Global weird things you need to know

These Very WEIRD Things Are Happening RIGHT NOW! You May Want To Change Your Travel Plans…

The world can sometimes be a very weird place. But guess what? It’s about to get weirder. Science has a way of surprising us with all kinds of crazy phenomenons that make little no no sense to people without fancy schmancy degrees (e.g. me). I do my best to understand and my go-to favourite explanation is “Photoshopped!” But alas, these aren’t the works of creative pixel-pushers. These are actually real. 
1. Underwater Waterfall: A drastic dip in the ocean’s depth near Mauritius creates the illusion of this waterfall.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd23.jpg

2. Blue Lava: Sulfuric gases combust at such high temperatures that this volcano in Indonesia erupts with blue lava.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd4.jpg

3. White Rainbows: This is what arched fog looks like!

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd25.jpg

4. Volcanic Lightning: During a volcanic explosion, electrical and static charges are released and can result in this scary electrical storm. This is also more or less what it looks like during MetaSpoon.com brainstorming sessions.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd24.jpg

5.  Never-ending Wave: When the Atlantic Ocean meets the Amazon River in Brazil, the resulting wave can travel 500 miles inland without slowing down.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd1.jpg

6. Monarch Butterfly Migration: Across the US and Mexico, butterflies migrate together in incredible numbers!

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd22.jpg

7. Great Blue Hole: Erosion when sea levels were lower created this sinkhole in Belize.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd21.jpg

8. Flowering Desert: Deserts in Chile will sprout flowers after exceptionally heavy rainfall.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd20.jpg

9. Everlasting Storm: Also known as Catatumbo lightning, this lightning storm rages for up to 160 days above Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd19.jpg

10. Black Sun: The migration of European Starling birds is can be seen every spring in Denmark.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd18.jpg

11. Steam Towers: Towers of steam and gas from fumaroles create an eerie sight against an auroral display.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd17.jpg

12. Crab Migration: Nearly 120 million red crabs make their way to the ocean on Christmas Island.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd16.jpg

13. Rainbow Trees: When these Australian eucalyptus trees are known for their unique, multi-hued bark.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd15.jpg

14. Maelstroms: These powerful whirlpools can suck in swimmers and boats!

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd14.jpg

15. Horsetail Falls: At certain times of the day in February, the water resembles lava at this waterfall in Yosemite National Park, California.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd11.jpg

16. Hair Ice: Bacteria causes water to freeze in this manner as the liquid escapes plants in freezing weather.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd10.jpg

17. Green Flash: At the beginning or end of a sunset, the right conditions may result in this rare phenomenon.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd9.jpg

18. Frost Flowers: Floral ice forms when there is a difference in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere in arctic areas.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd8.jpg

19. Danxia Landforms: These colourful sandstone hills and mountains can be found in China.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd7.jpg

20. Cocooned Trees: Spiders take to the trees and create this incredible sight during flood season in Pakistan.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd6.jpg

21. Calficying Lake: Animals that become immersed in the waters of Lake Natron die and become calcified.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd5.jpg

22. Bleeding Glacier: In Antarctica, iron oxide causes the outflowing water to resemble blood. This is also known as “Blood Falls.”

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd3.jpg

23. Underwater Crop Circles: These incredible circles are created by male pufferfish in Japan as part of an elaborate mating ritual.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd2.jpg

25. Living Rocks: These sea creatures from Chile are not actually rocks, but they are entirely immobile.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd13.jpg

26. Lenticular Clouds: Moist air streams over mountains and becomes heated, resulting in strange cloud formations that have been mistaken for UFOs.

image: http://www.metaspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/odd12.jpg

I’m not entirely sure if I’m creeped out or simply amazed. Either way, I clearly don’t know much about this planet.

Read more at http://www.metaspoon.com/m-weird-things-happening-earth/#KV83vLofdpPOwUW4.99

You can't believe this revelation! Is Pope the antichrist?

