10 Things You Didn't Know About the Prince of Wales

By Catherine Mayer, TIME, Oct. 24, 2013

When you’ve spent months intensively researching a cover story, it feels like a release to write. I tried to explain this to the Prince of Wales. “I’m looking forward to not thinking about you all the time,” I blurted. But writing brings the fresh pain of making choices, sacrificing fun facts and revealing anecdotes you just can’t squeeze in to your main text.

Here, rescued from the metaphorical cutting room floor, are 10 such details that deserve a proper heiring.

1. He’s fit. Several of the Prince’s friends complained about the difficulties of keeping up with him when they go hiking together. At 64, he’s still always king of the mountain, arriving at the highest peak first. He suffers from a bad back, but to alleviate the symptoms gets up early every morning to perform a rigorous series of exercises.

2. He really knows his sheep. Emma Sparham was unemployed when the Prince’s Trust gave her support to start her business, the White Chicken Company, selling natural poultry and livestock products. At a June 20 reception for the Prince’s Trust at St James’s Palace, she mentioned to her host that she also raises soay sheep. “If I was to say the word ‘soay’ to 100 people, maybe five of them might know what it is,” says Sparham. “He knew exactly what it was, what island they come from and he knows the nature of the animal. He asked if I could catch them because they are renowned for being uncatchable.”

3. He didn’t design a fire station. Poundbury fire station earned a 2009 shortlisting in the Carbuncle Cup, Building Design magazine’s annual ranking of Britain’s worst buildings. (The anti-prize derives its name from a famous speech given by Prince Charles in 1984, in which he derided a proposed extension to London’s National Gallery as a “monstrous carbuncle.”)

Poundbury, a model village abutting the city of Dorchester in Southwest England, is his brainchild, an attempt to build a contented community by deploying traditional materials and local vernacular, mixing commercial and residential properties, rich and poor, calming traffic and encouraging walking. But here’s the thing: the Prince didn’t design its fire station. That honor, says Ewen Miller, managing director of Calderpeel architects, must be shared between his practice and Leon Krier, the master planner for Poundbury, who rejected the architects’ initial proposal for a barn-type structure. “Fire engines are pretty large brutes and therefore require big garage door openings,” says Miller. “It’s difficult to make a building look historically accurate when you’re making an opening physically larger than would have been possible in days gone by, before the advent of concrete and steel structures.”

4. The Prince has won the grudging respect of at least one architect. Miller used to regard the Prince as an irritant, meddling in the built environment without any qualifications to do so. In 2000 the Prince, invited by the BBC to deliver one of its prestigious Reith lectures, talked about how architects need to better engage with clients and communities. “I was quite upset that he really started to make a lot of sense,” says Miller.

5. You can book a holiday at the Prince’s private retreat in Wales. The Duchy of Cornwall estate, held in trust for heirs to the throne, rents out two cottages adjoining the main farmhouse at Llwynywermod. But if that’s too daunting to pronounce, pack garlic and crucifixes and head to properties the Prince has renovated in Romania as part of his drive to promote sustainable tourism. Altogether now: “Please can you tell me the way to Zalanpatak and Viscri?”

6. His friends don’t really know what to call him. By tradition, even his chums are expected to call the Prince “Sir.” More than one member of his inner circle confesses to avoiding calling him anything at all. When talking about him to other people, his staffers usually refer to “HRH,” short for His Royal Highness.

7. He sometimes calls himself “Carrick.” One of his titles is Earl of Carrick. He signs some personal notes with the name and prints of his watercolor paintings are marketed by A.G. Carrick, a trading arm of the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation.

8. His 1993 lecture on Islam and the West is still remembered. “There is nothing to be gained, and much harm to be done, by refusing to comprehend the extent to which many people in the Islamic world genuinely fear our own Western materialism and mass culture as a deadly challenge to their Islamic culture and way of life,” he said.

9. Eight-year-olds have strange ideas about what the Prince actually does. “Sometimes he works in the garden,” says Silvana. It’s July 3 and she’s part of a crowd hoping to meet the Prince who is due to visit Treharris, a town in South Wales, as part of his annual summer trip to the region. The Prince “crossed the Amazon,” ventures her friend Lexy, also 8. “He tells people what to do and if they don’t, he’ll behead them,” says Ryan, another 8-year-old standing further down the street.

10. Adults aren’t necessarily much clearer on the matter. Members of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, scrutinizing the tax affairs of the Duchy of Cornwall at a hearing on July 15, express concern at the tax arrangements of the Duchy and of the Prince and ask a number of questions about what the heir to the throne does. “His business, if you like, is being the Prince of Wales,” replies William Nye, his Principal Private Secretary, helpfully.

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Allegation of U.S. Spying on Merkel Puts Obama at Crossroads

By David E. Sanger and Mark Mazzetti, NY Times, October 24, 2013

WASHINGTON—The angry allegation by the German government that the National Security Agency monitored the cellphone of Chancellor Angela Merkel may force President Obama into making a choice he has avoided for years: whether to continue the age-old game of spying on America’s friends and risk undercutting cooperation with important partners in tracking terrorists, managing the global economy and slowing Iran’s nuclear program.

