Chapter 1 from "Where is America in Bible Prophecy?"
Thursday, July 28, 2016
‘Clinton as bad as Trump’ say Bernie backers
Protesting outside of Philadelphia’s City Hall on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, Bernie Sanders supporters were clear–they’re not giving up on their candidate or his ideas.
Many were angry and frustrated at the prospect of having to choose between Republican nominee Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Many said they would vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein to avoid having to vote for Mrs Clinton.
Amid chants of “Hell no Hillary” and “Feel the Bern”, the Sanders faithful told us they were still fighting for Mr Sanders because politics in the US has to change, and it will not change without their efforts.
For his own part, Mr Sanders has urged his supporters to vote for Clinton, but was booed for saying so during the first day of the convention.
Sue Kirby from Massachusetts, who made a paper-mache Bernie doll herself, said Mrs Clinton is “just part of the establishment”.
“She’s a symbol of the people who have been running this country for the last 30 to 40 years,” she said.
Asked what she would do if the ballot came down to Clinton vs Trump, she said she was “getting upset” that she keeps being asked that. In the coming days leading up to the election, she said she is going to focus on making sure her local representative in Massachusetts votes against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“No matter who the president is, that’s going to make a difference,” she said. “We’ve got to stick together and keep building our network.”
Corey Smith from Colorado said he is dissatisfied with both Mrs Clinton and the Democratic Party.
“From the beginning we thought it was unfair… I don’t want to vote for a candidate that doesn’t listen to the people’s interests,” he said, and that the recent Wikileaks hack of Democratic National Committee emails showing favouritism to Mrs Clinton proved his suspicions that the nomination was rigged.
He still holds out hope for a contested convention, but faced with a Clinton vs Trump ballot, he said he will not vote for either of them.
“A vote for Hillary is a vote for Trump and a vote for Trump is a vote for Trump,” he said.
“I’m not going to pick between the lesser of two evils… With Trump, there are a lot of bad things that can happen with his presidency, but her record shows that she’s already done bad things, so it’s kind of picking between somebody who has done them and somebody who might do them.”
Ten-year-old Max Inoue from New York, who’s following a political campaign for the first time, said he’s in Philadelphia to support Bernie Sanders “because he needs us”.
Max’s mother Mari said she would vote for Green party candidate Jill Stein, but she is still hoping there is a way Mr Sanders can run.
Of Mrs Clinton, Mrs Inoue said: “She supports war and we should not continue to support perpetual war.
“We should be investing in education and infrastructure, and healthcare.”
“We’re here to support Bernie Sanders and show the DNC we know what they have been up to,” said Taylor Baker of West Virginia.
She said it is “absolutely not fair” that Mrs Clinton was able to “rig herself in as the nominee” and it makes her feel like her vote does not matter.
“As long as she has the election rigged, there’s no democracy in that, no America in that.”
Ms Baker said she does not like Mrs Clinton because she’s a “fake feminist” and a “liar”.
Mr Camacho said Sanders supporters would not be to blame if Mr Trump wins the presidency.
“Hillary became the nominee with the DNC helping her the whole time, so I don’t think she needs our help,” he said.
“It’s just a matter of finally feeling like we’re being heard, and I don’t think anybody here feels like anybody is listening to us.”
Ms Baker agreed: “We shouldn’t be fear-mongered into voting for somebody that’s equally as horrible.”
Erdogan is Strengthened by the Failed Coup, But Turkey is the Loser
The failed military coup is a disaster for Turkey, but its success would have been a far greater calamity. If the plotters had killed or captured President Recep Tayyip Erdogan then other parts of the armed forces might have joined them, but a civil war would have been inevitable as the security forces split and Erdogan’s supporters fought back.
The disaster is that it will now be much more difficult for Turks to resist Erdogan establishing a monopoly of power. By resisting the coup as the leader of a democratically-elected government, he has enhanced his legitimacy. Moreover, all opposition to his rule can be labelled as support for terrorism and punished as such.
“Human rights and democracy will be weaker and they were already in a bad way before the coup,” says a critic of Erdogan, who does not want his name published, adding that it is difficult for him to criticise Erdogan today while he is under threat from military conspirators. He has no doubt that the attempted putsch was carried out by the followers of Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in the US since 1999. Leaving aside the confessions of the plotters, which may have been forced, only the Gulenists had a network of adherents capable of staging an uprising in so many units of the security forces.
He says that the Gulenists operate in two different ways: they have a moderate public face with schools, universities, media and business associations, but they also have always had a secret organisation devoted to taking positions of power within the military, police and security services. As long ago as 1987, the movement was being investigated for infiltrating military colleges. It is now being compared to the Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei, notorious for its links to Franco and other right wing governments.
The coup went off half-cock. It was staged prematurely because of fear of an imminent purge of Gulenists in the military. Analysts have been explaining how badly organised the attempt was and how it could never have succeeded.
But the initial response of the government to the putsch was equally cack-handed, with Erdogan saying that he first heard something was amiss from his brother-in-law who phoned him between 4 and 4.30pm on 15 July to say that soldiers were stopping cars next to the Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul.
Erdogan’s account of what happened next is worth quoting in order to convey the atmosphere of confusion in the first hours of the abortive takeover.
He says that his brother-in-law “was telling me that soldiers were actually cutting off streets, and they were not allowing cars to proceed to take to the bridge. When I got the news, initially I did not believe that this was happening and I called the head of national security, the head of national intelligence, I could not reach him. I called the chief of staff of the armed forces, I could not reach him, they were not in a position to be able to answer their phones… Then I tried to contact the prime minister, and although with some difficulty, we were able to get into contact.”
It was only almost four hours later, at 8 pm, that Erdogan made plans to act by contacting the media–quite long enough for the pro-coup forces to have eliminated him. If victory goes to the side that makes the least mistakes, then it was a close run thing.
Aside from their organisational failings, the plotters made a miscalculation in imagining that, because Turks are deeply divided between supporters and opponents of Erdogan, the latter night side with anybody trying to get rid of him by physical force.
In the event, the plotters found no support because people felt, as one Kurdish activist was quoted as saying, that “the worst politician is better than the best general.”
Much now depends on the extent to which Erdogan sees the failure of the coup as a heaven-sent excuse to remove all who do not obey him. The temptation is clearly there: some 60,000 soldiers, judges, prosecutors, civil servants and teachers have been detained, arrested or sacked.
All 3.3m civil servants in Turkey have been told to stay in their jobs, presumably so they can be investigated. The crackdown under the State of Emergency appears to be spreading well beyond the circle of those implicated in the coup or connected to the Gulenists.
The next few weeks will tell if Erdogan is going target all dissent and further divide a deeply divided country. He may have a difficulty in pursuing the war against Kurdish guerrillas in south-east Turkey and, at the same time, purging the Second Army that is meant to be fighting them and whose commanding general is under arrest. It might be sensible to conciliate the Kurds, with whom Erdogan was negotiating not so long ago, but his combative political instincts are more likely to lead him to opt for continuing confrontation.