The Man of Sin

In 2 Thessalonians 2, the apostle Paul speaks of the rise of a "man of sin" who would sit in the "temple of God" showing himself to be like God, and exalting himself into the place of Christ Jesus on earth. This man of sin was already revealed hundreds of years ago during the great Protestant reformation. But because of blindness to the truth and the deceptions of Satan, the mainstream Christian churches have all pretty much rejected the great truths that God revealed during the reformation. So here, we reveal them again for those who have eyes to see.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ...'Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.'

Now what does it mean to sit in the temple of God, showing himself to be like God? Well, we know from Hebrews 8:4-5 and Hebrews 9:24 that the earthly temple (tabernacle), which God instructed Moses to make in the Old Testament was a COPY of the original temple in heaven where Jehovah resides. So let's find out from the temple sanctuary that Moses made what God's throne is like.

Exodus 25:17-19 ...'And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.'

This is the description of the articles in the most holy place of the sanctuary. We have the mercy seat, which represents the throne of God. And either side of God's throne are two golden cherubim. And remember, this is a COPY of the actual throne of God in heaven. So in heaven, God has two living cherubim either side of His throne. And Ezekiel 28:12-17 confirms that Lucifer (Satan) used to be one of those "covering cherubs".

Psalm 99:1 ...'The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.'

Revelation 20:11 ...'And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.'

What is the "temple" today?

Acts 7:48 ...'Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet.'

1 Corinthians 3:16 ...'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?'

2 Corinthians 6:16 ...'And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'

1 Peter 2:5 ...'Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.'

This simple truth is overlooked by so many today. When we look for that man of sin, we should not be looking for someone to be sitting in a rebuilt temple in Israel. No, the temple of God today, as Paul and Peter confirmed, is THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. So the man of sin we are looking for is someone SITTING IN THE 'PROFESSED' CHRISTIAN CHURCH, showing himself that he is "like God" and exalting himself to a position where he should not be.

So we are looking for someone WITHIN the Professed Church, sitting on a throne, acting like he is "as God"

        

Above are pictures of the last two Roman Catholic Popes, Francis and Benedict, sitting on a "great white throne", BETWEEN TWO GOLDEN CHERUBIM, being called HOLY FATHER, which is reserved for God alone, putting themselves in place of God on earth and exalting themselves to a position where they should never be.

The word "anti" in antichrist also means "IN PLACE OF" Christ. Now look at the following quote from John Paul II:

"The leader of the Catholic church is defined by the faith as the Vicar of Jesus Christ (and is accepted as such by believers). The Pope is considered the man on earth who TAKES THE PLACE of the Second Person of the omnipotent God of the Trinity." (John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 3, 1994).

NO ONE can take the place of our Blessed Saviour, no one! But the man of sin 'tries' to take His place!

POPE FRANCIS OFFERS 'ABSOLUTION OF SIN' FOR WOMEN WHO ABORT - Absolution of sin is something that God alone can do. But the pope tries to take the place of God on earth!

So many people are looking in the wrong place for antichrist. We need to look in the professed Christian church. We need to be looking at a religious system that has put itself IN PLACE OF Christ on earth. This is antichrist.
Now what else does Paul say about this man of sin? He calls him the "son of perdition". Did you know there is only one other person in the Bible with that name? JUDAS! (John 17:12). Yes, that DECEIVER FROM WITHIN THE CHURCH! God is letting us know that the man of sin would be just like Judas. Someone who is counted as "one of us", but works for Satan.

Do you have eyes to see?

Look at this amazing picture too. What colours does Revelation say that Babylon the Great is clothed in? Purple and Scarlet (Revelation 17:4). And what are the main colours of the cardinals and bishops of the Roman Church? Purple and Scarlet! For more amazing information about Babylon the Great, see our Whore of Babylon study.
Now are we saying that Popes Francis and Benedict are the man of sin? Yes, but it is not JUST THEM. It involves all previous and future Popes who have exalted themselves into this same position and also the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. The man of sin involves the whole SYSTEM of the Papacy. Just take a look at some of these quotes from the Papal Church ...

