Whichever way we turn, in 2021 we were able to experience another year that tried to undermine mankind.
In the New Year, never forget to thank your past years because they enabled you to reach today! Without the stairs of the past, you cannot arrive at the future!
― Mehmet Murat ildan
It was already an understatement to say that 2020 swept us off our feet, 2021 gave us a run for our money. (Perhaps even literally as well figuratively)
100 years ago another virus had after that terrible Great War tried to reduce the population by large numbers as if that horrible 4 years of war was not sufficient. It had brought down mankind to its knees by a microscopic being. And as if it has to come back every century, we too could feel what it is when a dangerous disease spreads around like mad.
But like the previous 2 years, we could find lightbulbs burning in the darkness.
Set against a backdrop of human loss and misery, many could continue their journey that started off a year before. Several people found new opportunities in this time of malaise. We could see changes in people’s lifestyles, and it was as if man now, at last, gave some rest to nature, having lesser cars driving around. In any case, the Corona period proved beneficial to the environment, with pollution rates decreasing drastically.
Set against a backdrop of human loss and misery was a journey of discovery and realisation that many were just learning to undertake. It brought about a tremendous change in people’s lifestyles, perspectives and proved beneficial to the environment, with pollution rates decreasing drastically. Adoption of minimalistic living practices became the norm in view of the virus’ indefinite tenure. As death tolls rose in a staggering manner, people dwelled in a constant state of apprehension of what the future would bring….. {Dear 2020}
For many, 2021 was a difficult ride, but we all have grown and gotten through it, hopefully learning lessons and making memories in the process. And as you say, we also think, that’s something to be grateful for.
In the New Year, never forget to thank your past years because they enabled you to reach today! Without the stairs of the past, you cannot arrive at the future! ―Mehmet Murat ildan
Gosh, I’m almost certainly sure I’m going blind from all the screens. I keep wanting to say it is your fault. Is it?
I’m sorry – where are my manners?
Dear 2021,
I hope you’re well and the packing is going great. You have but mere minutes before you turn into yet another history chapter. Unlike your predecessor, you weren’t cruel or a fan of surprises but you were clever and cunning. This has been quite the rollercoaster of a year and well, to be honest – I’m not going to blame you for it. I was rather harsh towards 2020 now that I think about i,t and I feel terrible about it.
In 2012 several reports of scientists warned already for a coming epidemic and several natural disasters, as flooding, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute and the Global Challenges Foundation warned already several years ago that the human race was gravely threatened by out-of-control science. Science has already begun to reveal alarming unintended consequences across our planet. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, for example, still contains massive quantities of stored nuclear fuel rods — 85 times the radiation of the worst disaster in the history of nuclear power generation, 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe — and those rods are alarmingly vulnerable to an earthquake or repeat tsunami which could unleash another massive plume of radiation.
Bible students are not surprised at all, because the Book of books warns mankind of times to come and gives all the signals which mankind should come to recognise. Even when there may be several scientists who would deny global warming and the given signs from the Bible, believers in God do know God’s Plan shall be fulfilled.
Nuclear scientists had assured such disasters like Chrnobil or Fukushima could never happen, but look nowand be aware of the amount of kilometres “no go” zone it created for decades.. Just like the scientists said “GMOs are perfectly safe” or that Roundup herbicide or medical antibiotics will never cause any unintended negative side effects. (Widespread Roundup use has now resulted in the rise of superweeds, just as medical antibiotics use has resulted in the rise of deadly drug-resistant superbugs.) (http://naturalnews.com/033195_superweeds_far…)
We should be aware that humanity has already some years ago, reached a tipping point of developing technology so profound that it can destroy the human race; yet this rise of “science” has in no way been matched by a rise in consciousness or ethics. In the light of what happens today, citizens should be aware that there are scientific people who operate with total disregard for the future of life on Earth. Several scientists scoff at the idea of balancing scientific “progress” with caution, ethics or reasonable safeguards. Unbridled experiments like GMOs have unleashed self-replicating genetic pollution that now threatens the integrity of food crops around the world, potentially threatening the global food supply.
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, compiled already in 2012 a list of global risks with impacts that, for all practical purposes, can be called infinite. In this S.O.S. infographic he stated
“Technology without wisdom is suicide.”
and remarked:
brilliant scientists have obtained remarkable technical mastery but operate as hopeless infants in the realm of philosophy, ethics and wisdom.
Here’s the list of apocalyptic threats documented by Oxford scientists. Items in bold are ones he documented and published many years ago:
1. Global pandemic
2. Supervolcano 3. Artificial Intelligence 4. Extreme climate change
5. Synthetic biology
6. Asteroid impact 7. Ecological collapse 8. Nanotechnology 9. Nuclear war
10. Government collapse
11. Global economic collapse
His own list of apocalyptic threats posed by runaway science, as shown in the infographic below, was published as follows:
1. Nuclear power 2. Genetic pollution (ecological collapse) 3. Nanotechnology 4. Bioweapons (unleashing a global pandemic) 5. Atmospheric experiments (causing extreme weather) 6. Artificial intelligence
7. Particle accelerator physics experiments gone awry
8. Pollinator disruption chemicals (food supply collapse)
9. Weaponized vaccines (has already come true with covert infertility chemicals)
10. Antibiotics (rise of deadly superbugs)
11. Water pollution with deadly chemicals 12. Nuclear weapons
As you can see, the Oxford scientists left out of their list the risk of runaway superbugs caused by antibiotics, the risk of a food supply collapse caused by the loss of pollinators. Their inclusion of “ecological collapse” was focused more on pollution in general rather than genetic pollution caused by the unintended consequences of genetic engineering.
