's ice was melting FASTER 80 years ago than today

• 80-year-old photo plates from Danish polar explorer
• Prove that Greenland's glaciers melted faster in 30s than they did today
• Brief cooling period mid-century re-froze ice
• Pre-satellite images of ice shelves are extremely rare

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2152004/Lost-photos-prove-Greenlands-ice-melting-FASTER-80-years-ago-today.html#ixzz1wMSqZCsK

Global warming sceptics are BETTER-informed about science than believers

Climate change sceptics are often derided as uninformed - but a new study proves that the opposite is the case.

Sceptical individuals are slightly MORE science literate than 'believers' in climate change.

The difference isn't huge, according to a survey of 1500 U.S. adults.

57% of sceptics are 'science literate' according to tests asking basic science and maths questions, versus 56% of believers. 

Greenpeace activists: Sceptical individuals are slightly MORE science literate than 'believers' in climate change

Dan Kahan,  Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School said, 'Political controversy over climate change cannot be attributed to the public's limited ability to comprehend science.' he said.

Researchers measured ‘science literacy’ with test items developed by the National Science Foundation.

The questions were simple questions such as 'Electrons are smaller than atoms, true or false?'

They also measured their subjects' ‘numeracy’—that is, their ability to understand quantitative information.

The controversy comes down, in effect, to a conflict over values - and informed individuals are better at fitting the scientific facts, and gaps in our knowledge, to whatever they happen to believe in.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2152078/Global-warming-sceptics-better-informed-science-believers.html#ixzz1wMSDi7nY

The Global Flood—According to the New Testament

Posted on May 28, 2012

Many Bible skeptics regard Genesis 1–11 as mythical, copied from Enuma Elish, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and other such ancient writings—so not only is it a primitive myth, it’s not a particularly original one, in their view. We’ve often written about the characteristics of Genesis that show it claims to record history.

Sadly many believers have bought into these interpretations, but as Christians, aren’t we supposed to believe what Jesus did? And it’s easy to extend that to believing what the apostles that He appointed and inspired by the Holy Spirit to author Scripture believed as well. If Christians don’t believe the Bible, in what sense are they ‘Christ followers’? So let’s look at what Jesus believed and what the New Testament tells us about the circumstances surrounding Noah’s Flood.

The world at the time of Noah

In Noah’s day, Jesus tells us that people were going about conducting ‘business as usual’ until the Flood came: “in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away” (Matthew 24:38–39). But it wasn’t a pleasant place to live—the culture was so immoral that Peter called it “the world of the ungodly” (κοσμῳ ἀσεβῶν, kosmō asebōn, 2 Peter 2:5). There were even angels who sinned at that time (2 Peter 2:4) by deserting their proper positions (Jude 1:11). While the New Testament doesn’t specify exactly what this sin was, it fits in nicely with the assertion in Genesis 6 that the ‘sons of God’ took wives among the ‘daughters of men’—in other words, angels taking human wives¹ and fathering the Nephilim.

The Ark and its passengers

The author of Hebrews says: “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness that comes by faith” (11:7). Peter says that only eight people were saved in the Ark (1 Peter 3:20): Noah and seven others (2 Peter 2:5). Absolutely everyone else was killed in the Flood (Luke 17:27).

The New Testament authors rarely reference the Old Testament for its own sake—they assume basic belief of the Old Testament Scriptures—rather, they are raising the historical events to use as examples or precedents to support their theological arguments.

The extent of the Flood

The Flood of Noah destroyed the entire human civilization that existed at that time (Matthew 24:39; Luke 17:27; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:5–6). The scope was global, and so severe that the earth was, in effect, reversed to its state on Day 2, before God created dry land—the whole earth was covered with water….

 

Continue Reading on creation.com

Aspartame - Sweet Misery, A Poisoned World! Full Length

City of Newport sends Obama campaign $35K invoice for CdM visit

By Amy Senk, Corona del Mar Today

May 25, 2012 | 11:50 a.m.

The city of Newport Beach spent $35,043.04 on police officers when President Obama stopped in Corona del Mar in February for a campaign breakfast, and revenue officials have sent his campaign an invoice to recoup the costs.