The pressure to make such a choice builds each day, as some of the United States’ closest allies have demanded explanations from Washington after similar disclosures about the breadth and sophistication of American electronic spying. Inside the administration it has touched off behind-the-scenes recriminations between the White House and the intelligence agencies over how much detail was given to White House officials about which world leaders are being monitored.

"This was colossally bad judgment—doing something because you can, instead of asking if you should," said one career American official with long experience in Europe. A senior administration official declined to say what Mr. Obama knew or did not know about monitoring of Ms. Merkel’s phone, but said the president "doesn’t think we are in the right place."

The tension with Germany built last week after German officials were given evidence of the cellphone monitoring by Der Spiegel, the German weekly newsmagazine. The first protests to Washington came in an angry phone call to Susan E. Rice, the president’s national security adviser, from her German counterpart, Christoph Heusgen.

During the call, according to German officials, Ms. Rice insisted that Mr. Obama did not know about the monitoring of Ms. Merkel’s phone, and said it was not currently happening, and would not in the future. But according to American officials familiar with the call, Ms. Rice would not acknowledge that the monitoring took place, even though she did not dispute the evidence the Germans had provided to her, which stretched back into the administration of President George W. Bush.

If Ms. Rice’s contention that the president was unaware of the monitoring is correct, it raises the question of why he was not alerted—especially after tensions rose earlier this year, following the first revelations by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, about American spying operations in Germany. Mr. Obama addressed those concerns at length during a visit to Germany.

There is little new in spying among allies: the oft-quoted line from Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson that “Gentlemen do not read each other’s mail” was barely true when he uttered it in 1929, and Mr. Stimson himself later oversaw the breaking of codes during World War II.

But the sentiment is particularly potent in the case of a country like Germany, which has been critical for a number of American intelligence operations.

In the past, Germany has pushed for an agreement similar to the understanding that the United States has with Britain and three other English-speaking allies that prohibits spying on one another.

Until now the Obama administration has been loath to broker such a deal with the Germans, who have publicly stated their interest in a nonspying pact, partly because other nations would demand a similar arrangement. But the revelations of recent days have so strained relations between Washington and Berlin that that calculus appears to be changing—especially because American officials have difficulty making a credible case for what the United States has to gain from spying on senior German officials.

Administration officials say the National Security Agency, in its push to build a global data-gathering network that can reach into any country, has rarely weighed the long-term political costs of some of its operations.

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The NSA Monitored the Phone Calls of 35 World Leaders

James Ball, The Guardian, OCT. 24, 2013

The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its “customer” departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their “Rolodexes” so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems.

The document notes that one unnamed US official handed over 200 numbers, including those of the 35 world leaders, none of whom is named. These were immediately “tasked” for monitoring by the NSA.

The revelation is set to add to mounting diplomatic tensions between the US and its allies, after the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday accused the US of tapping her mobile phone.

After Merkel’s allegations became public, White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement that said the US “is not monitoring and will not monitor” the German chancellor’s communications. But that failed to quell the row, as officials in Berlin quickly pointed out that the US did not deny monitoring the phone in the past.

The NSA memo obtained by the Guardian suggests that such surveillance was not isolated, as the agency routinely monitors the phone numbers of world leaders—and even asks for the assistance of other US officials to do so.

The memo, dated October 2006 and which was issued to staff in the agency’s Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID), was titled “Customers Can Help SID Obtain Targetable Phone Numbers”.

It begins by setting out an example of how US officials who mixed with world leaders and politicians could help agency surveillance.

"In one recent case," the memo notes, "a US official provided NSA with 200 phone numbers to 35 world leaders … Despite the fact that the majority is probably available via open source, the PCs [intelligence production centers] have noted 43 previously unknown phone numbers. These numbers plus several others have been tasked."

The document continues by saying the new phone numbers had helped the agency discover still more new contact details to add to their monitoring: “These numbers have provided lead information to other numbers that have subsequently been tasked.”

But the memo acknowledges that eavesdropping on the numbers had produced “little reportable intelligence”. In the wake of the Merkel row, the US is facing growing international criticism that any intelligence benefit from spying on friendly governments is far outweighed by the potential diplomatic damage.

The memo then asks analysts to think about any customers they currently serve who might similarly be happy to turn over details of their contacts.

"From time to time, SID is offered access to the personal contact databases of US officials," it states. "Such ‘Rolodexes’ may contain contact information for foreign political or military leaders, to include direct line, fax, residence and cellular numbers."

The NSA memo seen by the Guardian was written halfway through George W Bush’s second term, when Condoleezza Rice was secretary of state and Donald Rumsfeld was in his final months as defence secretary.

Merkel, who, according to Reuters, suspected the surveillance after finding her mobile phone number written on a US document, is said to have called for US surveillance to be placed on a new legal footing during a phone call to President Obama.

The leader of Germany’s Green party, Katrin Goring-Eckhart, called the alleged spying an “unprecedented breach of trust” between the two countries.