We at the Belgian Christadelphian office have passed a certain age, so that it would not be appropriate to walk on the street with a T-shirt. As elders, we tell the visitors in our churches about the task we as human beings have when living on this planet. We talk about our responsibility and the task God has given us. But we do know the majority of inhabitants of this planet are not believing in God and are mostly concerned about gaining as much money as possible, whatever the cost may be.
The last few months, lots of people were very worried about the Covid-pandemic, but for years there has been another big virus circling around us, which most people seem to ignore. Though for more than a decade, several of the Boom generation with the millennials and the Generation Z have been writing essays, articles and making posters for awareness about global warming and cried out into the world to save our planet. Because that planet is getting very ill. People have used and wasted earthly resources, if nothing. In our so-called ‘civilised’ countries most citizens were and are not concerned about the pollution they cause.
For us the time of publicly protesting and going on the streets, protesting for this and that, may be gone or not so appropriate.
But for young people, we would like to introduce some very interesting clothing and tote bags with a different angle. We are namely very concerned about the world where we and our children and grandchildren but also next generations have to live in. Therefore, we do find it five past twelve to call on all the responsible people to use their senses and to do something against the horrible state we have brought our planet. We cannot sit still and do if global warming does not exist.
Everybody can use his own voice to bring awareness to others. A T-shirt is a wearable message board that can pull the attention to our planet and to what we have to do about it. The world needs to change as we are currently hurtling towards climatic changes that will alter the way the planet is configured. This will certainly be to the detriment of humanity if not cause its extinction. Crazy you may say but 99.99% of all species that have ever lived have gone extinct so just because we can walk and talk and use a smart phone does not mean that we will not go the same way.
Scientists and philosophers don’t in general want to be celebrities but it is important that we listen to what they have to say because they offer the only way out of this current crisis. So enjoy our range and change the world at least in one tiny way, an environmentally friendly piece of clothing. {Scientist and Philosopher}
It is not bad to have a look at their products to make others aware of this dramatic situation.
> A collection to highlight the need for us all to stop and think. > Think
Man, created in the image of God, received the world to use it for the best and not the worst. The man had to take care of it, but has proven to make a mess of it.
All problems that come over man are created by man himself, him polluting his own living quarters and not respecting that what he has received in loan from His Creator, the God of heaven and earth.
Mother Earth cries for distress and signals that it is high time to do something to get better. Each individual has to take his or her own responsibility.
Let us not wait but take this pandemic to make a turnover and start to find a more respectful way of living for each living being.
Wouldn’t it be great if, along with learning from this world crisis how to take better care of ourselves, we also learned how to take better care of our world? {Earth Day Lockdown}
“Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and watch over it.” ~Genesis 2:15
As we return, post-lockdown, to the world around us, so does the pollution we create. If it is true, as some have said, that we ourselves are the disease (and there is truth in that), it’s also true that we hold the cure. But it seems those who focus habitually on what’s wrong with the world take little action to make things right with it, whether the world without or the world within, our souls. Yes, by all means, let us remove the toxins from the garden. But then let us go on to re-plant the garden.
“Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.” ~Henry David…
Not even night
brings relief from the heat.
What have we done
when pools boil
in lands where
forests have been slain?
Climates gone haywire
ice caps melting
waves of water wash
life away, pollution the norm.
What have we done?
Across the globe, people
gather to find solutions
to the destruction greed
has caused. Join their voice
start the change wherever you live.
Plant a tree, save water
stop buying that which
contributes to the loss
of this earth’s resources.
Each of us can make a difference.
The miraculous story of the near-indestructible giant trees that millions of Americans tell their children is no longer true.
In America they may be proud of their giant trees, but the inhabitants of that great space of wonders are also helping to destroy what is given to them in loan.
By all the pollution man has created our environment is crying for help.
For the first time in recorded history, tiny bark beetles emboldened by the climate crisis have started to kill giant sequoia trees, according to a joint National Park Service and US Geological Survey study set to be published later this year. Twenty-eight have gone since 2014. The combination of drought stress and fire damage appears to make the largest sequoias susceptible to deadly insect infestations that they would usually withstand.
California’s great drought took already care that lovely trees were enormously damaged. One of the 28 great trees which could not keep up though optimistically named Lazarus, was standing with proud in the Giant Forest in Sequoia national park, surrounded by other sequoias and a handful of cedars and pines that died with it in California’s great drought.
When Dr Christy Brigham, who is responsible for the welfare of the ecosystems in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, saw Lazarus for the first time, all she could do was weep.
“This is a tree that has lived through 2,000 years of fires, other droughts, wet years, dry years, hot years, cold years. It’s been here longer than Europeans have been in this country and it’s dead. And it shouldn’t be dead.
This is not how giant sequoias die. It’s suppose to stand there for another 500 years with all its needles on it, this quirky, persistent, impressive, amazing thing, and then fall over. It’s not supposed to have all of its needles fall off from the top to the bottom and then stand there like that. That’s not how giant sequoias die,”
she says, standing next to the skeletal Lazarus as the occasional tourist wanders past.
2000 year old Lazarus in 2020 a dead monarch sequoia, standing surrounded by a handful of cedars and pines that died in California’s great drought
We not only have the windows from our living quarters which may become dirty. Also our window on the world may become unclear because of the dust around us.
We should make sure that our window at the world is cleansed and that we can see further than the length of our nose.
Let us all dare to open a clean window to get some fresh air and to hear the birds singing their song, calling for attention and recognizance.