City Manager Dave Kiff said the invoice was his idea.

“I think it is appropriate to treat it like a private event — if another private event that large and which required that much police presence occurred, we would bill the event sponsor,” he said in an email. “If the president was here on presidential business, we likely would not have billed for that.”

The invoice is dated May 10 and is due June 9.  More>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Coming of a New Babylon

article by Darris McNeely

 

The European debt crisis still simmers. Are we seeing a geopolitical development long foretold in Bible prophecy emerging before our eyes? What exactly is occurring with this world crisis?

America's days as a superpower are numbered. Bible prophecy is clear on this point. Who will take its place?

Source: Photos.com

For more than a generation the publishers of The Good News magazine have focused on Europe and the Middle East from the perspective of Bible prophecy. The scriptures of Revelation 17 and 18 in particular have been applied to the developing European Union as a fulfillment of a revived Holy Roman Empire—symbolized as a "beast" with a woman riding its back, a union of politics and religion described as "Babylon the Great" that exists for a brief time.

But with the latest economic crisis in Europe revealing fundamental flaws in the EU, is it time to reassess this explanation? Is it possible for Europe to become the kind of dominant power described in the Bible? Let's take another look at what prophecy reveals and address this key question: Where will this system called "Babylon the Great" come from?

The strange prophecy

Revelation 17 describes the unusual vision the apostle John saw—an end-time power symbolized as a beast ridden by a woman. He saw a "great harlot who sits on many waters" (verse 1). In prophetic symbolism, the waters and seas here represent "peoples, multitudes, nations and languages" (verse 15, New International Version).

This woman rides on "a scarlet beast . . . full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns." On the woman's forehead "a name was written: mystery, babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth" (verses 1, 5). This woman is shown to have several unsavory attributes as she interacts with the Beast power and its peoples. John's attention is fixed on the woman as he considers the wide range of her impact. 

Elsewhere in the book of Revelation, a woman is used to symbolize God's people collectively—ultimately His true Church (compare Revelation 12:17; 19:7). Since the woman in chapter 17 is depicted as a prostitute, it's clear she represents not the faithful Church, but an apostate church or religious system.

Read the rest>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

BONDS OF FREEDOM FROM SHAVUOT TO PENTECOST

by Brother Gregory Williams
May 29, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

[Mr. Williams and NewsWithViews] are no affliated with The Plain Truth

Forward by Bob Barney: This is an excellent article concerning God's Holy Days and the role they play in Christian life today. I was even surprised to see that Mr. Williams even understands when Firstfruits takes place (after Passover Week) and not on the 3rd day of Passover as many assume in error.

 

The Feasts of Israel were in-gatherings and played an essential roll in maintaining a free nation. Without these festivals there was no practical way to bring a nation together and to create bonds in society that were essential for a free state.

There was no civilly enforceable contract to compel performance in a pure republic because the status or state of the people was independent according to the nature of a republican form of government.[1]

Since religion[2] was how you cared for others within your community and society these gatherings were essential for the maintenance of a governmental system based on liberty. Each elder of each family was required, by common sense, to participate.

Making this system work was dependent on everyone working and doing their part. There was no central leader forcing everyone to pay their share. What you contributed and how you participated set the path for success or failure and acceptance or rejection by your nation was founded in either the brotherhood of caring or the covetousness of controlling hearts.

Holy Days: Pentecost.. TUESDAY (May 29) is Pentecost (Feast of Weeks)

by Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
Forerunner, "Bible Study," May 1996

As we study the meaning of God's holy days, a logical pattern surfaces that unlocks truths that remain a mystery to the vast majority of the world's people. The day of Pentecost symbolizes a major key to spiritual understanding because upon this day God sent His Holy Spirit to His church, providing Christ's disciples with the power, love and understanding to carry out the work of the church. This regeneration by the Holy Spirit, the key to understanding the spiritual principles of God's Word, opens our understanding of the plan that God is working out among humanity.