Islamic State will benefit from the new political landscape because security forces will be tracking Gulenist sleepers rather than Isis cells. Isis will gain from the anti-American mood in Turkey post-coup because the Government and much of the population are convinced that the US was implicated in the attempt. Whatever happens to the Turkish demand that the US hand over Gulen, Turks are convinced of a US role, citing as evidence Mr Gulen’s long presence outside Philadelphia. Isis will seek the support of a widening anti-US constituency in Turkey. Relations between Ankara and Washington were not good before; they are about to get worse.
Erdogan emerges politically stronger from the crisis, but he rules a weakened Turkish state. The army and state institutions are being hollowed out by purges and loyalty, not competence, becomes the test for advancement. Turkish involvement in Syria has produced only failure: sectarian and ethnic warfare between Sunni and Shia, Kurd and non-Kurd is infecting Turkey.
Erdogan could use the coup to unite Turks or, alternatively, exploit it in a way that will further divide them. It is difficult to feel optimistic.
Turkey: Erdogan to Meet Putin Aug. 9 in Russia
Dennis Edwards: If we understand Bible prophecy correctly Turkey will side with Russia in the invasion of Israel. Therefore the improving of relations between Russia and Turkey is necessary for the fulfilling of Ezekiel's prophecy in chapter 38 of his book in which he lists the nations that will align against Israel. From Ezekiel we read,
"Persia,(Iran) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer,(Germany or Eastern Europe) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (Armenia and Turkey) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.[1]
So the news that Erdogan will meet with Russia to supposedly increase and improve their relationship fits in well with Ezekiel's prediction that Turkey will eventually side with Russia and not with America (NATO) and Israel and Saudi Arabia. In fact in the prophecy of Ezekiel he mentions the Saudis and Britain and her colonies which would include the USA. Let us read,
"Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?"[2]
Sheba and Dedan are most likely referring to Saudi Arabia which at the present has a strong alliance with America and as a results with Israel. Tarshish has long been considered Britain, and its "young lions" would be its colonies including Australia, Canada and the USA.[3]
So, understanding Bible prophecy helps you understand what is happening in the world and which way eventually things will play out. God doesn't want us to be ignorant of these things so He's put them in His Word, but it's up to you to search and dig to understand their meaning.
[1] Ezekiel 38:5-6
[2] Ezekiel 38:13
[3] http://www.ltradio.org/articles/?admin=linkto&link=190&&quick=y Article by Jack Kelley
All the modern equivalents of the ancient names found in Ezekiel's prophecy were taken from Jack Kelley's Bible study on-line. Accessed 07/2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
O Prêmio
Irmãos, não penso que eu mesmo já o tenha alcançado, mas uma coisa faço: esquecendo-me das coisas que ficaram para trás e avançando para as que estão adiante, prossigo para o alvo, a fim de ganhar o prêmio do chamado celestial de Deus em Cristo Jesus.—Filipenses 3:13–14[1]
*
Se pensarmos constantemente no passado e em todos os nossos erros, jamais conseguiremos avançar para o futuro e para o trabalho que o Senhor quer que façamos.
Depois de refletirmos um pouco nos nossos erros, geralmente a melhor coisa é esquecer o passado. Quando o Senhor diz para esquecermos o passado, obviamente tivemos que pensar nele, caso contrário como poderÃamos esquecer? Então pensamos no assunto e fazemos o que for preciso para mudar as coisas no futuro. É por isso que aprendemos lições com o passado, para que o Senhor possa mudar o nosso coração e nos tornar mais amorosos e compassivos. Essa é uma das razões por que o Senhor permite que cometamos alguns erros, para pedirmos desesperadamente a Ele por mais amor, compaixão e compreensão, e para permitirmos que Ele nos transforme em novas criaturas que podem ser mais úteis a Ele.
Às vezes precisamos refletir no nosso passado. Não podemos simplesmente dizer: “Puxa, cometi aquele erro. Sinto muito,” e continuarmos. Até certo ponto precisamos analisar os nossos erros ou fracassos para não os cometermos novamente, mas muitas vezes não ajuda continuar fazendo isso por muito tempo. Temos que saber que somos perdoados e que não há lugar para a condenação em nossas vidas. A Palavra de Deus diz: “Agora já não há condenação aos que estão em Cristo Jesus.”[2] Podemos abrir mão do passado! O Senhor afasta de nós as nossas transgressões e não as lembra nem nos acusa![3]—Maria Fontaine
*
Eu penso sobre todas as promessas de Deus das quais podemos nos valer, e como pode ser brilhantes! Que coisas maravilhosas podem acontecer, até milagres, porque a Sua Palavra é imutável. A Palavra de Deus continua viva para a assimilarmos. E com todas aquelas promessas, como podemos querer voltar ao passado, rever o passado?
A cruz de Cristo com os braços estendidos bloqueia o caminho para o passado. Por causa da pena que foi paga por seus pecados, a BÃblia diz: “Esquecendo-me das coisas que atrás ficam e avançando para as que estão diante de mim, prossigo para o alvo, pelo prêmio da soberana vocação de Deus em Cristo Jesus.”[4]
Esqueça as coisas que ficaram para trás. Esqueça-as! Prossiga para o alvo, pelo prêmio. Você não pode fazer a areia na ampulheta voltar atrás. Mesmo que tivesse a riqueza do mundo inteiro, não poderia percorrer o caminho por onde passou ontem; nãopode voltar.
Mas há redenção para você. Ele o redimiu e você está limpo de todo o seu passado. Ah, é uma pena se estivermos carregando o fardo do passado sendo que o Senhor já pagou tamanho preço para nos libertar desse peso. Acho que não há palavras mais lindas do que as da canção “Por Todos os Meus Pecados.” Com apenas um toque de Suas mãos perfuradas pelos cravos, Ele apaga toda a nossa horrÃvel culpa na cruz do Calvário:
Foi o Seu amor por mim
Que no madeiro O pregou
Morreu em agonia
E os meus pecados levou.
Por minha máxima culpa
Veio o Grande Redentor,
Disposto a suportar a vergonha
Dos meus pecados por amor.
Ah, que Salvador é esse meu
Reúne todas as misericórdias de Deus
Seu amor nunca diminui
E Ele me ama, sou Seu.
Certo dia ao monte do Calvário
O Senhor foi levado
Só Ele o preço podia pagar
Por todo o meu pecado.
Ele foi morto na cruz,
E deu Sua vida em dor
Sentiu a mancha amarga
De todos os meu pecados, e pagou.
O amor nunca foi tão forte
O crime nunca tão errado
Como quando Jesus sofreu
Para pagar pelo meu pecado
Ele viu minha grande necessidade,
Tornou-se meu Amigo de verdade,
Por Ele fui libertado
De todos os meus pecados.
—Norman J. Clayton
Eu vi pessoas que foram até à cruz do Calvário e ali deixaram seus pecados. Basta uma pequena gota de sangue para limpar o passado mais negro.