*
To remember
what is outside the window? = what is there in outside world?
window screen filters any noise of the living from inside out + outside in=> hear nothing => unanswered screams
I always wonder, what is outside the window? I can’t hear anything because the window screen filters any noise of the living from inside out and outside in. The unanswered screams, now I know them. In the distance I can see the clouds being populated and polluted with the smoke which gradually evaporates and fuses with the clear blue sky. The sky is a magnificent thing to watch. However long you gaze, all you get is the square piece to look out for. And again, I wonder – what is there in the outside world? Confined to this square box type room, I train my eyes through the window. The smoke keeps broadening like the spider’s web, invisible to the eyes of the prey. Before you reconcile, you will be taken to that chamber which performs the magic and converts you into the smoke, the one that is engulfed by…
In many countries certain animals are still being considered a threat for the population or for their food. Lots of people consider wild animals as a menace instead of looking for a way to live in harmony with them.
Central Asia knows their “ghosts of the mountains” which are killed by farmers in retaliation for attacks on livestock and 20% are trapped by snares set for other creatures. Another 20% are killed for the illegal fur trade, though pelts from snow leopards killed for other reasons are often sold on.
Poachers aren’t the main problem for the snow leopard – Munkhtogtokh Ochirjav, WWF Mongolia
Figure of 220-450 annual deaths could be even higher, as killings by poachers or farmers often go undetected in the remote mountains of central Asia
As few as 4,000 snow leopards are thought to remain in the mountains of central Asia. Photograph: Klaus Honal/Getty Images/age fotostock RM
Hundreds of snow leopards are being killed every year across the mountains of central Asia, threatening the already endangered big cat, according to a new report.
Numbers have fallen by a fifth in the last 16 years, making it that there are only an estimated 4,080-6,590 snow leopards in the wild, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because their population is suspected to have declined by 20% over the past 16 years in the 12 mountainous Asian countries they inhabit.
Rishi Sharma, leader of wildlife charity WWF’s snow leopard programme and co-author of the global wildlife trade monitoring network non-governmental organisation Traffic says
“It’s a completely new insight, and provides a very important point for discussion on how to ensure snow leopards are protected.”
She warns
“More than half the killing is not for illegal trade as such, so as long as we don’t address these issues affecting local communities, it will continue.”
But between 220 and 450 are killed each year, found the report from , the wildlife trade monitoring network, published on Friday ahead of a meeting on the crisis at the UN in New York. The number could be much higher, the NGO warned, as killings in remote mountain areas often go undetected.
WWF works to reduce human-leopard conflict, increase anti-poaching efforts, and protect the fragile snow leopard habitat.
The snow leopards have evolved to live in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. They scale the great, steep slopes of mountains in Central Asia,including the Himalayan Mountains, with ease, blending into the landscape. But these majestic, endangered cats face many threats including habitat loss from climate change, reduced prey, poaching, and retaliatory killings.
Pelts are sold by both hunters and herders – Tessa McGregor
Skins being the main Snow Leopard product type in trade (78%), the primary motive for
buyers appears to be for display, with some observations of skins hanging on walls in homes and
restaurants, as well as stuffed taxidermy specimens.
Priced in the thousands of US dollars, skins have been described as a “symbol of wealth and power.” However, there probably exists very little in the way of a definable consumer segment deliberately seeking out such items. They are most likely
purchased opportunistically – “impulse buys” – and most consumers probably only buy one in their lifetime. Once in a home, the illegal possession has very low probability of detection, and moreover law enforcement authorities may be reluctant to investigate in such situations. The purchase itself also has a low probability of detection, as indicated by the sharp decline in observed numbers of Snow Leopard skins being offered for sale. While growing personal wealth in Asia has been highlighted as a primary driver of illegal wildlife trade, poverty is also recognized as a driver, and the Snow Leopard trade may be more driven by rural people in Snow Leopard habitat attempting to make money and make up for livestock losses to predators than by wealthy people placing orders for luxury household decorations. Unlike the demand-driven Tiger trade (Annex 2), to which it otherwise bears many similarities, the market for Snow Leopards may be more a function of supply, and actions should focus on the communities living near Snow Leopards to reduce incentives to poach and sell. This notion is reflected in the aphorism behind the title of this report: an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Preventing livestock losses, offsetting the costs of losses and improving community support for Snow Leopard conservation are the most important approaches to tackling the problem of Snow Leopard trafficking.
Snow leopards their thick grey and yellow-tinged fur, with solid spots on their head, neck and lower limbs and rosettes over the rest of the body attracts many women, who love to wear that warm skin. for the design they should know there are other alternatives with modern syntheticyarn. The natural breathing warmth, we do agree can not yet be brought by the synthetic material, but here in the West such deep warmth is not necessary because it doe snot get so cold.
Argali (Ovis ammon), the largest living wild sheep, native to the highlands of Central Asia. Argali is a Mongolian word for “ram.” There are eight subspecies of argali. {Encyclopaedia Britannica}
These beautiful wild cats are known as the “ghost of the mountains” because of their solitary and elusive nature. Since it is so rare to see two snow leopards together, there actually is no term for a group of snow leopards. They are capable of killing prey up to three times their own weight and eat blue sheep, Argali wild sheep, ibex, marmots, pikas, deer and other small mammals. The animals which snow leopards typically hunt — such as the Argali sheep — are also hunted by local communities.
Lots of people do forget that it is often by their own actions that wild animals come closer to the human habitat or come to find food by people. In Central Asia like in other parts of the world wild animals their natural prey becomes harder to find because man over-hunting. Snow leopards are often forced to kill livestock for survival, in many cases leading to retaliatory killings of snow leopards by local farmers or herders.
Machhapuchhare, a peak in the Great Himalaya Range, north-central Nepal.
Hunting, habitat loss, retaliatory killings, poaching and climate change are the biggest threats that snow leopards face. Snow leopard habitat range continues to decline from human settlement and increased use of grazing space. An other factor where humans are the cause of the disturbance in nature is pollution and climate change. Climate change poses perhaps the greatest long-term threat to snow leopards. Impacts from climate change could result in a loss of up to 30% of the snow leopard habitat in the Himalayas alone.
It is not because we are living far away from their habitat we can not do anything to help those endangered species.
