text:
The Church of God has gone into the entertainment business! People must be amused, and as the church needs the people's money, the church must supply the demand and meet the craving! How else are godless hypocrites to be held together? So the picture show and entertainment . . . take the place of the gospel address and the solemn worship of God. And, thus, Christless souls are lulled to sleep and made to feel "religious" while gratifying every carnal desire under the sanction of the sham called the church! And the end? What an awakening [in eternity]!
. . . We visited Willow Creek Community Church not too long ago, and it seems to have spared no expense in its missions to attract the masses. Looking past the swans gliding across the mirror lake, one sees what could be mistaken for a corporate headquarters or a very upscale shopping mall. Just off the sanctuary is a large bookstore and an extensive eating area supplied by a food court with five different vendors. A jumbo-tron screen allows an overflow crowd or those enjoying a meal to view the proceedings in the main sanctuary. The sanctuary itself is spacious and high tech, complete with three large screens and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems for multimedia, drama, and musical presentations. . . .
Mega-churches across the country have added bowling alleys, NBA regulation basketball courts with bleachers, exercise gyms and spas, locker rooms, auditoriums for concerts and dramatic productions, and Starbucks and McDonald's franchises -- all for the furtherance of the gospel. Or so it is claimed. Although it is true that such churches are packing them in, that's not the whole story in evaluating the success of this latest trend in "doing church.". . .
Evangelical church-growth leaders are adamant that the marketing approach can be applied -- and they have employed it -- without compromising the gospel. Really?
First of all, the gospel and, more significantly, the person of Jesus Christ do not fit into any marketing strategy. They are not "products" to be "sold." They cannot be refashioned or image-adjusted to appeal to the felt needs of our consumer-happy culture. Any attempt to do so compromises to some degree the truth of who Christ is and what He has done for us. For example, if the lost are considered consumers and a basic marketing "commandment" says that the customer must reign supreme, then whatever may be offensive to the lost must be discarded, revamped, or downplayed. . . .
Secondly, if you want to attract the lost on the basis of what might interest them, for the most part you will be appealing to and accommodating their flesh. Wittingly or unwittingly, that seems to be the standard operating procedure of seeker-friendly churches. They mimic what's popular in our culture: top-forty and performance-style music, theatrical productions, stimulating multi-media presentations, and thirty-minutes-or-less positive messages. The latter, more often than not, are topical, therapeutic, and centered in self-fulfillment -- how the Lord can meet one's needs and help solve one's problems. . . .
Thousands of churches here and abroad have completely restructured themselves as outreach centers, for the unchurched. This, by the way, is not biblical. The church is for the maturing and equipping of the saints, who then go out to reach the lost. . . .
The vast majority of those who attend seeker-friendly fellowships profess to be believers. Yet most were drawn to those churches by the same worldly allurements that were meant to entice the unchurched, and they continue to attend, being fed the same biblically anemic diet created for the wooing of unbelievers. At best, they receive the skimmed milk of the Word; at worst, pablum contaminated with "profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called" (1 Tim.6:20). . . .
The overriding message from psychologically driven Willow Creek and Saddleback is that the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit are insufficient for delivering a person from a habitual sin and for transforming his or her life into one that is fruitful and pleasing to God. . . .
Well, it’s been almost a week since my last post. We were 500 miles away from home due to the death of my father-in-law. Getting caught up now is going to take me a while! I figured I may as well start out with a “Random” post based on links I’ve collect the past couple weeks.
Oh joy! Roma Downey has a new TV show. Downey, a New Ager/Roman Catholic, will be highlighting false teachers — as standards of truth!!!!
Erin Benziger gives a perfect example as to why I rarely step into a “Christian” bookstore. They are minefields of aberrant theology, apostasy, heresy, and even outright blasphemy — let alone idol worship!
Freemasons have claimed that Jesus was married and had children, the Mormons have claimed that Jesus was married and had children, the “Da Vinci Code” made similar claims. And if that wasn’t enough people lying, you can buy a new book with the same story! And of course they all say the the wife was Mary Magdalene. Someone really needs to get a new lie.
While this article may be a bit humorous, there is much truth in it. The way so many in our culture see Jesus has no resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible.
Many people claim to have come to Christ due to Billy Graham and his crusades. However, as I have previously pointed out, Billy Graham is not really a good teacher! He may be used by God to reach people, because God can use many things to reach people, but he still has some really rotten teachings and theology. After all, many of those attending his crusades are sent to Roman Catholic churches for further spiritual guidance, and he teaches a form of universalism. Additionally, Graham has very often sanctioned false teachers, and his political affiliation is the Democratic party! I could give a whole lot more reasons why Billy Graham should not be followed or recommended, but I’ll leave that to this article by Elizabeth Prata.