Lembro-me de um jovem que chegou a uma reunião que estávamos conduzindo na Califórnia. Ele tinha acabado de sair da penitenciária Folsom. Simplesmente não conseguia acreditar que era fácil assim, que Deus o perdoaria se apenas o seu pecado e Lhe pedisse para entrar em seu coração, e O receber como Salvador. Foi muito difÃcil para ele acreditar que seria limpo de seu passado.
Ele não parava de falar do seu pecado, de tudo o que tinha feito! Era difÃcil demais para ele acreditar que Deus podia limpá-lo de um passado horrÃvel. Naquela noite ele chorou ao entregar o seu coração a Deus e confessou que Jesus Cristo era o seu Salvador. Cristo retirou o peso e perdoou à quele ex-criminoso. Limpou seu coração e lhe deu uma liberdade que ele nunca havia conhecido.
Eu o vi várias vezes depois dessa visita. Ele falava da misericórdia de Deus e como Deus o livrara do tormento do passado, e repetia algumas palavras [do hino]: “Meu passado estava cheio de culpa e vergonha, meu passado foi embora, ó, glória ao Seu nome!”
“Ele é fiel e justo para perdoar os nossos pecados e nos purificar de toda a injustiça.”[5] Toda a injustiça! Ele não pode falhar a Sua Palavra, e Ele prometeu isso. “Acaso ele fala e deixa de agir?”[6]—Virginia Brandt Berg
*
Nosso futuro não é limitado por nosso passado. Não importam as decisões tomadas ou em que ponto nos encontramos agora. O futuro ainda é tão promissor como as promessas de Deus, promessas como esta: “Se vocês tiverem fé … nada lhes será impossÃvel,”[7] e, “tudo é possÃvel ao que crê.”[8] Se você não se encontra onde gostaria de estar, ainda há tempo para mudar isso. Enquanto há vida, há esperança.
O diretor e produtor de cinema Orson Welles disse certa vez: “Um final feliz depende de onde você para na sua história.” Ou como alguém disse: “No fim dá tudo certo, e se não está tudo certo é porque ainda não é o fim.” Esse princÃpio com certeza é verdadeiro para aqueles que amam a Deus e buscam a Sua orientação, pois Ele prometeu fazer com que todas as coisas sempre concorram por fim para o nosso bem.—Maria Fontaine
Publicado no Âncora em setembro de 2015. http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/o-premio/
[1] NVI.
[2] Romanos 8:1, NVI.
[3] Salmo 103:10–14.
[4] Filipenses 3:13–14.
[5] 1 João 1:9, NVI.
[6] Números 23:19, NVI.
[7] Mateus 17:20, NVI.
[8] Marcos 9:23.
Treating People Like the Image Bearers They Are
By John Stonestreet
In 9th grade, I was a knucklehead. Even worse, I was a Christian school knucklehead. Those are the worst kind. Six days a week, between that Christian school and the church that operated it, I was in the same building hearing the same Bible lessons, often from the same people. But I didn’t really have much of a faith that I could call my own.
That all began to change on the last day of classes before Christmas break in December of 1990. Now we all know what’s supposed to happen on the last day of classes before Christmas break: not much.
Well, that day, my Bible teacher announced that our boys Bible class was being sent out two by two to visit the elderly “shut-ins” of our church. I suppose the intention was to bring Christmas cheer, but as you might imagine, that’s not what happened. The only thing we wanted to do less than schoolwork on the last day of classes before Christmas break was visit old people we’d never met.
My only consolation was that I was paired with my friend Brian. He shared my disdain for the assignment we’d been given. “What are we going to do?” I asked. “I don’t want to go see any old people.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Brian replied. “We’ll go visit one person, but say that we couldn’t find the other person’s house. That way, we’ll be done fast and can go to the mall.”
And that’s how I met Ms. Buckner. She lived down a windy, rural Virginia road in a small little apartment her grandson had built for her on the end of his farmhouse.
She invited us inside, and there we were: an 11th grader, a ninth grader, and an 89-year-old widow. We didn’t have a lot in common.
Just when we thought it couldn’t possibly get any more awkward, Ms. Buckner said, “Let’s sing Christmas carols together.” We stumbled our way through Silent Night, and then she decided one carol was enough.
“Well, Ms. Buckner,” Brian said, “we’d best be on our way.”
“Yes,” I lied, “we still have one more person to visit before heading back to school.”
And then she asked, “Can we pray together before you go?”
So I prayed, and Brian prayed—that took about 45 seconds. But then Ms. Buckner prayed.
At that point, I’d been in the church my whole life. I’d heard thousands of prayers. But I had never heard anything like this. I remember looking up just to make sure that Jesus wasn’t sitting next to her, because it sure sounded like He was. She spoke to God as if sheknew Him, with a simultaneous confidence and humility that only comes when you’re certain you’re being heard.
We left her house and headed to the mall, distracted by our plan to meet some girls. But I do remember, however, Brian saying to me, “She’s a cool old woman.” And I agreed.
Two years later, I woke up with the strangest feeling. Typically, I’d wake up thinking about basketball or my girlfriend, but I woke up this particular morning thinking of Ms. Buckner. And to this day, I have no idea why.
But I ended up going back down that windy road to her house. “Ms. Buckner,” I said, “you probably don’t remember me, but two years ago I came here with my friend Brian. My name is John.”
“John,” she smiled. “I prayed for you this morning.”
From that point on, Ms. Buckner became a close personal friend. In fact, she prayed for me every day for the rest of her life. To this day, I cannot imagine what she prayed me into or out of.
At age fourteen, I found myself—seemingly by chance—in the home of an 89-year-old woman I didn’t know, and didn’t particularly care to know. I didn’t want to be there. I lied to her. And yet, God used her to alter the trajectory of my life. I found out later that she had actually impacted many, many others in that community as well.
That’s what happens when you know Jesus, and treat others like the image-bearers that they are. God uses us, often in ways we can’t even imagine.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Catholic Bishop to Tim Kaine: You Can’t be Catholic and Pro-Abortion
LifeNews.com has extensively profiled the pro-abortion position of Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential running mate Tim Kaine. Now, a Catholic bishops is going after the pro-abortion Democrat, saying that he can’t reconcile his Catholic faith with abortion.
Bishops Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, posted a message on Facebook that was so popular it received over 1,000 shares:
VP Pick, Tim Kaine, a Catholic?
Democratic VP choice, Tim Kaine, has been widely identified as a Roman Catholic. It is also reported that he publicly supports “freedom of choice” for abortion, same-sex marriage, gay adoptions, and the ordination of women as priests. All of these positions are clearly contrary to well-established Catholic teachings; all of them have been opposed by Pope Francis as well.
Senator Kaine has said, “My faith is central to everything I do.” But apparently, and unfortunately, his faith isn’t central to his public, political life.
The Virginia politician is on record as trying to have it both ways — saying he is both a “traditional Catholic” and a strong supporter of abortion. Kaine has a pro-abortion record and the potential Clinton running mate is not fooling anyone. As LifeNews previously reported, Kaine said he is a “strong supporter of Roe v. Wade” despite supposedly being a “traditional Catholic.”