People all over the world could let their voice been heard. They could ask governments in the 12 countries across the leopard’s range to increase the funds available to compensate herders whose animals are killed and to educate them, showing good ways of keeping nature in balance. all over the world people could help to build up funds to protect the animals and to help the population to receive extra materials to strengthen the pens, or corrals, where they keep their animals at night.
Focusing on herders – the bedrock of the local economy – also makes sense in regions where it is hard for rangers to protect leopards.
“These are very remote areas, so getting information on what’s going on and enforcement is very difficult,”
says Sharma.
“That’s why we need to focus more on community-based models, not just enforcement.”
Snow leopards play a key role as both top predator and as an indicator of the health of their high-altitude habitat. If snow leopards thrive, so will countless other species.
WWF’s work focuses on reducing human-leopard conflict and rural development, education for sustainable development, stopping mining in fragile snow leopard habitat, and the control of illegal wildlife trade. WWF also works with local communities to curb retaliatory kills by providing innovative solutions to mitigate human-snow leopard conflict.
You can support WWF (WWF Europe) which works with local people and supports research and habitat conservation projects to protect these beautiful cats throughout their range.
Make a symbolic snow leopard adoption to help save some of the world’s most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF’s conservation efforts. In Belgium you may deduct your contribution from your income and for the adoption of an animal you can give once whatever you like or contribute a certain amount monthly.
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Save Europe’s nature
The EU Nature Directives protect over 26,000 nature areas and 1,000 species. They are under scrutiny since October 2013, when European Commission announced the fitness check. Here’s what is at stake
In the early 1860s, Gregor Mendel developed the concept of the gene to help explain results obtained while crossbreeding strains of garden peas. He identified physical characteristics (phenotypes), such as plant height and seed color, that could be passed on, unchanged, from one generation to the next. The hereditary factor that predicted the phenotype was termed a “gene.” Mendel hypothesized that genes were inherited in pairs, one from the male and one from the female parent. Plants that bred true (homozygotes) had inherited identical genes from their parents, whereas plants that did not breed true (hybrids, or heterozygotes) inherited alternative copies of the genes (alleles) from one parent that were similar, but not identical, to those from the other parent. {Encyclopedia, topic Genes} When you know that we have about 140,000 genes which instruct the body’s cells to put amino acids in the right sequence in order to build proteins, you might wonder how this all was provided in the first instance.
One type of light therapy lamp for classic (winter-based) seasonal affective disorder
After the “Majestic darkness”, the “Mörketid,” or the time when the sun does not rise at all in northern Norway the Northern Europeans may see light coming up the horizon. For two months, only a gray-red twilight glow was visible for a few hours at noontime. Having 21.2 percent of Norwegians living beyond the polar circle suffering from Winterdepression they now may come back to life. Some looked for their therapeutic ‘sunlights’. The fresh light shall have the melatonin, a hormone produced in the brain, to increase again. They do know that an increasing number of tourists, however, are enticed to the polar circle by the flickering aurora, the glistening of the snow in the moonlight, and the cozy light of scattered villages. Also for them it are wonders of nature.
In Winter the social activities could have helped to keep people enjoying life. According to a Harvard University study, elderly people who participate in social activities, such as going to church, restaurants, sports events, and movies, live an average of two and a half years longer than less social people. It has long been assumed that it was the physical part of such activities that helped people, said Harvard’s Thomas Glass, who led the study. However, he added that this study provides
“perhaps the strongest circumstantial evidence we’ve had to date that having a meaningful purpose at the end of life lengthens life.”
Glass noted that doing more, regardless of the activity, extended life in almost every case.
With warmer weather awaited and the days becoming longer we should look forward to more outdoor activities which shall give us more fresh and hopefully better air. Though we do have to think seriously about preserving that fresh air and doing much more against the pollution.
TV watching may come in second to relax, after listening to music (according to a study of 2000), people should find more leisure in going to do outdoors leisure activities and socialising more. In this system of things throughout Europe more and more people are feeling pressed for time, reported in 1999 the German newspaperGießener Allgemeine. The same is true whether people are working outside the home, doing housework, or enjoying leisuretime.
“People sleep less, eat faster, and feel more rushed on the job than 40 years ago,”
says sociologist Manfred Garhammer, of Bamberg University.Part of that sleeping less is brought on by watching more television which is recently pushed more in the background by the youngsters who are spending lots of times on social media. Though they seem to accumulate lots of friends on them, they seem to be more lonely and prone depression than some years ago. We also hear of many more borderline personality disorders and eating disorders and broken families which do not help to have some good relations or making people happy.
The second decade of this century daily life continued to accelerate in all the European nations. You would think labour saving household devices and a reduction in hours at work would have brought about any “leisure society” or “time prosperity.” Instead, on average, time for meals has been reduced by 20 minutes and for a night’s rest by 40 minutes and people take less time to look at the beauties around them. The magic of nature, plants growing, animals going around, all seems to pass their eyes unnoticed.
In case they would give it more attention they not only would enjoy life much more but they also would come to see that all that vibrant exuberant activity is marvellously orchestrated and that there is a Master Brain behind it.
Lifestyle and Readers Digest Magazine founded by Marcus Ampe on the 26th of March 2014
Translate – Vertaal – Traduction
Welcome
New to this site. You may like to read this first
If this is your first time you visit us, you might like to know about our aims and intentions.
This site does not want to be a specific religious site, though now and then religious articles may be presented. The main interest on this site is about worldly matters, social affairs and the behaviour of human beings in this universe.
Our aim is to bring first articles about our responsibility in the progress of human relations and peace involvement.