Sola Sisters has a great article about Reconstructionism (and Dominionism), of which I have many times stated is a legalistic and aberrant theological system.
Neil has a good examination of one of the prayers to “Mary” used by the Pope. As Neil notes, this prayer gives Mary the attributes of the Holy Spirit.
If you want to know who to watch out for in regards to bringing the “new spirituality” into the church (stuff like lectio divina, labyrinths, contemplative prayer, Spiritual formation, etc), Lighthouse Trails Research Ministry has a listing of them.
Lastly, Lighthouse Trails also has a report about the damage control at Thomas Nelson in regards to Sarah Young’s book, “Jesus Calling.” Thomas Nelson apparently only cares about false teachings when an uproar is made, since they still publish Benny Hinn.
If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; it the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness, will reign without mitigation or end.
The man whose doctrine is shaky will be shaky in his whole life. . . those who are driven with every wind of doctrine are those who are too lazy to study doctrine. My observation over the years is that the people who have not been taught the truth negatively as well as positively always get carried away by the heresies and cults. . . .
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, quoted in The Banner of Truth magazine, Aug/Sep 1986. Cited in "Quotable," The Berean Call, June 2001.
Today I played for a funeral at a Catholic church 76 miles away. I play for many funerals and weddings at Catholic churches because they have many Irish-descent families, and they like the bagpipes.
Catholic funerals are always so sad for me, because the liturgy and rituals, including the Mass, only demonstrate how lost they are in their traditions, and how burdened these people are with all the works they feel are necessary for salvation. In fact, the priest said of the deceased that he was afraid of dying because he didn't think he was good enough to go to heaven! What a burden!!!
Today, while waiting around, I picked up two items from a display - sort of like a tract rack. They are such good examples of what is wrong with the doctrine of the RCC that I decided I had to write about them!
This picture is the front side of the first one. It is posted by the "Knights of Columbus," and the image is titled, "Immaculate Conception," by Sister Marie de i'Eucharistie.
"We fly to thy protection, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen."
The next painting is a scene from the book of Tobias in the Apocrypha. It is called, "Raphael and Tobias," by Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488).
The prayer on the back of this is called "Prayer for Vocations," and is quite lengthy. And for more information you can contact the Director of Vocations in Dubuque, IA!
"Saint Raphael, Angel Guardian of our Archdiocese of Dubuque, who stands before the Divine Majesty, and is sent by God to bring healing to those who suffer and help those who journey, hear our prayer.
"As you were an Angel Guide to Tobias, attend now to people still on the way towards discovering, embracing, and living God's plan, whether to be: a priest or deacon in the Archdiocese of Dubuque; a religious sister, brother or father; a wife or husband; or a dedicated single person.
"And then, once having arrived at that destination, be our constant companion as we do our part to carry on the Church's mission, as we imitate Jesus' gift of self in service of others, and as we make our pilgrim way through this life to our true home in heaven.
"St. Raphael the Archangel, pray with us that we will all hear, answer, and live our vocation, for the glory of God and the benefit of others. And pray too that we will always have priests to heal and help us in the future.
"Conscious of our need and confident of God's help, we say, Amen! May it be so!"
1. How do they know that "Raphael" is their guardian angel? Did someone in the Dubuque Archdiocese have a vision from God to tell them? Did "Raphael" visit them?
2. How do they know that "Raphael" is sent to help "those who journey"?
3. Why are they praying to an angel?!?! Is there anywhere in the Bible in which people pray to angels? Are we ever instructed to pray to angels?
4. If we can pray directly to God through our mediator, Jesus Christ, what is the purpose of praying to an angel?
5. If every Catholic prayed to "Raphael," wouldn't that mean that, like Mary, he'd have to have the attributes of God?
It is truly sad that Roman Catholics have been so deceived to the point where they have no idea that they have no need of saints or Mary, because they have ONE mediator between them and God (1 Tim. 2:5), and our prayer are to be to the Father in Jesus' name.
Unless you’ve been in a coma, it is difficult to miss the news about the “prayer service” last Friday at the Washington National Cathedral. This was a MUSLIM prayer service in an ostensibly Christian facility.
Can’t you just see Paul inviting the pagans to pray to their gods while assembling with Christians? Perhaps Elijah was wrong to challenge the Baal worshipers?