“I have a traditional Catholic personal position, but I am very strongly supportive that women should make these decisions and government shouldn’t intrude,” Kaine said. “I’m a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade and women being able to make these decisions. In government, we have enough things to worry about. We don’t need to make people’s reproductive decisions for them.”
That wasn’t the first time Kaine has attempted to moderate his pro-abortion viewpoint. In an interview with Meet the Press, Tim Kaine, who may be chosen as the pro-abortion candidate’s VP, tried to mask his radical abortion views.
Leading pro-life groups know Kaine is pro-abortion.
“Like Hillary Clinton, Sen. Tim Kaine supports the current policy of abortion on demand,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Like Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kaine is so extreme on abortion he opposes even the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation to protect unborn children from abortion after 20 weeks, when they are capable of feeling excruciating pain during dismemberment or other late abortion methods.”
As a U.S. senator, Kaine has voted against the pro-life position every chance he got. Sen. Kaine voted to allow government funding of abortion providers, and he voted against legislation to require an abortionist to notify at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state.
Kaine took his most extreme pro-abortion action yet with his recent co-sponsorship of the so-called “Women’s Health Protection Act” (S.217), known to pro-lifers as the “Abortion Without Limits Until Birth Act.” This bill would nullify nearly all existing state and federal limitations on regulation of abortion, and prohibit states from enacting meaningful pro-life laws in the future. This revamped version of the long-stalled “Freedom of Choice Act” is a priority of the pro-abortion forces in Washington, D.C.
“Sen. Kaine is good at hiding behind his Catholic background – but no one should be fooled,” Tobias said. “His record, and his openly declared legislative goals, are as pro-abortion as they come.”
Hillary Clinton Is A Threat To All Of Humanity
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Wall Street-backed warmonger whose potential election as President of the United States this November poses an existential threat not just to Americans but to all of humanity.
As First Lady and then as Senator, she actively supported the US’ illegal wars of aggression abroad:
BILL CLINTON: “Today, our Armed Forces joined our NATO allies in airstrikes against Serbian forces ,esponsible for the brutality in Kosovo.”
HILLARY CLINTON: “You know I voted for the Iraqi resolution.”
CLINTON: “The President understands this. He’s fully aware that it’s going to take a lot of patience and pain-staking planning and we’re gonna support him!”
CLINTON: “…including thousands of chemical weapons. Large volumes of chemical and biological stocks. A number of missiles and warheads. A major lab equipped to produce Anthrax.”
She not only admitted the US role in creating Al Qaeda:
CLINTON: “When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, we had this brilliant idea there we were going to come to Pakistan and create a force of Mujahideen, equip them with Stinger missiles and everything else, to go after the Soviets inside Afghanistan.”
But then, despite this admission, as Secretary of State her support of the war on Libya and the jihadis in Syria directly led to the rise of ISIS and the migrant crisis in Europe:
CLINTON: “The transition to democracy in Syria has begun and it’s time for Assad to get out of the way.”
“President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power.”
“I think based on definitions of war-criminal and crimes against humanity, there would be an argument to be made that he (Assad) would fit into that category.”
CLINTON: “Libya was a different kind of calculation and we didn’t lose a single person.”
CLINTON: “We came. We saw. He died! (laughter)”
She was the one who announced the US’ so-called “Asia-Pacific Pivot” that has seen more US forces being placed in the Asia-Pacific as a direct military threat to China:
CLINTON: “…and we look to the Asia-Pacific region, as we have for many decades, as an area where the United States in uniquely positioned to play a major role.”
CLINTON: “The United States is not seeding the Pacific to anyone.”
And she has stated in no uncertain terms that Russia and Iran will be militarily targeted in a Clinton presidency, and that the “nuclear option” is, as always, “on the table”:
CLINTON: “And we will make sure the Iranians and the world understand, that the United States will act decisively if necessary including taking military action.”
“There will have to be consequences for any violation by Iran and that the nuclear option should not at all be taken of the table. That has been my position consistently.”
CLINTON: “And Russia has to support the international community’s efforts sincerely or be held to account.”
CLINTON: “That Russia and China will pay a price. Because they are holding up progress, blockading it. That is no longer tolerable.”
And unlike her many, many political statements of convenience that are merely a reflection of what is most politically acceptable at the moment:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Do you think New York State should recognize gay marriage?”
HILLARY CLINTON: “No.”
CHRIS MATTHEWS: “No … OK.”
CLINTON: “I support marriage for lesbian and gay couples.”
CLINTON: “I represented Wall Street as a Senator from New York and I went to Wall Street and in December of 2007 before the big crash that we had. And I basically said ‘cut it out, quit foreclosing on homes. Quit engaging in these kinds of speculative behaviors.'”
“Now who’s exactly the blame for the housing crisis? Now I think there’s plenty of blame to go around. Home-buyers who paid extra fees to avoid documenting their income, should of known that they were getting in over their heads.”
“I take a back-seat to no one when you look at my record on standing up and fighting for progressive values.”
“I get accused of being kind of moderate and center. I plead guilty.”
HILLARY CLINTON: “We went through a thorough process to identify all of my work-related emails.”
JAMES COMEY: “Lawyers doing the sorting for Secretary Clinton in 2014 did not individually read the content of all of her emails.”
CLINTON: “So that the emails were immediately captured and preserved.”
COMEY: “There was no archiving at all of her emails.”
…we can be assured that these threats of potential nuclear world war by Clinton are not idle threats. A future Clinton president would be assured of a like mind in the new Prime Minister in the UK, who has stated in no uncertain terms that she is willing to launch a nuclear strike that would kill hundreds of thousands:
GEORGE KEREVAN: “Let me congratulate the Prime Minster on her new rule, but can we cut to the chase? Is she personally prepared to authorize a nuclear-strike that could kill 100,000 innocent men, women and children?”
THERESA MAY: “Yes. And I have to say to the honourable gentleman, the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it.”
Hillary Clinton is a neocon, a war hawk, a liar, an unindicted criminal and a Wall Street puppet. Why is it, then, that those on the so-called “progressive” left who would be warning against her if she had an “R” next to her name are instead lecturing other leftists that it is now their duty to fall in line and help her get elected?
NOAM CHOMSKY: “If Clinton is nominated and it comes to a choice between Clinton and Trump, in a swing state, a state where it’s going to matter which way you vote, I would vote against Trump, and by elementary arithmetic, that means you hold your nose and you vote Democrat. I don’t think there’s any other rational choice. Abstaining from voting or, say, voting for, say, a candidate you prefer, a minority candidate, just amounts to a vote for Donald Trump, which I think is a devastating prospect, for reasons I’ve already mentioned.”
JUAN GONZALES: “We in SDS refused to vote. We wouldn’t support McCarthy. We wouldn’t support Humphrey. Our slogan was “Vote with your feet, vote in the street.” I’m—I’m here to tell you that the slogan was right, the tactic was wrong. And I think that the country, in retrospect, there would not have been a substantive change, there would have been a positive change, if Nixon had not been elected. But you learn from your mistakes. Hopefully, other generations learn from the mistakes of those who came before them.”