Please find to read about our aims and aspirations:
Messengers of Peace and Positivism – Boodschappers van Vrede en Positivisme
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Club members their own blog-writings – Clubleden hun eigen persoonlijke blogs
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Most club members "From guestwriters" do not have their own blog, but shall write under their own name as "Guestspeaker" on the Lifestyle magazine Stepping Toes.
Those who do have their own website can be looked at underneath:
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Van de schrijvers die een eigen blog hebben kan u op hun site als laatste artikels vinden:
Recent Posts on the other Lifestyle Magazine: Stepping Toes
Event Turkey has broken Nato unity on Finland and Sweden’s push to join the alliance, blocking an initial vote on accession after President Erdogan demanded that the two countries hand over dozens of Turkish exiles he accused of “terrorism”. The veto came hours after Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary-general, hailed a historic moment for western […]
The Times, May 2, 2022 Event Ukraine, one of the most fertile and productive countries in the world, has been known historically as the “bread basket of Europe”. Now it is facing a complex and unprecedented agricultural crisis, in which landmines are only one of numerous interlinked problems. The United Nations estimates this year’s harvest […]
BBC, April 22 + Audit of antisemitic incidents Event The number of anti-Semitic incidents around the world dramatically increased last year, a study by Tel Aviv University has found. The report identifies the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia as among countries where there was a sharp rise. This was fueled by radical left- […]
The Times, April 16 Russia’s setbacks could prompt President Putin to use tactical nuclear weapons, William Burns, the CIA director, has said. Moscow has a stockpile of about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, also known as low-yield or battlefield munitions, that can be deployed by air, sea or artillery. These are generally less potent than the […]
Event: The United Nations general assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the human rights council after images of atrocities apparently showing civilians left dead in the streets with their hands bound emerged following Russian troops’ withdrawal from around Kyiv. The call for Russia’s removal from the UN’s top human rights body was led by […]
Originally posted on Seeking Redemption: To those now deep into biblical scripture you are probably aware of the difference between reading the bible and meditating on the world. Naturally, like many young Christians, I had assumed that once you read the bible, and you knew God’s words and it was enough. But I kept hearing…
Originally posted on EttingerWriting.com: By David Ettinger A Fruitful DiscussionI recently had a nice discussion with a blogging friend regarding the Bible version I use. This fruitful dialogue led to this post, which won’t analyze the many English versions of the Bible, but serve merely as my commentary on the issue. This is one…
“The Bible is indeed the greatest book ever written. It has shaped the cultures of the world in countless ways, and it contains the words of everlasting life. But for so many today, it is largely opaque, indecipherable – at best a puzzling text from a prescientific age.” Bishop Robert Barron, The Word on […]
We admit that the Bible is not easy for everyone to follow. But usually, this is because the person does not believe in himself enough and is too much weighed down by entrenched human doctrines or dogmas that obscure the Biblical text.
The inability of Christians to grasp the meaning and message of both Genesis and Revelation create a great divide in America. Christians struggle with both the beginning and culmination of the Scriptures — the Alpha and the Omega as they might be called. Both Genesis and Revelation bring a lot of baggage with them to […]
Thoughts by and a Look at the world by Marcus Ampe on: Marcus Ampe's Space
Wie een sociale woning wil huren, zal vanaf 2024 de afschriften van zijn of haar bankrekeningen moeten laten zien. Wie te veel op zijn rekeningen heeft staan, krijgt geen sociale woning.
In the face of the despicable attack on a major department store, we cannot help but wonder how long the international community will stand by and watch all those war crimes that Russia continues to commit with impunity.
Bij de verachtelijke aanval op een groot warenhuis kunnen wij niet nalaten ons af te vragen hoe lang de Internationale gemeenschap zal toezien op al die oorlogsmisdaden die Rusland ongestraft blijft uitvoeren.
Beginning of the end for Boris Johnson Incredible, after all the lies and absurdities, the Tories in the UK still did not need it necessary for their clown to step down. The Tory leader, who has undermined British values by “downgrading, debasing and demeaning” the standards expected of ministers in public life, survived a confidence […]
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the symbols of the capitalist states were able to conquer Russian territory. In the big cities, those marks appeared in Russia that we can find in every city in Europe. It was the CEO of McDonald’s Canada, American-Canadian citizen George Cohon, […]
2022 May 16 On the 30th of April Russian forces pressed the attack in eastern Ukraine on Saturday April 30, but failed to capture their three main objectives, the Ukrainian military said. Per the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, the Russians were attempting to capture the city of Lyman in the Donetsk Oblast and […]
2022, May 16 Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the West took measures to get Russia on its knees to stop the war. Though for the European Union, a blockade on shipments of Russian oil looked a distant possibility just two months ago. But there were many voices that uttered it would be best that Europe made […]
An other look at the world by Marcus Ampe on: Some View on the World
In many American churches, evangelists preach about burning in hell and make people afraid that if they don’t give enough to God (read church) they will suffer, while otherwise happiness will smile on them.
Originally posted on 21centurymanifesto: HOW THE EU IS STRUCTURED TO SUPPORT BIG BUSINESS To understand the EU’s neo-liberal character and why it enforces austerity so rigorously, we have to go back to the Single European Act of 1986. This set the legal framework for the EU as it exists today.? The drafters of this…
From Jan. 6 Capitol riot committee hearings and Republicans exploring possible bids for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination throwing their hats in the ring even if former President Donald Trump runs, gun-control rallies across the U.S., The Week looking at flooding in Yellowstone and the disappearance of British journalist Don Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in a part of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest near the borders with Colombia and Peru.
The triumph of Jesus points the way to victory in the lives of all those who follow him. We do not require the extreme rigours of the wilderness to tempt us to make stones into bread. Most men live by bread alone, and do not discover until too late that all is vanity and vexation […]
What if we shut up the bowels of our compassion towards those who suffer? What if with plenty in our hands, we think only of our own need, and our own comfort, and our schemes are shaped and burdened only and continually with our own cares and our own interests? What if we never help […]
Elements of the Tabernacle to be reared up upon earth, for the glory of God, will be supplied from the ranks of Adam’s descendants in conformity with the divine specifications.