Earlier in the week, Obama called the French president François Hollande in response to reports in Le Monde that the NSA accessed more than 70m phone records of French citizens in a single 30-day period, while earlier reports in Der Spiegel uncovered NSA activity against the offices and communications of senior officials of the European Union.

The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, this week backed proposals that could require US tech companies to seek permission before handing over EU citizens’ data to US intelligence agencies, while the European parliament voted in favour of suspending a transatlantic bank data sharing agreement after Der Spiegel revealed the agency was monitoring the international bank transfer system Swift.

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Acertando as Coisas!- Perdão

Acertando as coisas (perdão) from Dennis Molinski

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Jerusalem's secular mayor fends off strong challenger to win reelection

By William Booth, Washington Post, October 22, 2013

JERUSALEM—The mayor of Jerusalem—a former high-tech venture capitalist who has been fighting to maintain the city’s secular and less strictly religious population—won reelection here as final votes were counted early Wednesday and his opponent conceded.

Mayor Nir Barkat faced a strong challenger, Moshe Leon, who was supported by two powerful political brawlers—and strange bedfellows: Avigdor Lieberman, founder of a nationalist, sometimes even anti-rabbinical party created to represent the interests of Russian-speaking Israelis, and Aryeh Deri, the leader of the Shas party, which serves ultra-Orthodox Jews whose roots are in the Middle East and North Africa.

Leon’s loss will reflect less on the candidate and more on his patrons Lieberman and Deri, who are seen by supporters as political kingmakers in Israel—a designation that could take a hit after his defeat.

Barkat’s political base is built upon the middle-class, center-right Jerusalem Jews who are less strict in their religious practices than the ultra-Orthodox residents, who now make up about one-third of the city.

Barkat’s demographic had been shrinking in recent years, a phenomenon he struggled to reverse by improving public schools, building parks and encouraging entertainment and restaurants that would be open on the Jewish Sabbath.

Turnout in Tuesday’s municipal elections to choose mayors and city and regional council members across Israel was described as “disappointing” and “dismal” by voting officials, with less than half of eligible voters going to the polls.

Arab residents of Jerusalem mostly boycotted the municipal election, as they have in the past. Palestinians in Jerusalem do not vote because they believe to do so would legitimize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem—the part of the city Palestinian leaders want to see as the capital of a future state.

The elections were mostly clean. On Tuesday, authorities arrested several people who were found with 250 identification cards, a list of polling places and changes of clothing at an apartment in the town of Beit Shemesh.

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Wayne Kursh and Races2Run give a leg up to charities

By David Karas, CS Monitor, October 22, 2013

Wilmington, Del.—More and more charities are looking to host a benefit walk or run to support their cause. Races2Run handles the logistics from start to finish—both literally and figuratively.

The Wilimington, Del., based company organizes running and walking events that benefit a wide range of causes, large and small. From marking courses to arranging for roads to be closed, from promoting events within the running community to providing online sign-ups for athletes, the company handles nearly every aspect of an event.

But Wayne Kursh, president and CEO of Races2Run, sees his company as doing more than just providing logistics: It helps nonprofit and community groups gather crucial funds for their causes.

"It is pretty neat when we can make things work, and everybody is happy, and we raise funds through sporting events," Mr. Kursh says.

Kursh started out by opening an athletic shoe store, which quickly expanded to three shops. But he soon shifted gears to directing and managing foot-racing events, and hasn’t looked back since.

After being managing races for 32 years, he estimates that he has put on more than 3,000 events that have raised millions of dollars for a wide variety of causes. While the events are largely in Delaware and Pennsylvania, others have been hosted in New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

"I am so blessed to be able to put on these events, and make a lot of people happy," he says.

Races2Run is a for-profit company, but Kursh says that it is the organizations he works with that should make the money from the events. “I charge fees to do this stuff, but the beneficiaries make the money,” he says. “I just manage the events and make it all work.”

He keeps his fees low to help organizations use events to raise the most money possible—and raise awareness for their cause, too.

Kursh and his wife, Barb, are the only Races2Run employees. They partner with two sister companies: One provides timing systems and electronic chips for runners to record their precise finish times. Another hosts online registration for races.

Beyond the financial help they provide to causes, community running and walking events foster a closeness among the athletes, Kursh says. “It is cool to see how these things bring people together,” he says. “We raise a lot of money for charities, and we really change peoples’ lives.”

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Billy Graham sounds alarm for Second Coming

By Troy Anderson, WND, October 2013

Just as Noah did in ancient times, world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham is sounding the alarm that the Second Coming is “near” and signs of the end of the age are “converging now for the first time since Jesus made those predictions.”

The remarks by Graham come amid a steadily rising wave of public interest in the end times, as demonstrated by recent polls and New York Times and recent bestselling books.

In September, a poll by the Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group found 4 in 10 Americans—and 77 percent of evangelical Christians—believe the “world is now living in the biblical end times.”

In an exclusive email interview with WND, Graham, 94, who is giving what may be his last message to the world as part of the My Hope America with Billy Graham evangelistic outreach in early November, said the world is “coming toward the end of the age.”