ELIZABETH WARREN: We’re all here today because we’re with her. And we’re going to work our hearts out to make Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States.
BERNIE SANDERS: “She will be the Democratic nominee for president, and I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States.”
The message here is as clear as it is predictable and disappointing. Once again those with the influence to shape these events and ignite a genuine protest movement against Hillary’s coronation at the Democratic National Convention are falling back into their roles as partisan ideologues, advocating for “their” candidate over the “other side,” taking the two-party system as a fait accomplis and complicity with that system as the only way forward.
But as Michel Chossudovsky of GlobalResearch.ca points out, this election is fundamentally different. This time, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY: “In so many words Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy stance is ‘to blow up the planet.’ She has made statements to the effect that a first-strike nuclear attack against Russia or Iran is on the table. So that if she is in the White House she could in fact unleash the unspoken, which is World War 3. I think this is something we have to address both in terms of analysis and also political choice. That anyone who wants to blow up the planet is not ‘progressive.’
“Secondly, she has a criminal record. Not only in regards to the email scandal but also in relation to The Clinton Foundation, which is involved in fraud, money laundering, political cronyism, etc. It is amply documented.
“So that, in effect, the choice for the American people is to elect a war-criminal.”
Too many people become attached to the personality of these political personas or fixated on the “D” or the “R” after their name. This clouds their judgement and stops them from seeing their policies and agenda for what they really are.
As Diana Johnstone, author of Queen of Chaos: The Misadventures of Hillary Clinton points out, Hillary is best understood not as a person, but as the instrument for the think tanks, Wall Street financiers and other connected insiders who want to embroil the United States in more illegal wars and plunder the country and its people even further.
DIANA JOHNSTONE: “I mean Hillary to me is not even an interesting person. She is simply a shallow, ambitious woman. Who has decided to make herself the instrument of the Washington think-tank persuasion and is using that too pose as a great expert on world affairs to be elected as President. She simply is the embodiment of all that is terrible in American foreign-policy that has developed over the past decades.”
It is no hyperbole to say that the election of Hillary Rodham Clinton as president this November would be one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the United States, and perhaps the world. It is incumbent on people of all stripes–American and non-American, Republican and Democrat, progressive and libertarian, anarchists, and those who have never thought about politics a day in their life–to protest her nomination at the Democratic National Convention, work against her campaign for President, and avert the nuclear nightmare that is now coming into view.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Dying is hard. Death doulas want to help make it easier.
Before he enters the room, Craig Phillips pauses for a deep exhale. “Just to let everything go,” he says. “And to remember that I’m here for them.”
Until he walks in, he won’t know whom, exactly, he’s about to see. Today it’s an elderly woman in a blue hospital gown. Eyes closed. Jaw dropped open. Breathing loud and labored, but regular.
There is a little green circle by her name on the white board in the nurses’ station. Hospice center code for “actively dying.”
“She doesn’t have anyone with her,” a nurse says. So Phillips goes, pulls a chair up to her bed and introduces himself.
“I’m not here to poke or prod you,” he says softly. “I’m just here to be with you. I’m just here to sit with you.”
The work of a death doula–Phillips’s work, now–is primarily about presence. He is there to ease the passage from this world to the next. And he knows that the most valuable thing he can offer anyone taking that most solitary of journeys is his company. So he sits, silently wishing them peace and comfort.
Especially with patients who can no longer speak, Phillips has learned to slip his hand beneath theirs, palm to palm, rather than rest it on top. This way, he says, “you get an understanding of how well wanted you are.” When his grip is returned, he knows that he is welcome.
Phillips operates alone, but he is part of a growing army of volunteers and professionals who call themselves death doulas. (Some, opposed to that term, prefer end-of-life doulas, soul midwives or transition coaches.) And like the childbirth doulas from whom they draw their name, their mandate is to assist and accompany. Their patients’ experience may be quieter, more sorrowful, but it is no less sacred. Or scary.
As the baby boomers move into retirement, fresh consideration is being given to what it means to grow old, which measures to take to treat illness and, ultimately, how we die. There’s a growing recognition among hospice workers and palliative-caregivers that pain management is not enough. That the spirit must be attended to as much as the body. And that the soon-to-be-bereaved need help along with the dying.
It’s out of this recognition that death doulas are emerging. Most say they feel almost inexplicably called to the role. And profoundly touched by it.
On a sunny spring day in Alexandria, Va., 30 women and one man sit in a windowless hotel conference room, having traveled from all over the East Coast and paid $600 to learn to serve as death doulas.
“Our role is to walk alongside [the dying] in their journey,” says Henry Fersko-Weiss, president of the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), one of several organizations offering certification in the field.
The weekend-long training will cover the best ways to touch a dying person, when to use aromatherapy and guided visualizations, strategies to relieve overburdened family members, how to organize a “legacy project” to help capture the patient’s life, assisting at the moment of death and helping loved ones process their grief in the weeks that follow.
On the first morning, Fersko-Weiss, a social worker who worked with hospice facilities for decades before creating an end-of-life doula program in 2003, asks each of the students to recall a death that affected them. How it smelled and looked and felt. How it shaped their concept of what constitutes a “good death.”
One woman talked about her daughter’s stillborn baby. “That was the hardest hurt I ever felt,” she said. “I didn’t understand how you could take a baby who was full-term.”
Fersko-Weiss nodded and observed that she may be able to transform her pain into something that could aid dying patients and their families. “If we can touch that place of angst and anguish and despair,” he said, “it may help us to be more present to other people experiencing it now.”
Later, the prospective doulas talk about their reasons for coming. Several had had negative experiences with the death of a close relative. A few were birth doulas who wanted to assist with the exit from, as well as the entrance into, life. One woman had suffered a brain injury and a near-death experience. All said that they wanted to be of service in a way that would make this final transition somehow better for others.
They will be called upon to fill all kinds of roles, Fersko-Weiss told them. Sometimes patients may need help with physical care; other times, families will need assistance with errands or household chores. In all cases it will be a doula’s job to listen, without judgment, to honor the experience of both the dying person and their loved ones, and to facilitate meaningful interactions between them. “As a doula, it’s important to encourage people to say everything they need to say,” Fersko-Weiss explains, “so that they don’t look back and really regret it.”
Craig Phillips’s path to end-of-life doula work wasn’t straight, but he thinks he was always inching toward it. He grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., next-door to a cemetery that served as his playground. In college, he had a chance meeting with Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, the famed psychiatrist whose groundbreaking work shaped our modern understanding of death. And all through his life, Phillips has had an intense awareness of his own mortality.
At 61, he has the look and presence of a yogi, but he spent most of his adult life in the corporate world. Several years ago, his sister called, saying that her ex-husband was suffering from advanced ALS and living in a facility very close to Phillips’s Baltimore home. So Phillips went to see him. And kept going, two or three times a week, for the last 2½ years of the man’s life.