If there is one thing people like to talk about in England and Belgium, it’s the weather! As we approach the Summer Holidays there are those who want sunny days for their holiday, and farmers who want rain for their crops. There are those who dislike the heat and long for cooler days, and those […]
In this world where there is more attention given to finances in the Eurozone and the Common Market we find more people loving money and turning away from belief in the true God as at Babel; more believing there is no God, no creator at all to whom they owe their lives.
Recent Posts by the Brethren in Christ: Broeders in Christus
Event Western allies must avoid provoking “thin-skinned” President Putin who now has a “messianic obsession” with Russian greatness, a former Nato secretary general has said. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, who led the alliance between 1999 and 2003, said Britain and other nations should be careful with their language because the Russian leader now has […]
Doorheen de tijden hebben heel wat mensen hun toevlucht genomen tot gebeden om uit bepaalde situaties te komen of om voor anderen te bidden zodat hun lijden tot een einde zou mogen komen. Als we terugkijken naar de jonge kerk in Jeruzalem, dan was hun reputatie niet alleen het breken van het brood en de […]
When we look back at the infant church in Jerusalem, their reputation was not only for breaking bread, and the Apostles’ doctrine, but for prayer. They were a community that prayed often. They prayed individually. They prayed in meetings together. They prayed in the Temple. They saw prayer as a way to serve others, like […]
Er zijn heel wat mensen die beweren gelovig te zijn. Maar in wat en wie geloven zij? Er zijn heel wat Christenen die beweren in God te geloven. Maar als wij navraag doen over hun god, komen wij te horen dat zij in een heel andere god geloven dan in de God van de Bijbel. […]
Nothing ever goes smoothly, it seems. Or if something does it’s almost a shock. Our culture has a name for it: Murphy’s Law. No point in going into all the ways it shows up in daily living. But it might be worth thinking about it in a spiritual context. Head for your Bible, and the […]
Sommigen nemen aan dat Gods Koninkrijk geen wereldomvattend Vrederijk is maar eerder een geestelijke toestand in het hart van de vromen zou zijn. Voor hetzelfde woord vindt men zowel de vertaling “koninkrijk” als “koningschap” waarbij het Koninkrijk door zijn omvangrijkheid overal te merken zal zijn en terugslaat op het Vrederijk van Christus Jezus.
Uit de spreukachtige gezegden die Jezus gebruikt tijdens zijn bergrede blijkt hoe de ene uitspraak slechts één kant van een zaak belicht terwijl een andere betrekking heeft op een ander aspect hiervan.
In Jezus tijd was mondelinge overlevering heel belangrijk. Daarom gebruikte Jezus als leerkracht spreekvormen die het makkelijker maakten om het gezegde te onthouden, zoals bijvoorbeeld een spreukachtige taal.
Bible prophecies do not deal only with the ancient past. They also accurately foretell events that are taking place in our day. But at the moment we focus at numerous prophecies preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures (commonly called the Old Testament) which long before the man was born told about events which would happen in his time and around him, his betrayal, humiliation, torture, execution, death, and burial. From those writings of the Old and New Testament nobody should have doubts who that man is who is called Immanuel, the son of man and Messiah, born out of the root of Jess in the tribe of king David.
In Scripture, all things are directed towards a man who was a servant of servants, in whom people should come to have faith. First we saw the connection with Eve and her seed, and in this article you may see the connection with Abraham.
Already in the Old Testament we find the focus on a son of man who is called the son of God, who shall be the most pure set apart (holy) servant of God who was been told about in the Garden of Eden, to be the one bruised.
Many Old Testament writers wrote about the prophet to come, about whom is spoke in the book of Moses and who shall be the special “Seed of a woman” given by God and who will bruise Satan’s head whilst his heel would be bruised with nails on the wooden stake.
Jewish and Christian literature since the time of Yeshua or Jeshua have pointed to Genesis 3:15 as the first reference to the Messiah in the Torah. Genesis 3:15 NHEBJE I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his […]
Recent Posts: Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Luke 1:26-38 – Gabriel’s Appearance to Mary LK1:26 Now in Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the village of Galilee called Nazareth, LK1:27 to a virgin[1] [Isaiah 7:14] promised in marriage to a man named Joseph of David’s House. And the name of the virgin was Mary.[2] LK1:28 […]
Luke 1:23-25 – Elizabeth Pregnant LK1:23 Now it came to pass that when Zechariah’s priestly service was finished[1] he left to his own house. LK1:24 During those days his wife Elizabeth did conceive and for five months she kept it hidden, saying, LK1:25 “This is how YHWH has dealt with me during these days when […]
Luke 1:18-22 – Struck Dumb For Disbelief LK1:18 Now Zechariah said to the angel: “How can I be sure of this?[1] For I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”[2] LK1:19 Then the angel answered him: “I am Gabriel[3] who stands in the very presence of The God![4] I was […]
Luke 1:8-17 – An Angel Appears to a Priest LK1:8 Now [something] happened while Zechariah was serving as priest before The God when it was the turn for his [priestly] division. LK1:9 Then according to the ritual of the priesthood it was his turn to burn incense[1] when he entered the temple of the LORD. […]
Luke 1:5-7 – Zechariah and Elizabeth LK1:5 In the days of Herod,[1] king of Judea, there happened to be a certain priest named Zechariah[2] out of the [priestly] division of Abijah,[3] as well as his wife named Elizabeth[4] from the daughters of Aaron. LK1:6 Now they were both righteous before The God, walking blamelessly in […]
Recent Posts by bible Scholars: Bijbelvorser = Bible Researcher
Today we come to one of the most important figures of Jewish literature of the medieval period, the Jewish philosopher, jurist, and physician Maimonides often better known as Rambam.