"There’s a great deal to say in the Bible about the signs we’re to watch for and when these signs all converge at one place we can be sure that we’re close to the end of the age," Graham wrote. "And those signs, in my judgment, are converging now for the first time since Jesus made those predictions."

In his new book, “The Reason for My Hope: Salvation,” the famed preacher who has delivered the gospel message to more people face-to-face than anyone in history wrote the great hope of the Christian faith rests in the promised return of Christ.

Graham said he now has a burden for “sounding the alarm for humanity to repent and turn from their sin … just as Noah did in ancient days.”

"God keeps his promises, and this is why we can be sure that the return of Christ is near," Graham said. "Scripture tells us that there will be signs pointing toward the return of the Lord. I believe all these signs are evident today."

The evangelistic outreach and book come as a number of major evangelists—Graham, his son Franklin Graham, Reinhard Bonnke, Greg Laurie, Luis Palau, Banning Liebscher and others—are turning their attention toward America in the hope of helping ignite what Graham calls an end-times “great spiritual awakening.”

In what the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association describes as the largest outreach in its six-decade history, Graham will give a dynamic and poignant pre-recorded message the week of Nov. 7, his 95th birthday. The My Hope programs will be available for viewing online and on YouTube. The Cross, the primary program in the My Hope series, will be broadcast on the Fox News channel, TBN, Christian networks and local television stations in a number of cities.

The event follows an open letter Graham released in the summer of 2012 titled “My Heart Aches for America.”

In the letter, Graham wondered what his late wife, Ruth, would think of a nation in which “self-centered indulgence, pride and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.”

Graham compared America to the ancient city of Nineveh, the lone superpower of its time. When the prophet Jonah finally traveled to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s warning, the people repented and escaped judgment, Graham wrote, adding he believes the same thing could happen today.

Franklin Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said there is an urgency and sense “that the Lord Jesus could be returning soon.”

"The Bible gives us warning signs," he said. "Jesus told his disciples the things people should be looking for, and I believe all the prophecies that have to take place for Jesus to return have been fulfilled."

One of the big prophecies was the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948.

"It’s just now a question of when is that time, and I believe in my own heart that it’s sometime soon," he said. "When I say soon—the next 10, 20 years—I don’t know. But as far as the history of the world, I believe we’re coming down to the midnight hour on God’s clock."

It’s a time, Billy Graham wrote in “The Reason for My Hope: Salvation,” to take the news of the day in one hand and the Bible in the other and watch the unfolding of the great drama of the ages come together.

"This is an exciting and thrilling time to be alive," wrote Graham. "I would not want to live in any other period," he said.

"The Apocalypse (the unveiling of the end times) speaks powerfully of trouble ahead with storm warnings that carrying a booming jolt of truth. The warning is clear: prepare to meet thy God—followed by the voice of the gentle Shepherd—‘Come.’"

A new world is coming, Graham wrote. The paradise that humanity lost in the Garden of Eden will be regained. Christ is coming to conquer evil and establish his perfect rule over all creation

"But until then God wants to give everyone an opportunity to know Christ through repentance and faith," Graham wrote. "Regardless of what society says, we can’t go on much longer in the sea of immorality without judgment coming. We are at a crossroads, and there are profound moral issues at stake. It is time to return to biblical truth."

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Can the Dead Speak?

by Dennis Edwards: 

Can the dead speak? The Bible tells us not to try to communicate with the dead.[1] But does that mean that there is no communication between the dead and the living? How then do we account for the thousands of people who claim to have heard the voice of their loved one warning them of impending danger? Some claim to have smelled their former loved one’s perfume. Others had dreams where their departed loved one spoke to them leaving them a message of love and encouragement. If God doesn’t permit such communication, how can we explain such events? Was it the Devil and therefore evil? But why did it bring good fruit? Or was it the person’s imagination? Or does God allow such communication in time of dire emergency to save a life or encourage someone in time of deep distress or danger?[2]

Just how God operates the spiritual world is much of a mystery to us. As Paul wrote,

“Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am also known.”[3] 

But we do know from God’s Word that He speaks to us in dreams, visions, a still small voice,[4] and through the voice of prophecy.[5] God’s word says, 

“Call upon Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you know not.”[6]

In the gospel of Luke we see Jesus marveling about the centurion’s understanding of the spiritual world.[7] Was he marveling because the centurion had understood how the spirit world works? The centurion had told Jesus not to come into his house but to speak the word and it would be done. The centurion would command his soldiers and they would obey orders and carry messages and do tasks. Was he alluding to Jesus authority in the spirit world similar to his own? Did he mean that Jesus could send an angel to do the work, in this case the healing, and not have to go Himself?