"The Pope is not simply the representative of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, he is Jesus Christ Himself, under the veil of the flesh." (Evangelical Christendom, January 1, 1895, pg. 15, published in London by J. S. Phillips)

"The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God and the vicar of God." (Ferraris Ecclesiastical dictionary)

"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth." (Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, Cities Petrus Bertanous)

"The Saviour Himself is the door of the sheepfold: 'I am the door of the sheep.' Into this fold of Jesus Christ, no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff; and only if they be united to him can men be saved, for the Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and His personal representative on earth." (Pope John XXIII in his homily to the Bishops and faithful assisting at his coronation on November 4, 1958)

For more pompous and blasphemous quotes from the Roman Church, see this page.

Jesus Christ told us to call no man on earth our "Father" (Spiritual Father) for we have only ONE Father who is in heaven (Matthew 23:9). The Papacy says, call the Pope HOLY FATHER!

Jesus Christ says that salvation is ONLY found through Himself (Acts 4:12). The Papacy says that salvation is ONLY found through the Roman Catholic Church!

Jesus Christ told us through Jeremiah not to make offerings to or worship the "Queen of Heaven". The Papacy ENCOURAGES it's followers to make prayers, offerings and worship to the Queen of Heaven (The Roman Catholic Mary).

The Roman Catholic Church is so clearly an apostate church.

This picture is showing the new Roman Catholic Priests laying prostrate to the Pope, giving their honor and allegiance to him and the Roman church, and not God.
Friends, the Bible reveals the clear truth about who the antichrist is. All of the Protestant reformers knew the truth about the man of sin and the Bible antichrist. Yes, this is an unpopular teaching, but it's the TRUTH. And if we decide to turn away from truth just because it will make us unpopular, then we are in effect turning away from Christ Jesus.

See THIS SHOCKING LIST of Vatican crimes against children!

Satan is setting up a major deception for the last days, and he is using the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church to implement it. Please seek the truth and live by it. We are living in perilous times.


Source:  http://www.end-times-prophecy.org/man-of-sin-revealed.html

WHAT POPE TOLD U.S CONGRESS

Pope Francis, in Congress, Pleads for Unity on World’s Woes

By PETER BAKER and JIM YARDLEY

WASHINGTON — Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, challenged Congress and by extension the mightiest nation in the world on Thursday to break out of its cycle of paralysis and use its power to heal the “open wounds” of a planet torn by hatred, greed, poverty and pollution.

Taking a rostrum never before occupied by the bishop of Rome, Francis issued a vigorous call to action to lawmakers who have spent years stalemated over major issues and even now are days away from a potential government shutdown in a dispute over the moral boundaries of federal spending.

 

“Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples,” he told a joint meeting of Congress in an address that cited American icons like Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.”

If his words of unity struck a lofty note, though, his choice of issues effectively fed the very divisions he assailed. He emboldened liberals with a passionate defense of immigration, an endorsement of environmental legislation, a blistering condemnation of the arms trade and a plea to abolish the death penalty.

For their part, conservatives chose to focus on his defense of religious liberty, the traditional family and the sanctity of life at “every stage of its development.” In the end, both sides could walk away taking vindication from parts of his message. But the liberal references in his speech were explicit and extended while the conservative ones were more veiled and concise.

As a result, Democrats cheered and led standing ovations more often in a somewhat more dignified version of a presidential State of the Union address. Afterward, liberal groups wrapped themselves in the glow of Francis’ speech and claimed momentum for their initiatives, while Republicans largely focused on the majesty of the event and played down policy implications.

Despite the spectacle, there are limits to any pope’s ability to move an entrenched political system, and there was little sign that he had done so here. Within hours, the Senate was back to business, conducting another stalemate vote as Republicans failed to break a Democratic filibuster of a measure to cut off federal money from Planned Parenthood.

Francis’ address, delivered in slow and heavily accented English, may have lost some of its power as lawmakers strained to make out his words. Vatican officials said that the Argentine-born pope wanted to speak the primary language of the United States in the people’s house and that he spent much of the summer practicing.