The French school of the 11th century was hardly less important. Gershom ben Judah, the “Light of the Exile” (d. in 1040 at Mainz), a famous Talmudist and commentator, his pupil Jacob ben Yaqar, and Moses of Narbonne, called ha-Darshan, the “Exegete,” were the forerunners of the greatest of all Jewish commentators, Solomon ben Isaac […]
The aim of the grammatical studies of the Spanish school was ultimately exegesis. This had already been cultivated in the East. In the 9th century Ḥīvī of Balkh wrote a rationalistic treatise [A fragment of such a work, probably emanating from the school of Ḥīvī was found by Schechter and published in J.Q.R., xiii. 345 […]
Medieval scholarship To return to the period of the Geōnīm. While the schools of Babylonia were flourishing as the religious head of Judaism, the West, and especially Spain under Moorish rule, was becoming the home of Jewish scholarship. On the breaking up of the schools many of the fugitives fled to the West and helped […]
First of all to come to a good relationship with some one, one has to talk with that person and has to listen to what that person has to tell. God talks to the people by the way of His Word, presented to mankind by the many Bible translations, so that most people can read […]
The One Who created everything and Who gave His Word, did all He did with a purpose and out of love. The Bible teaches us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Everything God does is motivated by love. Out of love created man in His image also with the intention to have a good relationship […]
In the previous writings we saw that the Divine Creator gave His Word to the world so that people could come to know Him. The Bible is a gift from God. It gives us information that we can’t find anywhere else. For example, it tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and the […]
You don’t need a religion to do soul management, but having a sacred calendar certainly helps. Far from being an endless list of tasks, the Torah itself is a blueprint for management.Judaism, and especially Leviticus, wants us to build a civilization that prioritizes the parts of us that make us most human – our fragility, […]
The British four-part television drama Ridley Road which premiered on BBC One on 3 October 2021 can now also be seen on PBS. The mini-series Ridley Road is set in the East End of London in the early 1960s and follows the story of a Jewish woman who infiltrates the ranks of the neo-Nazis, posing […]
Originally posted on SRQ Jew: We humans live with one foot firmly in the physical world, and yet we have an inexplicable urge to dip a toe in the spiritual world. However strong or tentative that impulse may be, we all have our moments when we long to transcend our physical being and soar. Where…
Originally posted on Walking the Bridge Books: Isaac said, Let’s speak about the water of life. Water comes in several forms. But it is still and always Water, just as the One is always One. Water can be ice, liquid or steam. Consider that ice is form; water could represent consciousness; steam represents awareness. We…
2022 May 20 Event A Russian counter-attack on Israeli forces in Syria has raised fears of a potential escalation to the conflict, with experts fearing a similar provocation “within days”. This week, Russia launched missiles on Israeli jets that had flown over Syria and struck targets north of Damascus. Several casualties were reported and the Syrian army returned fire […]
Forbes, April 28, 2022 Event Quite a few billionaires born in Russia have taken advantage of the “Law of Return,” otherwise known as “Aliyah,” which grants automatic entry and passports to any Jew, or anyone who can prove they have at least one Jewish grandparent. According to Forbes’ research, more than 40% of the 111 Russian-born billionaires […]
The feeling that their own nation is sacred and should be protected against outside forces makes people choose right-wing politicians who promise them an ideal flourishing prosperous nation
Met Rosj Hasjana denken wij aan de wondere scheppingsdaad van de Allerhoogste. Spijtig genoeg moeten wij toegeven dat de mensheid van die schepping een janboel heeft gemaakt.
Door de eeuwen heen zijn er steeds mensen geweest die inzagen hoe alles rondom hen mogelijk was en hoe er geloof kon gesteld worden in Die Maker van alle dingen en hoe ze Hem als het ware als een schild en toevluchtsoord konden gebruiken.
In en met hun geloof durfden zij te spreken over hun geloof en wat de wereld mocht verwachten in toekomende tijden.
Telkens als er een dag voor je ligt moet je deze nemen alsof het de laatste dag van je leven is. En daar moet je dan van genieten en sterk maken dat je Leeft!
When having many questions an interesting blog to look at: their old and more recent Posts: Questiontime - Vragenuurtje
Does one need proof to come to a certain belief? We can look at the signs in nature and find out what happened to certain people in the past, such as Noah and Paul. With the Book of Books, Allah has provided the world with His Interpretative Word.
Heeft men bewijzen nodig om tot een bepaald geloof te komen? Wij kunnen naar de tekenen in de natuur kijken en nagaan wat er in het verleden met bepaalde mensen, zoals Noach en Paulus is gebeurd. Met het Boek der boeken heeft Allah de wereld van Zijn Alzeggend Woord voorzien.
When we speak about “Faith” (iman) we look at acceptance of the Belief in the existence and oneness of God (Allah).and the existence of the Book of books of which God is the author, existing of five main parts, the Torah (revealed to Moses),,the Psalms (revealed to David).and the Writings of Kings and prophets as well as the Gospel (revealed to Jesus) with the writings of his apostles,
Wanneer wij over “Geloof” (iman) spreken, zien wij op de aanvaarding van het Geloof in het bestaan en de eenheid van God (Allah) en het bestaan van het Boek der boeken waarvan God de auteur is, bestaande uit vijf hoofdstukken, de Torah (geopenbaard aan Mozes), de Psalmen (geopenbaard aan David) en de Geschriften van Koningen en Profeten, alsmede het Evangelie (geopenbaard aan Jezus) met de geschriften van zijn apostelen,
One may wonder in which or what kind of god people want to believe. It is striking that many people like to have a certain form of mystery around their deity and therefore do not choose the God Who pours clear wine and sends very reliable Words to earth.