“I’d bring him flowers,” he recalls. “I’d tell him stories. I’d take oil over and rub his feet, stuff like that. Just devoted myself to him. And it was a beautiful thing.”
A man in Phillips’s running club mentioned volunteering as a death doula, so when he retired last fall, he linked up with Gilchrist Hospice Care, which serves more than 750 patients daily in the Baltimore area and established its own end-of-life doula program in December 2009. It has since grown to more than 150 volunteers.
After 20 hours of training in January, Phillips spent a morning shadowing a mentor doula at Gilchrist’s facility in Towson. “We walked into a patient’s room, and she said, ‘Isn’t this person beautiful?’ I could see that they were. And she said, ‘Yes, all my patients are beautiful,’” he recalls. “You walk into a room and there’s someone there with their mouth open, looking very near death. Perhaps no teeth in their mouth and a three-day beard or whatever. And I look at these souls and they’re beautiful. It’s the oddest thing. Their guard is down. They’re just who they are in their most real, beautiful state.”
Several days a week, Phillips spends time volunteering either at the Towson hospice center or at patients’ homes. He has helped long-term-care patients communicate with a letter board and even washed a dog for a family that needed assistance with the chore. On his weekly visits to an elderly man who was still alert, Phillips brought videos of the patient’s favorite big-band performances.
But with many patients, Phillips just sits, quietly meditating and sending good wishes. He tells them that they are safe. And that they are not alone. One woman was unable to speak, but when he said goodbye after three hours, “she mouthed the words ‘Thank you’ and held out her hands like I was dear to her,” he says.
The work has also produced an unintended side effect. It has pushed Phillips’s awareness of mortality even further to the forefront of his mind.
And happily so.
“The more immediacy, for me, that I have of this,” he says, “the more appreciation I have for every day, every minute.”
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Friday, July 22, 2016
Why We Don’t Follow Through on What We Set Out to Do and What to Do About It
By the summer of 1830, Victor Hugo was facing an impossible deadline. Twelve months earlier, the famous French author had made an agreement with his publisher that he would write a new book titled, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Instead of writing the book, Hugo spent the next year pursuing other projects, entertaining guests, and delaying his work on the text. Hugo’s publisher had become frustrated by his repeated procrastination and responded by setting a formidable deadline. The publisher demanded that Hugo finish the book by February of 1831–less than 6 months away.
Hugo developed a plan to beat his procrastination. He collected all of his clothes, removed them from his chambers, and locked them away. He was left with nothing to wear except a large shawl. Lacking any suitable clothing to go outdoors, Hugo was no longer tempted to leave the house and get distracted. Staying inside and writing was his only option.
The strategy worked. Hugo remained in his study each day and wrote furiously during the fall and winter of 1830. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was published two weeks early on January 14, 1831.
Human beings have been procrastinating for centuries. Even prolific artists like Victor Hugo are not immune to the distractions of daily life. The problem is so timeless, in fact, that ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle developed a word to describe this type of behavior: Akrasia.
Akrasia is the state of acting against your better judgment. It is when you do one thing even though you know you should do something else. Loosely translated, you could say that akrasia is procrastination or a lack of self-control. Akrasia is what prevents you from following through on what you set out to do.
Why would Victor Hugo commit to writing a book and then put it off for over a year? Why do we make plans, set deadlines, and commit to goals, but then fail to follow through on them?
One explanation for why akrasia rules our lives and procrastination pulls us in has to do with a behavioral economics term called “time inconsistency.” Time inconsistency refers to the tendency of the human brain to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards.
When you make plans for yourself–like setting a goal to lose weight or write a book or learn a language–you are actually making plans for your future self. You are envisioning what you want your life to be like in the future and when you think about the future it is easy for your brain to see the value in taking actions with long-term benefits.
When the time comes to make a decision, however, you are no longer making a choice for your future self. Now you are in the moment and your brain is thinking about the present self. And researchers have discovered that the present self really likes instant gratification, not long-term payoff. This is one reason why you might go to bed feeling motivated to make a change in your life, but when you wake up you find yourself falling into old patterns. Your brain values long-term benefits when they are in the future, but it values immediate gratification when it comes to the present moment.
This is one reason why the ability to delay gratification is such a great predictor of success in life. Understanding how to resist the pull of instant gratification–at least occasionally, if not consistently–can help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Here are three ways to overcome akrasia, beat procrastination, and follow through on what you set out to do.
Strategy 1: Design your future actions. When Victor Hugo locked his clothes away so he could focus on writing, he was creating what psychologists refer to as a “commitment device.” Commitment devices are strategies that help improve your behavior by either increasing the obstacles or costs of bad behaviors or reducing the effort required for good behaviors.
You can curb your future eating habits by purchasing food in individual packages rather than in the bulk size. You can stop wasting time on your phone by deleting games or social media apps. You can reduce the likelihood of mindless channel surfing by hiding your TV in a closet and only taking it out on big game days. You can voluntarily ask to be added to the banned list at casinos and online gambling sites to prevent future gambling sprees. You can build an emergency fund by setting up an automatic transfer of funds to your savings account. These are commitment devices.
The circumstances differ, but the message is the same: commitment devices can help you design your future actions. Find ways to automate your behavior beforehand rather than relying on willpower in the moment. Be the architect of your future actions, not the victim of them.
Strategy 2: Reduce the friction of starting. The guilt and frustration of procrastinating is usually worse than the pain of doing the work. In the words of Eliezer Yudkowsky, “On a moment-to-moment basis, being in the middle of doing the work is usually less painful than being in the middle of procrastinating.”
So why do we still procrastinate? Because it’s not being in the work that is hard, it’s starting the work. The friction that prevents us from taking action is usually centered around starting the behavior. Once you begin, it’s often less painful to do the work. This is why it is often more important to build the habit of getting started when you’re beginning a new behavior than it is to worry about whether or not you are successful at the new habit.
You have to constantly reduce the size of your habits. Put all of your effort and energy into building a ritual and make it as easy as possible to get started. Don’t worry about the results until you’ve mastered the art of showing up.
Strategy 3: Utilize implementation intentions. An implementation intention is when you state your intention to implement a particular behavior at a specific time in the future. For example, “I will exercise for at least 30 minutes on [DATE] in [PLACE] at [TIME].”
It seems simple to say that scheduling things ahead of time can make a difference, but as I have covered previously, implementation intentions can make you 2x to 3x more likely to perform an action in the future.
Our brains prefer instant rewards to long-term payoffs. It’s simply a consequence of how our minds work. Given this tendency, we often have to resort to crazy strategies to get things done–like Victor Hugo locking up all of his clothes so he could write a book. But I believe it is worth it to spend time building these commitment devices if your goals are important to you.
Aristotle coined the term enkrateia as the antonym of akrasia. While akrasia refers to our tendency to fall victim to procrastination, enkrateia means to be “in power over oneself.” Designing your future actions, reducing the friction of starting good behaviors, and using implementation intentions are simple steps that you can take to make it easier to live a life of enkrateia rather than one of akrasia.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
A Very Predictable Coup?