Pope Francis at the Capitol on Thursday told members of Congress that they must cooperate “generously for the common good.” Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times

But afterward, he switched to his native Spanish when he appeared on the Speaker’s Balcony of the Capitol to wave and share a prayer with tens of thousands of people who had gathered on the West Lawn to watch his address on jumbo televisions.

While he had solemnly looked down at his text during his speech, when he stood on the balcony he beamed and reveled in the cheering crowd.

“I ask you all, please, to pray for me,” Francis said through an interpreter, “and if there are among you any who do not believe or cannot pray, I ask you please to send good wishes my way.”

He concluded, in English, with a phrase no one had trouble discerning: “God bless America.”

 “We can find no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing,” Francis said. “We know that Jesus wanted to show solidarity with every person.”

He waded into a crowd of mostly homeless men and women, including felons, mentally ill people, victims of domestic violence and substance abusers. He stopped to lay his hand on the heads of children who had kept quiet for hours of waiting with special pope coloring books.

With his speech to lawmakers, Francis became the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress, a milestone in the journey of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, and it generated enormous interest. Lawmakers, aides and invited guests jammed the historic chamber of the House of Representatives.

Sitting behind Francis were Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and House Speaker John A. Boehner, both Catholics. Flanking the aisle at the front were Secretary of State John Kerry and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and not far behind them was Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, all Catholics. Francis, who spoke with Mr. Kerry at the White House on Wednesday, stopped to shake his hand. Mr. Boehner, who invited the pope earlier this year, wept repeatedly.

Francis devoted the greatest share of his speech at the White House on Wednesday to climate change, but he made immigration the most pronounced part of his remarks to Congress, alluding to his own family’s history of moving from Italy to Argentina.

“We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners,” Francis said. “I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants.”

On the day the Pope turns the Vatican's obscenely ornate castles into hostels housing thousands of the latest "refugees" he will have some...

 “On this continent,” he continued, “thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is that not what we want for our own children? We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation.”

He cited “do-unto-others” and then added, “The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.”

While that represented typical code for abortion, Francis segued immediately and at length to a call for the abolition of the death penalty. “Every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes,” he said.

Pope Francis greeted onlookers before visiting with the homeless at St. Patrick's Church in Washington. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

He also warned of globalization, though in more measured tones than in the past. “I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty,” he said. He added that “it goes without saying that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth.” While “business is a noble vocation,” he said, it must be “an essential part of its service to the common good.”

He omitted the sharpest phrase in his prepared text: “If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it follows that it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance.” A spokesman later said he lost his place and passed over it by accident.

He was less restrained in calling for an end to the arms trade. “Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?” he asked. “Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money — money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood.”

While he never used the words abortion, homosexuality or same-sex marriage, he offered a strong statement supporting those who share the church’s views of those issues.

“I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened perhaps as never before, from within and without,” he said. “Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.”

Not long ago, the prospect of the head of the Catholic Church addressing Congress would have been unthinkable. Catholics in politics were a source of suspicion and a subject of slander for generations. Today, the pendulum has swung. Nearly one in three members of the Congress that Francis addressed are Catholic.

In addition to citing Lincoln and King, Francis mentioned two American Catholics to make his points: Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic Worker movement, and Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk who promoted interfaith understanding. Both lived radically simple lives, close to the poor and rejecting ambition — symbols of the Francis model of humility and devotion.

“A nation can be considered great,” he concluded, “when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to dream of full rights for all their brothers and sisters as Martin Luther King sought to do, when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.”

Laurie Goodstein contributed reporting from Washington, and Michael D. Shear from New York.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/us/pope-francis-congress-speech.html?_r=0

Lights in the Sky! Sign of End Time Appeared in Costa Rica

Amazing 'end of times' lights form among clouds over Costa Rica, bringing crowds to a standstill to watch incredible phenomenon

• Spectacle occurred on Costa Rica's Independence Day in capital San Jose
• It brought crowds to a standstill with some likening it to 'a sign of God'

Crowds were brought to a standstill when they witnessed an astonishing 'end of times' lights form among clouds over Costa Rica. 