Recent Posts: Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
The apostle Paul wrote about the dispersion, the dispersed House of Israel. They had been “without covenant“, but Paul was sent out to recover them. So they were “grafted in again“ (Romans 11/23). Or, Grafted back in“. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been […]
Rob Mac wonders when the door to door will return? He wrote this a while back, and went sharing it again. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses hate the door to door ministry, although they won’t readily admit it. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have developed ‘creative’ ways of counting their time doing this work, and many strategies for avoiding actually […]
Constantine wanted unity in his realm, and his call in 325 C.E. for a council of his bishops at Nicaea, located in the Eastern, Greek-speaking domain of his empire, across the Bosporus from the new city of Constantinople was in a certain way his goal to achieve some agreement by which many could live. Constantine […]
Superstition, misunderstanding and hatred caused the Christians trouble for many generations, and governmental repression they had to suffer occasionally, as a result of popular disturbances. No systematic effort was made by the imperial authorities to put an end to the movement until the reign of the Roman emperor (249–251) who fought the Gothic invasion of […]
Self-enhancing When the apostles had died there came a time when those in charge of teaching and going around telling about the gospel, started coming to see themselves as special people. Some even started to consider themselves as ‘clergy of the highest order’. After a time the organisation of the church was given only to […]
die stil man (5 jaar terug) dit is my stapmaat en ons oefen vir die Camino as ons ses-uur op ‘n Saterdag-oggend begin stap dan loop hy voor en vinnig sy vuiste gebal van al die spanning genade, sê almal hierdie man praat nie ‘n woord nie, hoe hou jy dit? dan sê ek nee, […]
Ek kry die boksie as my afskeidsgeskenk, binne-in drie vouchers vir drie kunsklasse. Ek weet dadelik wat ek wil verf en wag geduldig vir tyd om oop te val. Ek bel Svetlana en bespreek drie oggend-sessies, in een week. I’ve been waiting for your call, sê sy. Can you paint? the world will tell you […]
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Biblestudents – Bijbelstudenten
A Google Site presenting the Biblestudents with articles in English and Dutch – Voorstelling van de Bijbelstudenten met artikelen in het Nederlands en Engels
Christen Focus
Vanuit de Bijbelonderzoekers oogpunt kijkend waarop de mens hoorrt te focussen
Getuigen voor Christus
Tegenover de Getuigen van Jehovah zijn er ook de Getuigen voor Christus die Getuigenis afleggen voor Christus en zijn God Jehovah.
Relating to God wordPress Blog
Proving there is Only One True God which should be honoured and followed and how we can come in a better relationship with Him by following His only begotten son Jesus Christ as the Way to God.
Unmasking anti-Jehovah people
Debunking all the false sayings of those who fight against non-trinitarian groups and people
Blogroll
Hoop tot leven
Platform van Marcus Ampe voor hulpverlening en hoop geving
Christadelphian
Belgian Christadelphians
Google site with articles in English from the Belgian Brothers in Christ or Christadelphians
C4All
Christ For All – Presenting ways to find Christ in your life
C4U – Christ for you & Christadelphians for you
Site of Brothers and Sisters in Christ, who love the Creator and His creations and want people to show who is the way to Him and to His Kingdom where there shall be peace for ever.
Our World
News and thoughts about what is happening in the world, brought by the Free Christian Marcus Ampe. – Een kijk op het wereldgebeuren vanuit het standpunt van de Vrije Christen Marcus Ampe
Relating to God wordPress Blog
Proving there is Only One True God which should be honoured and followed and how we can come in a better relationship with Him by following His only begotten son Jesus Christ as the Way to God.
Immanuel Verbondskind
A site where issues of Judaism, Christianity, Islamism, their search for continued authenticity and relevance for today are discussed and looked at the position of the Jeshuaist community wrestling with the non- or anti-religious world
Jeshuaisme
Het Jeshuaisme brengt volgers van de Nazareense rebbe Jeshua (door velen beter gekend als Jezus Christus) te samen en verenigd Jehudiem (Jehoediem) of Joden zowel als goyim of niet-Joden en doet een oproep naar alle soort gelovigen en niet-gelovigen om Je
Jeshuaist
Personal pages of a Flemish Jeshua-ist – Persoonlijke paginas van een Vlaamse Jeshuaist
Jeshuaist communities
A community of real followers of Christ, assembling for sharing the Good News of the works of the Moshiach Jeshua and his heavenly Father the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.
Jeshuaist Focus
Uiteenzetting hoe eenieder tot het Volk kan behoren dat het Koninkrijk van god zal mogen binnentreden
Jeshuaisten – Jeshuaists
Een plaats van en voor liefhebbers van de Joodse Nazarener rabbi Jeshua om het bijbelkennis te versterken. – A site of and for lovers of the Nazarene Jewish rabbi Jeshua to strengthen their knowledge of the Scriptures.
Jeshuaists (or Yeshuaists)
Jeshuaists (or Yeshuaists) are followers of the Nazarene rebbe Jeshua who presented himself as a sent one from the Adonai Most High Elohim, Hashem Jehovah.
Jeshuaists for Jehovah
Followers of the Nazarene rebbe Jeshua witnessing for him and his God, the Only True God of Isrrael, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.
Our World
News and thoughts about what is happening in the world, brought by the Free Christian Marcus Ampe. – Een kijk op het wereldgebeuren vanuit het standpunt van de Vrije Christen Marcus Ampe
Some View on the world
Marcus Ampe presenting general and religious newsitems. – Wereldse en religieuze nieuwsfeiten bekeken onder de loep van Marcus Ampe.
Stepping Toes
A Lifestyle magazine which can be for some a provocative site created by Marcus Ampe