The military coup in Turkey last weekend started on Friday and consisted of attempts to take over government buildings and key infrastructure. The coup drew mostly on troops from the gendarmerie and the air force and was led by mid-level generals and colonels. There were some initial successes but by early Saturday morning it was clear that the government had prevailed. By Sunday nearly 6,000 arrests of alleged plotters had taken place with more certain to follow.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed a crackdown on the military and also the judiciary and has blamed the coup on arch foe Fethullah Gulen, who resides in exile in Pennsylvania. Analysts believe that defeating the coup has greatly increased Erdogan’s authority and he will be able to consolidate his power by altering the country’s constitution, which, given the sense of crisis in Turkey due to the coup and the recent terrorist attack in Istanbul, is likely to succeed. And due process for the alleged coup plotters under the present circumstances is likely to be limited. They reportedly will be charged with treason. Erdogan will be able to clean house and consolidate his power.
There is inevitably a counter narrative which I and a number of Turkey-watchers who have networked to discuss recent developments are inclined to believe. As full disclosure, I will admit that all of us are established critics of the autocratic and Islamist direction being pursued by Erdogan’s government over the past three years.
First of all, though it is not a major issue, none of us believes that Gulen was behind the coup. It is convenient for Erdogan to blame his principal opponent because it will facilitate the arrests of any and all opponents not linked to the actual coup by claiming that they are Gulenists. Erdogan has become adept at jailing opponents, often journalists, on trumped up charges to include treason and this time around will be no different. The process has already begun with the detention of a number of military officers and judges and will no doubt be expanded as more enemies are identified.
Second, nearly all of us believe that the coup was basically a set-up. Erdogan and his government have been warning for months about the possibility of a coup, so the event itself should surprise no one. It is now certain that there was a coup in fact being plotted, apparently supported mostly by Kemalists in the military who advocate a secular state and are alarmed by aspects of Erdogan’s foreign policy, including his collaboration with terrorist groups and hostility towards Russia and Syria. There was also likely an element of concern over the deteriorating Turkish economy with European fear of terrorism wrecking the tourism industry, an issue linked to Ankara’s meddling in Syria and Erdogan’s personal vendetta against the leading Kurdish political party the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Many observers and even government officials when speaking off the record have also criticized the Erdogan-driven breakdown in the truce that up until recently prevailed with the domestic Kurdish minority and its armed wing the PKK.
The coup plotters probably erred in their assumption that there was wide support at senior levels in the Turkish military for a coup. The generals, who once would have been natural opponents of Erdogan’s ambitions, had been severely punished in their first encounter with the then prime minister in 2010-11. A series of show trials claiming that the senior officers were involved in plotting against the government based on very flimsy evidence removed many upper ranks, replacing them gradually with Erdogan loyalists. Many of the officers so convicted have only recently been released from prison but, having been out of power for years, they have not retained any ability to take action against the government.
The coup plotters may have approached one or more of the new Erdogan-appointed generals, without whose support a coup could not succeed, expecting a sympathetic hearing. In all likelihood, they were received cordially but the senior officer immediately reported their overture to the president, setting the stage for a trap.
The rest followed course somewhat as planned. The plotters heard from sympathizers in the judiciary or police that they would soon be arrested so they started the coup before their plans were complete and almost caught the government by surprise. They were few in number so they must have hoped that they would be joined by others. They were not successful and loyal army and police units quickly organized to resist them. Erdogan also was able to call on his civilian supporters to take to the streets and gather at the airport in Istanbul. The results were predictable and the coup was crushed. Erdogan will now reap the political benefits. He is also demanding the extradition of Gulen from the United States and the Obama Administration is reported to be considering the request.
One other aspect of the coup has caused some confusion. Early on it was alleged without any evidence that the plotters were dismayed by recent Erdogan government overtures to Russia and Syria to restore normal relations. That is a complete misreading of developments, as the Turkish military has long been reluctant to support any operations in Syria and, in general, is opposed to any initiatives outside Turkey’s borders. During a brief takeover of Turkish television the coup leaders referred to their movement as a “peace council.” The generals have their hands full with the internal Kurdish and refugee problems and are most definitely not encouraging taking on anything new.
One might also add to changes vis-Ã -vis Russia and Syria the recent rapprochement with Israel. Turkey’s economy is in bad shape and its international standing has been gravely damaged by Erdogan’s foreign and domestic policies. Opinion polls have been suggesting that the Turkish public is blaming Erdogan directly for the decline in employment and income as well as for the terrorism problem. The shift in policy to mend fences with a number of countries has been a response to that concern and is unrelated to the discontent within the Turkish military.
So the aborted military coup has become a great victory for President Erdogan. It remains to be seen how exactly he will exploit it, but it is certain that he will use it as a pretext for expanding his own powers. To those who object to the notion that the Turkish president would kill his own soldiers to advance his political agenda, one might note that he was considering doing so in 2014 to create a pretext for war with Syria. Consequently the question whether Erdogan might actually have helped set up the coup in a version of a false flag operation is certainly intriguing and must be considered. It should be taken into account by the White House before contemplating bending to any demands from Ankara to extradite Gulen or any of his associates.
Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer, is executive director of the Council for the National Interest.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Andar por Fé, Não por Vista
Segunda de CorÃntios 5:6–7 diz: “Por isso estamos sempre de bom ânimo, sabendo que, enquanto estamos no corpo, vivemos ausentes do Senhor (Porque andamos por fé, e não por vista).”[1] Outras versões usam a palavra vivemos em vez de andamos. “Andar” aqui é uma referência metafórica à maneira de levar a vida. Usamos também a frase “diferentes caminhos na vida” que significa diferentes estilos de vida ou culturas.