The spectacle, in the capital of San Jose, occurred on the country's Independence Day last Tuesday. 

It led some to describe the incredible phenomenon as being 'like a sign of God'. 

The luminous cloud formation was spotted by mystified residents in Costa Rica's capital of San Jose 

 

The strange lights are caused by water droplets and ice crystals refracted by the sun’s light

Resident Joey Petit told ABC News his family were at a playground when his 11-year-old son, Ariel, noticed the odd formations in the clouds. 

His father said: 'He immediately grabbed the camera and started taking video and photos. We were just so amazed. We had no idea what it was and we'd never seen anything like it'.

Another, Jessie Montealegre, added: 'It was breathtaking. It's like a sign of God'. 

Gavin Pretor-Pinney told MailOnline: 'It's a pileus cloud and that happens when you get a large storm cloud building up.

'It grows taller and taller and it can encounter winds building across the top of it and it can push it up and act like an obstacle.

'This can cause ice crystals and water droplets to form and leads to the beautiful and iridescent appearance. It's not a common cloud to see.'  .

Residents who spotted the peculiar cloud formation remarked how it looked like the 'end of times' 

The bright cloud lit up the skies on Costa Rica's Independence Day last Tuesday 

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3239778/Amazing-end-times-lights-form-clouds-Costa-Rica-bringing-crowds-standstill-watch-incredible-phenomenon.html

Great Tribulation: U.S. and West Victimize Christians Fleeing ISIS

 

• Western nations are not merely ignoring Muslim persecution of Christians in the Middle East, they are actively supporting it by sponsoring "moderate" rebels who in reality are as "radical" and anti-Western as the Islamic State.

• "Why the federal government has failed to take steps to expedite such reunification in cases where family and religious leaders are willing to vouch for and help those seeking asylum here... remains an unfathomable mystery." — East County Magazine, San Diego.
• Such "unfathomable mysteries" are reminiscent of the U.S. State Department's habit of inviting Muslim representatives but denying visas to Christian representatives. Since the start of 2015, 4,205 Muslims have been admitted into the U.S. from Iraq, but only 727 Christians. For every Christian granted asylum, the U.S. grants asylum to five or six Muslims -- even though Christians, as persecuted "infidel" minorities, are in much greater need of sanctuary.
• "Most European governments, especially those that are Christian explicitly or implicitly, are failing in their duty to look after their fellow Christians in their hour of need." — Lord Weidenfeld.
• When persecuted Christian minorities manage to flee the Islamic State and come to the West for asylum, they are imprisoned again. All the while, Muslims -- in the Mideast and in the West -- are being empowered and welcomed in the West with open arms.

Not only does the West facilitate the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, but in the West as well.
According to a recent NPR report, the U.S. supported "moderate" coalition fighting both Bashar Assad and the Islamic State in Syria "has extremists in its own ranks who have mistreated Christians and forced them out of their homes" -- just as the Islamic State (IS) has done.
Christian minorities forced out of their homes who manage to reach Western nations -- including the United States -- sometimes encounter more trouble.
Despite having family members to sponsor them, a group of 20 Christians who fled the Islamic State in Iraq have been imprisoned indefinitely, some since February, at the Otay Detention Facility in San Diego, even though they have local family members and Christian leaders who vouch for them (a primary way that the majority of detained foreign nationals are released is to the supervision of American citizens who vouch for them).
Activists say that the men and women in detention have been held for too long, including by the U.S. government's own standards. Some have been imprisoned for over seven months with no hearing date for release even set.
"They are being held without a real reason.... They've escaped hell. Let's allow them to reunite with their families," said Mark Arabo, a spokesman for the Chaldean community in San Diego.
The detainees include a woman who had escaped the clutches of IS, and who had pleaded to see her sickly mother. Her mother died before she could see her. "She had been begging to be let out to see her dying mother," said a priest familiar with the case.
Discussing the ongoing plight of these Iraqi Christians, San Diego's East County Magazine concluded: "Why the federal government has failed to take steps to expedite such reunification in cases where family and religious leaders are willing to vouch for and help those seeking asylum here, then, remains an unfathomable mystery."