God established His holy days around the two major harvests of the year, a small one in the spring and a larger one in the fall. These harvest seasons typify two spiritual harvests. Pentecost, occurring in late spring, symbolizes the first spiritual harvest and reveals that this is not the only day of salvation. Those whom God calls now are merely a "pilot group" that He has specifically selected to be His "firstfruits." This day is also the anniversary of God's church—the beginning of the portion of God's master plan in which He calls people out of this evil world to create in them His holy, perfect, spiritual character.

1. During what three periods of the year did God command Israel to appear before Him? Exodus 23:14-16.

Comment: The "three times" are three general periods during which God's holy days fall. Passover and Unleavened Bread occur in early spring, the "Feast of Harvest" in late spring and the "Feast of Ingathering" in the fall.

2. How did the spring harvest begin? Leviticus 23:10-11, 14.

Comment: Before the Israelites could reap the spring crop, God commanded them to bring a sheaf of grain to the priest, who waved it before God for acceptance. This "wavesheaf offering" occurred on "the day after the Sabbath" that falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. {Actually this day is a High Sabbath that falls on the 8TH Day of Passover}

3. How do we determine when to observe Pentecost, also called "the Feast of Weeks"? Leviticus 23:15-16, 21.

Comment: This late spring holy day must be counted. God instructs us to count 50 days from the day that the wavesheaf was offered. This explains why this day is commonly called Pentecost, which means "count fifty."

4. What special offering did God command to be offered on Pentecost in the Old Testament? Leviticus 23:17.

Comment: God commanded that two loaves of bread be offered as firstfruits to God. These two loaves represent the Old and New Testament churches.

5. Are the members of God's church regarded as firstfruits? James 1:18; Revelation 14:4.

Comment: Pentecost, the Feast of Firstfruits, represents the first part of God's spiritual harvest. God is now calling a small number of people, the firstfruits, into His church. These people, who live in the world but are not part of it (John 17:15-16), are training to be the leaders in the World Tomorrow when God will work to save the whole world.

6. Is the end time a spiritual harvest? Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43.

Comment: "End of the age" (verse 39) refers to the time of Christ's second coming and the resurrection of the dead when God will reap the firstfruits of His harvest! The fifty days between the wavesheaf offering and Pentecost symbolize the time from the founding of the church to the end of the age when the small harvest of the firstfruits occurs.

7. What did the wavesheaf offering symbolize? I Corinthians 15:20-23.

Comment: Jesus Christ, the first of the firstfruits, willingly gave His life so others may receive forgiveness of sin. He was a holy, sinless sacrifice, and three days later, He was the first person resurrected to eternal life! In this, He fulfilled the symbolism of the wavesheaf offering.

8. Did Jesus have to be accepted just as the wavesheaf offering was? John 20:17.

Comment: Jesus was crucified on the day of the Passover in AD 31, which fell that year on a Wednesday. God resurrected Him at the end of the weekly Sabbath (Saturday). He appeared to Mary Magdalene the next morning, the day after the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, when the priests presented the wavesheaf offering. He did not permit her to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father. Just as the High Priest had to wave the sheaf of grain before the spring harvest began, so our Savior had to ascend to the Father to be accepted before Him. Once this happened, He allowed His disciples to touch Him (cf. Matthew 28:9; John 20:20-28).

9. Did Christ's disciples observe Pentecost? Acts 2:1.

Comment: This was the Day of Pentecost exactly fifty days after Christ ascended to heaven{On FIRSTFRUITS, the 8th Day of Passover} to be accepted by the Father on the day the sheaf of grain was waved.

10. What happened then to fulfill a promise that Jesus had made to His disciples? Acts 2:2-4; John 14:16, 26.

11. Was the Holy Spirit to be IN the disciples as contrasted to dwelling WITH them? John 14:17.

Comment: During Jesus' life on earth, the Holy Spirit was with the disciples. After the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, the Spirit was within them as it had been in Christ. At this time, the disciples were born from above by the Holy Spirit, marking the beginning of the church of God.

12. Did the early church continue to keep Pentecost after the Holy Spirit came? Acts 20:16; I Corinthians 16:8.

Comment: About 25 years after Christ's ascension into heaven, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, hurried to be in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost! Just as the early church kept Pentecost every year, so the true church of God continues to keep it today as a continual reminder of our part in God's great master plan of salvation!