Even the secular press had an excellent commentary about this event, addressing an issue the Episcopals are obviously totally ignorant of, let alone the issue of theology.
Only one person spoke the truth during this service; a woman who drove from Tennessee just to expose the fraud for what it was. The sad thing is that there were no men with the courage to stand up to this as she did. How many hundreds of thousands of good Christian men within short driving distances would have been able to do the same thing? The defense of the Christian faith is more and more done by women, as men abdicate spiritual leadership.
With all the protest marches in front of abortion clinics, at “gay pride” parades, etc, where were these protesters when Muslims are invited to a “Christian” facility to promote the religion of Islam? If the woman could make a point by disrupting the service, couldn’t a point also have been made by a solitary man outside with a sign?
I’m just making a point, but in reality I doubt if this woman accomplished much. After all, those in charge of that church long ago turned apostate and will not listen to rebuke.
11/27/14 UPDATE: Excellent commentary by Eriwn Lutzer.
It is astonishing how many have come to equate "worship" with loud and fast-paced music where the tragic poverty of the lyrics isn't even noticed because the rhythm excites the soul. Such music is essential, we are told, to attract the new generation. Will they rise to the low level of our estimation of them?
And our church has, unfortunately, accepted this philosophy.
Early in his career, a young friend advised him [Savonarola] that his manner of preaching did not compare favorably to that of a great (and now forgotten) orator of his day. "To which Savonarola made reply, almost in anger, 'These verbal elegancies and ornaments will have to give way to sound doctrine simply preached.'"
Savonarola did not aim to impress the people with his preaching, but with the truth. In fact, his early attempts at preaching were flat and nondescript, but in time, by means of "sound doctrine simply preached," that delivery became so eloquent it both stung and stunned the world.
Here I am still busier than a one-armed wall-paper hanger, and still hoping to have time to continue my review of the book, New Age Bible Versions. And I’m working as quickly as possible to get all my articles about Mormonism transferred over to my new “Anti-Mormon Blog,” while also adding “Random….” posts over there!
I am still trying to keep up with the latest news about false teachings and false teachers so as to warn my readers about these things with these “Random” posts. Meanwhile, I hope the quotes I have been posting here have been thought-provoking or edifying.
I don’t visit “Christian” book stores much, because walking through them gets me riled up to see all the false and heretical teachings being sold as “Christian,” so I apparently missed that Joel Osteen, in collaboration with his wife Victoria, have their own Bible being published. “Hope For Today Bible” features “Notes and Encouragement from Joel & Victoria Osteen.” Just what we need — a Bible polluted with the Osteens’ poison.
I’ve previously reported on the new “Holy Ghost” movie and how unbiblical it is (of course). I came across a YouTube video this week, which I recommend for your viewing, which has an excellent review of the movie. It is 1 hr 36 minutes in length, but it would be well worth your while. I was able to watch/listen to this review by keeping it in one corner of my desktop screen while I worked on other projects — that might be a good way for you to spend the time.
If you’ve never heard of Dr. Scott McQuate, be forewarned that he is a false teacher. Earlier this year The Berean Call exposed some of his teachings, and a reader took issue with them. The latest issue of TBC has a thorough response to the reader, with a good examination of McQuate’s teachings.
Beth Moore seems to never be out of the spotlight with her false teachings. Her teaming up with Joyce Meyer is just one of the things which prove she doesn’t hear from God as she claims! Erin Benziger has a bit more examining of Moore’s teachings.
Lighthouse Trails Research Ministry has a new booklet tract available: “Changing ‘Jesus Calling’ — Damage Control for a False Christ.” You can read it in its entirety on-line.
Can anyone show me from Scripture where Christians are to have exorcism ministries? OF course with the Pope blessing them, that’s just another example of the false teachings of Rome.
Rick Warren and Russell Moore are teaming with the Pope for an “interfaith conference.” Can’t you just imaging Paul telling the Church to have “interfaith conferences” with the pagans of his day?
Mark Driscoll - again. That guy just needs to grow up, have a serious repentance, and give up all ministry ideas. As he plays the victim, he is a disgrace to the body of Christ.
The same subtle pressures today would persuade preachers to get in step with the times and ride the wave of the future. What we need are more preachers out of step with the times, more odd prophets like Micaiah…. The pulpit is not a platform from which to boost the projects of men to bring in a false millennium….