In Daniel, we see the Prince of Persia, a demon, delaying for three weeks the angel who is bringing a message to Daniel.[8] Even in the book of Hebrews we see “a great cloud of witnesses” that compasses us about.[9] The author of Hebrews tells us to help strangers and that some have as such entertained angels unawares.[10]

About three years ago my twenty-seven year old son died in a swimming accident. After finishing his education in England he had been offered a job in Bermuda at $50,000 a year. He took it. Six months later at midnight, I received the phone call that every parent dreads. Your child has gone missing. His clothing has been found on the beach front near to his home. He has missed work for the first time in six months. I immediately got on my knees and cried out to God, as any parent would, imploring for my son’s safety. 

No sooner had I begun to pray, than I saw, in my mind’s eye, a vision. My son was entering into the Heavenly City. A crowd had gathered to meet him. I saw my recently departed father and a close friend who had died from cancer a few months earlier. Everyone was hugging my son with warm embraces, like a great celebration or graduation. At that moment, I knew my son was with the Lord and we would not find him alive. Some will say, “That was your imagination, how could you have a vision?” How, I do not know, but his body was found five days later.

I made arrangements to fly to Bermuda. I wanted to take care of his things and send his body back to Europe where he had been born and lived. While sorting through his things at his rented cottage, a wave of emotions hit me like a tsunami. “Why, God? Why, God? Why did this happen? Why, my son, who was hard-working, friendly and had so many good qualities?” 

I had walked down to cliff where his clothes had been found, above the churning waters of the Caribbean at a local diving spot. The tide was high and rough. If I dove in, could I make it through those troubled waters to the mouth of the little natural pool where bathers would swim peacefully some forty meters away? The voice of conscience told me it was too dangerous. Besides, I knew not where the hidden rocks stood beneath the waves that had injured many a young diver.

When I got back to his apartment, I was still in emotional turmoil. Desperately, with tears forming constantly in my eyes, I opened up my computer and logged in. I had a message on Facebook: my son’s former girlfriend had written me. While she had been taking time to listen to the Lord and receive from Him some encouraging words for me in prophecy, she heard my son’s voice in her voice of conscience. “Tell my father not to be discouraged. Tell him I’m okay. Now I understand all that he had tried to teach me. Tell him I am thankful for all he did and not to worry about me. I am okay.” She thanked the Lord for the privilege of receiving this message and sent it on to me.

As I read those words, tears swelled in my eyes. But they were not tears of despair and anguish, but tears of joy and comfort knowing that my son was okay. He was safe in the arms of Jesus. You may say, “It was a figment of her imagination.” Maybe it was. All I know, I was encouraged and through those words found strength to continue on in the face of one of life’s most difficult tests: the death of one’s child.

You ask “Do the dead speak?” I do not believe they do. I will not go to a clairvoyant or spiritualist or white witch seeking to hear from the beyond. God’s word strictly forbids this and God punished Saul for doing such.[11] Saul should have sought the Lord and been patient for the Lord’s answer. But he went ahead in his own strength and disobeyed the Lord and sought counsel of a clairvoyant. If we are seeking the Lord, He speaks, and He may even send a message from a departed loved one in a dream, a vision, or a still small voice in our conscience, or through the voice of prophecy.

My mother had such an experience when her godfather died. She dreamed about him the same night he died. He told her, he had come to say good-bye. The next morning her auntie called to pass on the message of her godfather’s death, which my mother already knew through her dream. Many people have had experiences similar where God has allowed them to receive a message from a departed loved one.

How God sends the message, is His business. Whether or not it was my son speaking to his former girlfriend or an angel disguising himself as my son or Jesus Himself speaking as my son, or the girlfriend’s own wishful imaginative thinking, I do not know. I do know that I was encouraged and strengthened in that difficult time. I was able to face that dark hour in faith and with the knowledge that my son was okay. He was with Jesus. 

“All things truly do work together for good to them that love God.”[12]

She called upon the Lord and He answered and He gave her just the message I needed to be inspired and encouraged and find the faith to continue on in life’s difficult journey. Her listening to the Lord, accepting the message, and sending it on to me bore good fruit in my life. Jesus said, 

“by their fruits you shall know them.”[13]

Are you calling upon the Lord and learning to hear His still, small voice in your heart? He may have a message for you or for you to pass on to someone in need of love and encouragement. He may even let a dear departed love one send something back to you to help lift your burden in time of trouble. He may give you a vision, or a dream, or you may have a sensation. Or you may hear His still, small voice in your heart telling you, 

‘this is the way, walk in it.’[14] “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you”.

[15] Are you knocking on Heaven’s door for the answers that you need? Please do it. You won’t be disappointed!