Such "unfathomable mysteries" are reminiscent of the U.S. State Department's habit of inviting Muslim representatives but denying visas to Christian representatives. Since the start of 2015, 4,205 Muslims have been admitted into the U.S. from Iraq, but only 727 Christians. For every one Christian the U.S. grants asylum, it grants asylum to five or six Muslims -- even though Christians, as persecuted "infidel" minorities, are in much greater need of sanctuary, not to mention more assimilating to American culture than Muslims.
Faith McDonnell, of the Institute on Religion & Democracy, said regarding the detainment of Iraqi Christians in San Diego:

This follows the disturbing pattern that we have seen from the State Department of ignoring the particular targeting of Christians by ISIS while giving preferential treatment for asylum to other groups with expedited processing -- like Somalis, Iraqis, and Syrians, some of whom could very well be members of jihadist movements.

The same is happening in the United Kingdom. Church leaders accuse David Cameron of "turning his back" on Christians facing genocide in Syria and Iraq by failing to grant them refuge in the UK -- even though thousands of Muslims have been allowed entry.
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, signed a petition calling on the UK government to "welcome Christian refugees and give them priority as asylum seekers," emphasizing that "Syrian and Iraqi Christians are being butchered, tortured and enslaved."
Similarly, Lord Weidenfeld, 95, who fled Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 with the help of British Quakers, said:

Why is it that the Poles and the Czechs are taking in Christian families and yet the British government stands idly by?
This mood of indifference is reminiscent of the worst phases of appeasement, and may have catastrophic consequences. Europe must awake and the Conservative British Government should be leading from the front.
Most European governments, especially those that are Christian explicitly or implicitly, are failing in their duty to look after their fellow Christians in their hour of need.

This is not necessarily true of east European nations. Along with countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia, Slovakia recently went so far as to say it will only accept Christians when it takes in Syrian refugees under an EU relocation scheme. The Slavic nation argues that "Muslims would not be accepted because they would not feel at home," including because there are no mosques in Slovakia.
Meanwhile, many of those Christians who are granted asylum in Western countries arrive there only to be further persecuted by Muslim asylum seekers -- indicating, once again, who does and who does not really need asylum; who does and who does not assimilate in Western culture.
Most recently in Sweden, two small families of Christian asylum seekers from Syria were recently harassed and abused by approximately 80 Muslim asylum seekers, also from Syria.
The Christians and Muslims -- described by one Swedish newspaper as "fundamentalist Islamists" -- resided in the same asylum house. Among other humiliations, the Muslims ordered the Christians not to wear their crosses around their necks and not to use the communal areas when in use by Muslims.

Asylum seekers in the Swedish city of Kalmar, where Christian refugees were forced to move out of public housing after being harassed and threatened by Muslims.

After continuous harassment and threats, these Christian refugees, who had managed to escape the Islamic State, left the Swedish asylum house "fearing for their own safety." A spokesman for the government migration agency responsible for the center they had been staying in said:

"They dared not stay. The atmosphere became too intimidating. And they got no help... They chose themselves to organize new address and moved away without our participation because they felt a discomfort."

Western nations are not merely ignoring Muslim persecution of Christians in the Middle East, they are actively supporting it by sponsoring "moderate" rebels who in reality are as "radical" and anti-Western as the Islamic State. And when these persecuted Christian minorities manage to flee the Islamic State and come to the West for asylum, they are imprisoned again. All the while, Muslims -- in the Mideast and in the West -- are being empowered and welcomed in the West with open arms.


Source:   http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6445/west-victimizes-christians

I am prepared to go to jail: Kentucky Clerk ---- By Todd Starnest

 Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis listens to a customer following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Ky. Although her appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied, Davis still refuses to issue marriage licenses. (The Associated Press)

Kim Davis could become the first Christian in America jailed as a result of the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.
“I’ve weighed the cost and I’m prepared to go to jail, I sure am,” Mrs. Davis told me in an exclusive interview. “This has never been a gay or lesbian issue for me. This is about upholding the word of God.”
“This is a heaven or hell issue for me and for every other Christian that believes,” she said. “This is a fight worth fighting.”