© 1996 Church of the Great God

Read more: http://sabbath.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/BS/k/476/subj/pentecost/Holy-Days-Pentecost.htm#ixzz0pLTp1F6v

Comments (0)

Lest we forget... The Numbers, The Dead

Many have died for you and me to be free.  Do not forget them, or the cause of liberty, freedom and our Constitution!

 

The table below has information about the total number of service members, battle deaths, and nonmortal woundings in wars from 1775 to 2011; such as the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I and II, Vietnam, and more.

American Revolution (1775–1783)
Total servicemembers	217,000
Battle deaths	4,435
Nonmortal woundings	6,188
War of 1812 (1812–1815)
Total servicemembers	286,730
Battle deaths	2,260
Nonmortal woundings	4,505
Indian Wars (approx. 1817–1898)
Total servicemembers	106,0001
Battle deaths	1,0001
Mexican War (1846–1848)
Total servicemembers	78,718
Battle deaths	1,733
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	11,550
Nonmortal woundings	4,152
Civil War (1861–1865)
Total servicemembers (Union)	2,213,363
Battle deaths (Union)	140,414
Other deaths in service (nontheater) (Union)	224,097
Nonmortal woundings (Union)	281,881
Total servicemembers (Conf.)	1,050,000
Battle deaths (Conf.)	74,524
Other deaths in service (nontheater) (Conf.)	59,2972
Nonmortal woundings (Conf.)	unknown
Spanish-American War (1898–1902)
Total servicemembers	306,760
Battle deaths	385
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	2,061
Nonmortal woundings	1,662
World War I (1917–1918)3
Total servicemembers	4,734,991
Battle deaths	53,402
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	63,114
Nonmortal woundings	204,002
Living veterans	fewer than 251
World War II (1940–1945)3
Total servicemembers	16,112,566
Battle deaths	291,557
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	113,842
Nonmortal woundings	671,846
Living veterans	3,242,0001
Korean War (1950–1953)
Total servicemembers	5,720,000
Serving in-theater	1,789,000
Battle deaths	33,741
Other deaths in service (theater)	2,833
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	17,672
Nonmortal woundings	103,284
Living veterans	3,086,4001
Vietnam War (1964–1975)
Total servicemembers	8,744,000
Serving in-theater	3,403,000
Battle deaths	47,424
Other deaths in service (theater)	10,785
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	32,000
Nonmortal woundings	153,303
Living veterans	7,286,5001
Gulf War (1990–1991)
Total servicemembers	2,225,000
Serving in-theater	665,476
Battle deaths	147
Other deaths in service (theater)	382
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	1,565
Nonmortal woundings	467
Living veterans	1,852,0001
America's Wars Total (1775–1991)
Military service during war	41,891,368
Battle deaths	651,030
Other deaths in service (theater)	308,800
Other deaths in service (nontheater)	230,279
Nonmortal woundings	1,431,290
Living war veterans	17,456,0004
Living veterans	23,442,000
Global War on Terror 5
Total Servicemembers (Worldwide) (as of Dec 31, 2010)	1,429,367
Deployed to Iraq (Operation New Dawn) (as of Dec. 31, 2010)	85,600
Deployed to Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom)(as of Dec. 31, 2010)	103,700
Battle Deaths (as of May 12, 2011)	4,724
Other Deaths (In Theater) (as of May 12, 2011)	1,294
Non-mortal Woundings (as of May 12, 2011)	43,399

1. Veterans Administration estimate as of Nov. 2008.

2. Estimated figure. Does not include 26,000–31,000 who died in Union prisons.

3. Years of U.S. involvement in war.

4. Approximately 1,065,000 veterans had service in multiple conflicts. They are counted under each conflict, but only once in the total.

5. For the most current GWOT statistics, visit: href="http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf", and href="http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/history/hst1012.pdf"

Source: Department of Defense and Veterans Administration.

See also Post-Vietnam Combat Casualties.

Read more: America's Wars: U.S. Casualties and Veterans — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004615.html#ixzz1NgkQYgNo