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 8:19, Leviticus 19:31

2. http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/amazing/protection_wallace1204.aspx

3. 1 Corinthians 13:12

4. 1 Kings 19:3

5. Joel 2:28

6. Jeremiah 33:3

7. Luke 7:1-9

8. Daniel 10

9. Hebrews 12:1

10. Hebrews 13:2

11. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14

12. Romans 8:28

13. Matthew 7:20

14. Isaiah 32:21

15. Matthew 7:7

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Can the Dead Speak? (expanded version)

by Dennis Edwards:

Can the dead speak? The Bible tells us not to try to communicate with the dead. Houdini spent quite a bit of time trying to communicate with his dead mother and in the process found many fraudulent “spiritualists” or “clairvoyants.”[1] The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah warned, 

“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead.”[2]

In the book of Leviticus God had said through Moses, 

“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”[3] 

Whoopi Goldberg made the concept of hearing from the dead quite popular in the movie “Ghost,”[4]  and there have been books written by various clairvoyants claiming to have received messages from former famous personalities.[5] One thing is for sure, people are interested in the spiritual world and like Houdini long to hear from their departed loved ones

But because God’s word tells us not to go to “white witches” or “spiritualists” or “clairvoyants” to communicate with the dead, does that mean that there is no communication between the dead and the living? Then how do we account for the thousands of people who claim to have heard the voice of their loved one warning them of impending danger? 

Some claim to have smelled their former loved one’s perfume. Others had dreams where their departed loved one spoke to them leaving them a message of love and encouragement. If God doesn’t permit such communication, how can we explain such events? Was it the devil and therefore evil? But why did it bring good fruit? Or was it the person’s imagination? Or did God allow such communication in time of dire emergency to save a life or encourage someone in time of deep distress or danger?[6]

Just how God operates the spiritual world is much of a mystery to us. As Paul wrote, 

“Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am also known.”[7] 

But we do know from God’s word that he speaks to us in dreams, visions, a still small voice,[8] and through the voice of prophecy.[9] God’s word says, 

“Call upon Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you know not.”[10]

In the gospel of Luke we see Jesus marveling about the centurion’s understanding of the spiritual world.[11] Was he marveling because the centurion had understood how the spirit world works? The centurion had told Jesus not to come into his house but to speak the word and it would be done. The centurion would command his soldiers and they would obey orders and carry messages and do tasks. Was he alluding to Jesus authority in the spirit world similar to his own? Did he mean that Jesus could send an angel to do the work, in this case the healing, and not have to go Himself?

In Daniel, we see the Prince of Persia, a demon, delaying for three weeks the angel who is bringing a message to Daniel.[12] Even in the book of Hebrews we see “a great cloud of witnesses” that compasses us about.[13] Could they also be available to work as messengers like Gabriel and Michael? 

In Revelation we see the angel telling John that he is a fellow servant & not to be worshiped. Was the angel or spiritual being actually a former prophet in service for God, as he seems to put himself on even level with John, or was he an actual angel? These questions are hard to answer.[14]The author of Hebrews tells us that some have entertained angels unawares.[15] Therefore, we know that angels do in fact sometimes walk among us.

About six years ago, my twenty-seven year old son died in a swimming accident. After finishing his education in England he had been offered a job in Bermuda at $50,000 a year. He took it. Six months later, at midnight, I received the phone call that every parent dreads. ‘Your child has gone missing.’ His clothing has been found on the beach front near to his home. He has missed work for the first time in six months. I immediately got on my knees and cried out to God, as any parent would, imploring for my son’s safety. 

No sooner had I begun to pray than I saw, in my mind’s eye, a vision. My son was entering into the Heavenly City. A crowd had gathered to meet him. I saw my recently-departed father and a close friend who had died from cancer a few months earlier. Everyone was hugging my son with warm hugs, like a great celebration or graduation. At that moment, I knew my son was with the Lord and we would not find him alive. Some will say, “That was your imagination, how could you have a vision?” How, I do not know, but his body was found five days later.

I made my arrangements to fly to Bermuda. I wanted to take care of his things and send his body back to Europe where he had been born and lived. While sorting through his things in the little cottage he had rented, a wave of emotions hit me like a tsunami. “Why, God? Why, God? Why did this happen? Why my son who was hard-working, friendly and had so many good qualities?” 

I had walked down to cliff where his clothes had been found above the churning waters of the Caribbean at a local diving spot. The tide was high and rough. If I dove in, could I make it through those troubled waters to the mouth of the little natural pool where bathers would swim peacefully some forty meters away? The voice of conscience told me it was too dangerous. Besides, I knew not where the hidden rocks stood beneath the waves that had injured many a young diver.

When I got back to his apartment, I was still in emotional turmoil. Desperately, with tears forming constantly in my eyes, I opened up my computer and logged in. I had a message on Facebook: my son’s former girlfriend had written me. While she had been taking time to listen to the Lord and receive from Him some encouraging words for me in prophecy, she heard my son’s voice in her voice of conscience. “Tell my father not to be discouraged. Tell him I’m okay. Now I understand all that he had tried to teach me. Tell him I am thankful for all he did and not to worry about me. I am okay.” She thanked the Lord for the privilege of receiving this message and sent it on to me.

As I read those words, tears swelled in my eyes. But they were not tears of despair and anguish, but tears of joy and comfort knowing that my son was okay. He was safe in the arms of Jesus. You may say, “It was a figment of her imagination.” Maybe it was. All I know, I was encouraged and through those words found strength to continue on in the face of one of life’s most difficult tests: the death of one’s child.

You ask “Do the dead speak?” I do not believe they do. I will not go to a clairvoyant or spiritualist or white witch seeking to hear from the beyond. God’s word strictly forbids this and God punished Saul for doing such.