O apóstolo Paulo lembra aos seus leitores que os seguidores de Cristo não devem construir suas vidas em torno de coisa que não têm um significado eterno. Em vez de buscarem as mesmas coisas que o mundo busca, um cristão deveria focar nas realidades invisÃveis tais como Jesus e o céu. Paulo em seguida diz: “Por isso, temos o propósito de lhe agradar, quer estejamos no corpo, quer o deixemos. Pois todos nós devemos comparecer perante o tribunal de Cristo, para que cada um receba de acordo com as obras praticadas por meio do corpo, quer sejam boas quer sejam más.”[2] Jesus nos instruiu a guardar tesouros no céus.[3] Ele prometeu recompensar todos que fazem a Sua vontade[4] e castigar os que O rejeitaram.[5]
Andar por fé significa viver à luz das consequências eternas. Andar por fé é temer a Deus mais do que ao homem; obedecer a BÃblia até quando esta entra em conflito com os mandamentos do homem; escolher a justiça acima do pecado, não importa o custo; confiar em Deus em cada circunstância; e acreditar que Deus recompensa aqueles que O buscam, apesar dos que dizem diferente.[6]
Em vez de amar as coisas deste mundo,[7] os cristãos deveriam passar a vida glorificando a Deus em tudo o que fazem.[8] É preciso fé para viver desta maneira porque não conseguimos ver, ouvir nem tocar em nada espiritual. Quando alicerçamos nossas vidas da verdade da Palavra de Deus, em vez de na filosofia popular de nossa época, vamos contra nossas inclinações naturais. … Para andarmos por fé precisamos ter nossos corações sintonizados com a voz do EspÃrito Santo e a verdade da Palavra de Deus.[9]Escolhemos viver Segundo o que Deus nos revela, em vez de confiarmos no nosso próprio entendimento.[10]—From gotquestions.org[11]
*
Você já imaginou como seria se fosse cego? Já tentei me identificar muitas vezes com as pessoas cegas dando alguns passos com os olhos fechados. Depois de alguns passos fico totalmente desorientado. Não é natural para o ser humano caminhar sem ver onde está indo…
A BÃblia nos desafia a “andar por fé, não por vista.” É uma tarefa nada natural, tal como caminhar com os olhos fechados. Mas, quanto mais passos damos, mais confortáveis ficamos, e mais confiantes de que chegaremos ao nosso destino. E isto é do que se trata a fé—é a “certeza das coisas que esperamos.”[12] —Shane Scott[13]
*
Um exemplo clássico de fé versus vista é a tentativa de Pedro de caminhar sobre a água no Mar da Galileia. Certa noite, Pedro e alguns de seus companheiros, estavam em um barco sendo açoitados por uma tempestade. Eles corriam grave perigo de afundarem quando, de repente, viram Jesus caminhando em meio às ondas gigantescas, lhe dizendo para não temerem.
“Senhor,” respondeu Pedro, “se és tu, manda-me ir ao teu encontro por sobre as águas.” “Venha,” respondeu ele. Então Pedro saiu do barco, andou sobre a água e foi na direção de Jesus. [Até agora, tudo bem!] Mas quando ele olhou para o vento [a fé agora cedeu à vista], ficou com medo e começou a afundar, dizendo, "Senhor, salva-me!" Imediatamente Jesus estendeu a mão e o segurou. E disse: "Homem de pequena fé, porque você duvidou?”[14]
Um dos maiores obstáculos à fé é que o mundo ao nosso redor, tal como as águas que cercavam Pedro, parece muito real. Nós, feitos a partir do pó da terra, estamos naturalmente sintonizados com o fÃsico. Sentimos dor quando estamos doentes. Ouvimos ameaças ou desaforos de vizinhos ou parentes. Quando perdemos um emprego, vemos a dura realidade de uma notÃcia de demissão e ao mesmo tempo o acúmulo de contas a pagar. Os problemas familiares são reais. Os relatórios médicos são reais. Assim como as tentações e a fraqueza de nossa carne.
Seja qual for a situação, olhamos ao redor e vemos, ouvimos, sentimos o cheiro e o sabor da realidade. O conhecimento da realidade nos vem através dos nossos sentidos. Mas há outra dimensão vital: a fé. …
Se nossas mentes estão mais do que tudo no mundo e nas coisas materiais, exercitar os elementos espirituais da fé é extremamente difÃcil. Podemos facilmente começar a afundar nas águas das dúvidas tal como Pedro. …
Por outro lado, tirar a mente das coisas fÃsicas e colocá-la nas coisas espirituais é um dos grandes segredos para fortalecermos a nossa fé. Podemos encher nossa mente com entendimento espiritual que procede de estudarmos a palavra de Deus e permitirmos ao EspÃrito Santo operar em nós. Além disso, através de orações centradas em Deus, nossas mentes estarão mais focadas na realidade da presença de Deus em nossas vidas.—Autor desconhecido[15]
*
Alguns problemas são passageiros, como uma gripe ou uma desavença com alguém no trabalho. Outros se estendem por muito mais tempo: uma doença crônica, uma deficiência ou vÃcio, a perda de alguém querido, ou uma batalha constante para superar uma fraqueza pessoal tal como ira ou mau humor. Você talvez lute contra tais dificuldades por semanas, meses, ou até mesmo anos.
Os problemas às vezes persistem, mesmo que parece que você já fez tudo o que podia: tem orado, lido e seguido a Palavra de Deus, clamado as Suas promessas, e tentado confiar no Senhor. Ainda assim, você não vê resposta, e isso pode ser desencorajador.
Nesses casos, Deus talvez o esteja colocando a prova para ver se você vai continuar confiando, acreditando e Lhe agradecendo por todas as outras coisas boas que Ele lhe envia, mesmo quando parece que Ele não está respondendo as suas orações sobre uma certa coisa. “Andamos por fé, não por vista. Felizes os que não viram e creram.”[16] Deus adora ver a fé de Seus filhos manifestada, e Ele promete recompensar grandemente aqueles que corajosamente suportam a prova de sua fé.
Se Deus estiver trabalhando na sua vida para produzir uma virtude especial, o processo talvez demore um pouco. As pedras de carvão não viram diamantes da noite para o dia; e o mesmo acontece com nossas vidas.
Quando você acha que chegou ao fim de tudo, aguente só mais um pouquinho. A paciência geralmente é o segredo que abre a porta para as bênçãos de Deus, e à s vezes temos que nos contentar em esperar a resposta dEle. Apesar de querermos que Deus ponha um fim aos nossos problemas agora mesmo, Ele talvez saiba que mais tarde será mais oportuno. O tempo de Deus é impecável. “Ele faz tudo muito bem.”[17] Confie nEle!
A fé acredita. A fé confia. A fé recusa chamar qualquer coisa de impossÃvel. A fé não aceita que as circunstâncias ou batalhas lhe roubem sua alegria e paz.
Se nos recusarmos a aceitar a derrota, e em vez disso nos agarrarmos firmemente em Deus não importa o que aconteça, se nos determinarmos a acreditar nas Suas promessas, apesar de ainda não vermos o cumprimento das mesmas imediatamente, a vitória será nosso no final. Uma fé assim não pode ser derrotada. Deus sempre Se manifestará a nós.—Shannon Shayler
Publicado no Âncora em junho de 2016.
[1] ACRF, ênfase acrescentada.
[2] 2 CorÃntios 5:9–10, NVI.
[3] Mateus 6:19–20; Luke 12:33.
[4] Mateus 16:27; 1 Pedro 1:17; Apocalipse 22:12.
[5] Mateus 25:24–46; João 3:16–18.
[6] Hebreus 11:6.
[7] 1 João 2:15–16.
[8] 1 CorÃntios 10:31.
[9] João 10:27; 16:13.
[10] Provérbios 3:5–6.
[11] http://www.gotquestions.org/walk-by-faith-not-by-sight.html.
[12] Hebreus 11:1.
[13] http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-2-corinthians-5-7(2).htm.
[14] Ver Mateus 14:28–31, NVI.
[15] https://www.gci.org/spiritual/faith/notsight.
[16] 2 CorÃntios 5:7; João 20:29, NVI.
[17] Marcos 7:37, NVI.