I’m very steadfast in what I believe. I don’t leave my conscience and my Christian soul out in my vehicle and come in here and pretend to be something I’m not. It’s easy to talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
- Kim Davis, clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky

Davis is the clerk of Rowan County, Ky. – a small patch of earth in the northeastern part of the state. She was elected last November – taking the place of her mother, who held the position for nearly 40 years.
It’s fair to say that issuing marriage licenses was something of a family business – until the day the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.
Davis is a devout Apostolic Christian, and she knew that should gay marriage become legal, she could not and would not sign her name on a same-sex marriage certificate.
“I would have to either make a decision to stand or I would have to buckle down and leave,” she said, pondering her choices. “And if I left, resigned or chose to retire, I would have no voice for God’s word.
So when that day came, she issued an edict: No more marriage licenses would be issued in Rowan County. It was a decision that would bring down the wrath of militant LGBT activists and their supporters.

“They told my husband they were going to burn us down while we slept in our home,” she said. “He’s been told that he would be beaten up and tied up and made to watch them rape me. I have been told that gays should kill me.”
Liberty Counsel, the public interest law firm that represents Davis, says forcing her to issue same-sex marriage licenses violates her religious beliefs. But the courts don’t seem interested in that argument.
A federal judge ordered her to issue the licenses, an appeals court upheld that decision and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. Should Davis continue to defy the law, she could be fined or sent to jail.
No matter what the court decides, Davis says she will not violate her religious beliefs – and she will not resign her post.

“I’m very steadfast in what I believe,” she told me. “I don’t leave my conscience and my Christian soul out in my vehicle and come in here and pretend to be something I’m not. It’s easy to talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?”
The mainstream media and the activists have been ruthless. They’ve portrayed her as a monster – a right-wing, homophobic hypocrite. She’s been smeared by tabloid-style reports on her checkered past. They’ve written extensively about her failed marriages.
It’s true, she’s been married four times. But what’s missing in the mainstream media coverage is the context. Her life was radically changed by Jesus Christ in 2011, and since then she has become a different person.
“My God in heaven knows every crack, every crevice, every deep place in my heart,” she said. “And he knows the thoughts that are in my mind before I even think them. And he has given me such a beautiful and wonderful grace through all of this.”
She once lived for the devil, but now she lives for God. She’s a sinner saved by grace.
“I had created such a pit of sin for myself with my very own hands,” she told me.
So how does she handle the reporters and talking heads who call her a hypocrite?
“All I can say to them is if they have a sordid past like what I had, they too can receive the cleansing and renewing, and they can start a fresh life and they can be different,” she said. “They don’t have to remain in their sin, there’s hope for tomorrow.”

Davis did not seek the national spotlight. She had no intention of becoming a spokeswoman for religious liberty, and she bristles at the idea that she is a hero of the faith.
“I’m just a vessel God has chosen for this time and this place,” she said. “I’m no different than any other Christian. It was my appointed time to stand, and their time will come.”


Source:  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/09/03/exclusive-kentucky-clerk-am-prepared-to-go-to-jail.html

PASTOR TURNED MEMBERS TO MUSLIMS IN RWANDA AS MEMBERS CHASED NIGERIAN PASTOR OUT OF PULPIT

Rwanda Pastor Converts Church Members To Muslim

Adams Odunayo  

 A Rwandan pastor has made the record of conducting the largest conversion of Christians to Muslims on Tuesday, August 25.

Africa Metro reports that the pastor, Salim Mikdad, converted all 480 members of his congregation to change their faiths.

According to one of the members, they were at the church for when their pastor forced them to convert to Islam. Pastor Mikdad also converted the church premises into a mosque during the conversion ceremony. This is said to have happened after an Islamic cleric had preached to Pastor Mikdad and succeeded in converting him to Islam.