"So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.”[16]

Saul should have sought the Lord and been patient for the Lord’s answer. But he went ahead in his own strength and disobeyed the Lord and sought counsel of a clairvoyant, which the Lord strictly forbids. 

Nevertheless, God can let us receive a message from beyond if we are truly seeking Him to encourage us and help us continue on in our fight of faith. If we are seeking the Lord and not to clairvoyants, He may even send a message from a departed loved one in a dream, a whisper, or a still small voice in our conscience. 

My mother had this experience when her godfather died. She dreamed about him the same night he died and he told her he had come to say good-bye. The next morning her auntie called to pass on the message of her godfather’s death which my mother already knew through her dream. Many people have had experiences similar where God has allowed them to receive a message from a departed loved one.

How God sends the message is His business. Whether or not it was my son speaking to his former girlfriend or an angel disguising himself as my son or Jesus himself speaking as my son, or the girlfriend’s own wishful imaginative thinking, I do not know. I do know that I was encouraged and strengthened in that difficult time. I was able to face that dark hour in faith and with the knowledge that my son was okay. He was with Jesus. 

“All things truly do work together for good to them that love God.”[17]

She called upon the Lord and He answered and He gave her just the message I needed to be inspired and encouraged and find the faith to continue on in life’s difficult journey. The result of her listening to the Lord, accepting the message, and sending it on to me bore good fruit in my life. Jesus said,

“and by their fruits you shall know them.”[18] 

Therefore, I can conclude it was from the Lord.

Are you calling upon the Lord and learning to hear His still, small voice in your heart? He may have a message for you. He may even let a dear departed love one send something back to you to help lift your burden in time of trouble. He may give you a vision, or a dream, or you may have a sensation. Or you may hear His still, small voice in your heart telling you, 

‘This is the way, walk in it.’[19] “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you”.[20] 

Are you knocking on Heaven’s door for the answers that you need? Please do it. You won’t be disappointed!

Footnotes

1. http://www.houdinitribute.com/spiritualism.html

2. Isaiah 8:19

3. Leviticus 19:31

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh5b29cM0KA

5. http://paranormal.about.com/od/lifeafterdeathreincarnat/a/Can-The-Dead-Talk-To-Us.htm

6. http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/amazing/protection_wallace1204.aspx

7. 1 Corinthians 13:12

8. 1Kings 19:11-12

9. Joel 2:28

10. Jeremiah 33:3

11. Luke 7:1-9

12. Daniel 10

13. Hebrews 12:1

14. Revelation 19:10

15. Hebrews 13:2

16. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14

17. Romans 8:28

18. Matthew 7:20

19. Isaiah 32:21 

20. Matthew 7:7

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Deus Vê o Indivíduo

Peter Amsterdam

A perspectiva que um cristão tem do mundo permite julgar moralmente grupos de pessoas? Será que podemos rotular uma nação ou um grupo de pessoas como malignos ou anti-Deus e incluir toda a população dessa nação ou cultura?

No caso de calamidades ou desastres naturais, será que poderíamos fazer um julgamento genérico sobre cada vítima?

E o antigo questionamento da razão de catástrofes, sofrimento, e por que Deus permite dor, pesares e miséria no mundo? Será que devemos responder julgando?

Julgar severamente as pessoas foi um aspecto mínimo da mensagem de Jesus. Ele ofereceu amor e misericórdia, algo que Ele disse os religiosos perderam ao tentar cumprir a lei[1]. Ele disse ao povo para amar seus inimigos, abençoar os que os amaldiçoavam e fazer bem aos que os odiavam[2]. Ele disse “não julgueis para que não sejais julgados.”[3]Ensinou que “não veio para destruir vidas, mas salvá-las.”[4]

Vejamos nestes trechos como Jesus respondeu quando Lhe fizeram perguntas ou Ele estava diante de situações em que era preciso julgar as pessoas.



Naquele mesmo tempo estavam presentes alguns que lhe falavam dos galileus cujo sangue Pilatos misturara com os sacrifícios que aqueles realizavam. Respondeu-lhes Jesus: “Pensais vós que esses galileus foram mais pecadores do que todos os galileus, por terem padecido tais coisas? Não, vos digo! Antes, se não vos arrependerdes, todos de igual modo perecereis. Ou aqueles dezoito, sobre os quais caiu a torre de Siloé e os matou, pensais que foram mais culpados do que todos os outros habitantes de Jerusalém? Não, vos digo! Antes, se não vos arrependerdes, todos de igual modo perecereis.”[5]

Completando-se os dias para sua assunção, Jesus manifestou o firme propósito de ir para Jerusalém. Mandou mensageiros adiante de si, os quais entraram numa aldeia de samaritanos, para lhe prepararem pousada; mas não o receberam, porque viram que ele ia para Jerusalém. Os discípulos Tiago e João, vendo isto, perguntaram: Senhor, queres que mandemos que desça fogo do céu e os consuma?” Mas Jesus voltou-se, repreendeu-os, e disse: Vós não sabeis de que espírito sois, pois o Filho do homem não veio para destruir as almas dos homens, mas para salvá-las.”[6]