According to Africa Metro, Rwanda is a predominantly Christian country but of late, has seen a gradual rise in its Muslim population. About 56.9% of Rwandans are Roman Catholic, 26% are Protestant, 11.1% are Seventh day Adventist and only 4.6% are Muslim, most of them being Sunni.

Islam started growing in Rwanda after the country’s 1994 genocide as both Catholic and Protestant churches helped to make the killing of about 800,000 people possible by giving moral sanction to the murders. Churches have longed played ethnic politics themselves, favouring the Tutsi during the colonial period then switching allegiance to the Hutu after 1959, sending a message that ethnic discrimination was consistent with church teaching.

Meanwhile, hell was let loose on Sunday, August 30, at the United Methodist Church, in the Oshodi area of Lagos, Nigeria when church members pursued their pastor off the pulpit.

The church premises

The Punch reports that members of the church rejected their pastor and chased him away for allegedly impregnating his housemaid who is also a member of his church.
According to report, the pastor, Barkuma Andrew, was stopped from leading the church seven months ago when the housemaid, Grace, had complications after aborting the pregnancy. The pastor lives with his wife, children, wife’s cousin, Favour, and Grace in a three-bedroom flat inside the church premises.
It was reported that the members had pleaded with the Central Conference of the church in Taraba State to help look into the alleged incident. However, when the district did not do anything about it, the congregation sought the service of another pastor three weeks ago. The congregation got to church at about 10am yesterday for Sunday service only to see that Andrew and some “unknown” people had commenced the service.

This sprouted the anger of the members of the church as they chased pastor Andrew and his folks out of the church. Men from the Makinde police division, including the DPO, were said to have intervened after the incident was reported at the station. A member of the church and a former secretary to Andrew, Moses Sherima, said that the pastor sent his wife to her village when he impregnated Grace. He said:
“My room is opposite pastor’s apartment and I was his secretary. When he started dating that girl (Grace), I called his wife’s cousin, Favour, on the matter. She said Grace used to tell her whenever the pastor had sex with her. At a point, I had to move upstairs when I could no longer bear it. The day that abortion happened, I was sleeping inside my room when I heard Grace screaming. I rushed there and saw blood coming out from her private parts. When the wife came back from one of her numerous journeys, he told her to send Favour away.”
Another church member, John Komboroh, said the church was embarrassed by Andrew’s conduct, adding that they were tired of his leadership. He said:
“The petition of adultery against the pastor had been sent to the bishop at the Central Conference. He came here, but did not do anything about it. That was why we wrote to the main body, the Southern Conference to give us another pastor. His (Andrew’s) action is an embarrassment to us. We don’t want him again.”

The new pastor of the church, Reverend James Sunday, said:
“We were about to start our service this morning when we met the old pastor and some unknown people already holding the service. I calmed down my people to avoid chaos.”
Another resident and a female member, who identified herself only as Blessing, said the pastor had once made sexual advances to her.
“My husband is not always at home. The pastor would call me in the night and asked if I had slept. One day he entered my room and gave me a soft slap on my back. I had only the wrapper on me. I was surprised and told my neighbours.”

When contacted on the telephone around 1pm on Sunday, Andrew said he was in a meeting and promised to get back to The Punch on the incident. He told The Punch Metro that he was still at the meeting when he was called back around 5pm.
Meanwhile, a South African pastor, Pastor Peniel, is popularly known for a number of strange acts. He had fed his congregation live snake. He had turned human hair into food for the consumption of the church members.

He was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after feeding his congregants snake but he later released on bail and he said the South African police do not know who they are fighting.
Irate members of the EFF brigade had reportedly set the church ablaze about two weeks ago, vowing to feed Mnguni snakes and rodents, exactly as he had done to members of his ETDM church.

Source: https://www.naij.com/535549-pastor-converts-church-members-muslims-turns-church-mosque-photos.html

https://www.naij.com/535062-church-members-chase-lagos-pastor-pulpit-yesterday-photo.html