Jesus disse que não veio julgar o mundo, mas salvá-lo[7]. Só Deus pode julgar nações, e só Ele sabe por que certas coisas acontecem com o povo de um país e não de outro. Paulo até disse que os juízos de Deus são “insondáveis, e Seus caminhos inescrutáveis! Quem compreendeu a mente do Senhor? Ou quem foi o seu conselheiro?”[8]

Não é nosso trabalho nem vocação como cristãos determinar quem é culpado e pecador, ou discernir se os sofrimentos de um povo se devem a este ou àquele pecado. Não cabe a nós fazer julgamentos genéricos sobre as pessoas, pois cada uma prestará contas a Deus individualmente. Ele trata as pessoas no ponto em que se encontram e age em seus corações e vidas de acordo. Cada pessoa que for salva irá diante de Deus, ou no Grande Julgamento do Trono Branco, ou no tribunal de Cristo.[9]

Sabemos que Deus é amor e não quer que nenhum se perca. Ele ama cada homem, mulher e criança, não importa quem são, onde vivem, a cor de sua pele, o que seus ascendentes fizeram ou deixaram de fazer, e no que acreditam ou deixam de acreditar. Ele ama a todos mesmo assim, ainda que sejam depravados ou vivam nas trevas espiritualmente. O cristianismo é tão lindo justamente por causa disso, porque o amor de Deus nos incita a amar a todos e levar a Sua verdade e amor para o máximo de pessoas possível.

Deus olha individualmente. Cada pessoa é ímpar, criada à Sua semelhança, e Ele a ama como se fosse única. Jesus morreu por cada pessoa, para salvá-la. Ele ama e cuida de todos, até mesmo dos que não O conhecem ou receberam, ou inclusive O rejeitaram.

Ele não culpa toda a população de um país pelos males e problemas locais. Uma nação pode prestar contas pelas guerras que fomentou ou sua política externa, ou por ter maltratado as minorias, mas quando falamos de pessoas, elas não podem ser responsabilizadas pelas decisões do governo ou de poderosos lobistas e políticos. Na realidade, muita gente não concorda com as políticas do governo ou nem sabe direito o que o governo faz, ou não têm o poder político para resistir às políticas com as quais não concordam. Existe uma vasta gama de pessoas, e de perspectivas bem diferentes.

Em todo lugar do planeta existem pessoas que precisam de Jesus e Seu amor, solitárias, perdidas, infelizes e em busca de respostas. Em alguns casos, o governo pode estar mal orientado, falido moralmente, ser corrupto ou maligno, mas a população toda não tem culpa. Seria injusto rotular cada cidadão com base no governo ou nas “potestades” (autoridades).

Não importa com quem tenhamos contato, se a pessoa estiver ou não interessada em Jesus, todos merecem sentir um toque do amor e do Espírito de Jesus. Não só por causa de quem são — homens e mulheres como nós, parte do mundo que Deus amou tanto que enviou o Seu Filho para morrer por elas — mas também por sermos cristãos, embaixadores do reino de Deus, discípulos de Jesus que deveriam ser conhecidos pelo seu amor.

O nosso propósito principal é levar as Boas Novas da salvação e o amor de Deus ao máximo de pessoas possível, enquanto possível, vivendo esse amor e o compartilhando com outros.



O amor a todos conquista, e para cativar alguns você precisa ser cativante e estar disposto a se tornar tudo para todos para que possa ganhar alguns. O amor ama o difícil de amar e lança um véu sobre inumeráveis pecados![10]

Deixem‑me enfatizar aqui que o requisito preeminente... para qualquer pessoa na Revolução [por Jesus] — deveria ser a mesma paixão arrebatadora que motivou o apóstolo Paulo e todos os apóstolos, todos os mártires e todo grande homem e mulher de Deus. — Na realidade aquela compaixão irresistível que deveria motivar todo filho de Deus em tudo o que faz e diz, e onde quer que vá, com todas as pessoas, e que aquele grande e fanático apóstolo resumiu nestas poucas e ressonantes palavras que bradaram do fundo do coração de cada verdadeiro cristão em toda a boa ação que tenha feito, e pela qual ele na verdade está disposto a morrer: O amor de Cristo nos constrange!”[11]—David Brandt Berg[12]



Publicado originalmente em agosto de 2010. Editado e republicado em outubro de 2013. Tradução Denise Oliveira. Revisão Hebe Rondon Flandoli.


[1] Mateus 23:23.

[2] Mateus 5:44.

[3] Mateus 7:1.

[4] Lucas 9:56.

[5] Lucas 13:1–5 NVI.

[6] Lucas 9:51–56 NVI.

[7] João 12:47.

[8] Romanos 11:33–34.

[9] Apocalipse 20:11; 2 Coríntios 5:10.

[10] 1 Coríntios 9:22.

[11] 2 Coríntios 5:14.

[12] Publicado originalmente em janeiro de 1972.

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