It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. Let me tell you something friend, it is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth, than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It's better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. There is only one Gospel and Paul said, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
Objection is often raised even by some sound in the faith - regarding the exposure of error as being entirely negative and of no real edification. Of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. But the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the New Testament, both of the teaching of our blessed Lord Himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry-namely, showing the Satanic origin and, therefore, the unsettling results of the propagation of erroneous systems which Peter, in his second epistle, so definitely refers to as "damnable heresies."
Our Lord prophesied, "Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." Within our own day, how many false prophets have risen; and oh, how many are the deceived! Paul predicted, "I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch." My own observation is that these "grievous wolves," alone and in packs, are not sparing even the most favored flocks. Undershepherds in these "perilous times" will do well to note the apostle's warning: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers." It is as important in these days as in Paul's - in fact, it is increasingly important - to expose the many types of false teaching that, on every hand, abound more and more.
Many Christians have the misconception that to win the world to Christ we must first ... make unconverted sinners feel comfortable with the Christian message. ... Give them something they want. Put on a show. Entertain them. Avoid sensitive subjects like sin and damnation. .... The strategy is to tantalize non-Christians rather than confront their unbelief. That is altogether incompatible with sound doctrine. It is compromise with the world. James called it spiritual adultery.
John MacArthur, "Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern."
Consider the March for Jesus, which brings literally millions around the world into the streets to “celebrate Jesus.” This massive display of loyalty to Christ is intended to show the world that Christians are a large and powerful segment of society that can’t be suppressed but must be given their rights as much as demonstrating homosexuals. Marches let the politicians know that here is a large voting block [sic] to be appeased.
In The Star of 2000, Jay Gary boasts that “the March for Jesus is becoming the world’s biggest street party.” Is that really why Christ came, so that street parties could be held in His name? March For Jesus literature encourages everyone including Catholics and even Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims to join Christians in the Jesus celebration. How can those who embrace religions and philosophies that oppose Christ express appreciation for Him? Does this not produce pseudofollowers of Christ, as far from the truth as those in John 2, 6 and 8 and as much opposed to the gospel? Gandhi admired Jesus but remained a Hindu whose very admiration for his false “Christ” prevented him from knowing the real Jesus and why He came.
The “March for Jesus” is a total waste of time for Christians. It accomplishes absolutely nothing in the way of preaching the gospel or leading people to Christ.
Truth demands confrontation: loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless. If our reflect action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong. Just as what we may call holiness without love is not God’s kind of holiness, so also what we may call love without holiness, is not God’s kind of love. God is hoy and God is love…. [A] false spirit of accommodation is sweeping the world as well as the church, including those who claim the label of evangelical.
As Dave Hunt notes, all these powers given to Mary by Roman Catholic doctrine and dogma indeed makes a god out of Mary. The Mary of the RCC is a myth and an idol, who has nothing in common with the Mary of the Bible.

lowercased:
the church of god has gone into the entertainment business! people must be amused, and as the church needs the people's money, the church must supply the demand and meet the craving! how else are godless hypocrites to be held together? so the picture show and entertainment . . . take the place of the gospel address and the solemn worship of god. and, thus, christless souls are lulled to sleep and made to feel "religious" while gratifying every carnal desire under the sanction of the sham called the church! and the end? what an awakening [in eternity]!
. . . we visited willow creek community church not too long ago, and it seems to have spared no expense in its missions to attract the masses. looking past the swans gliding across the mirror lake, one sees what could be mistaken for a corporate headquarters or a very upscale shopping mall. just off the sanctuary is a large bookstore and an extensive eating area supplied by a food court with five different vendors. a jumbo-tron screen allows an overflow crowd or those enjoying a meal to view the proceedings in the main sanctuary. the sanctuary itself is spacious and high tech, complete with three large screens and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems for multimedia, drama, and musical presentations. . . .
mega-churches across the country have added bowling alleys, nba regulation basketball courts with bleachers, exercise gyms and spas, locker rooms, auditoriums for concerts and dramatic productions, and starbucks and mcdonald's franchises -- all for the furtherance of the gospel. or so it is claimed. although it is true that such churches are packing them in, that's not the whole story in evaluating the success of this latest trend in "doing church.". . .
evangelical church-growth leaders are adamant that the marketing approach can be applied -- and they have employed it -- without compromising the gospel. really?
first of all, the gospel and, more significantly, the person of jesus christ do not fit into any marketing strategy. they are not "products" to be "sold." they cannot be refashioned or image-adjusted to appeal to the felt needs of our consumer-happy culture. any attempt to do so compromises to some degree the truth of who christ is and what he has done for us. for example, if the lost are considered consumers and a basic marketing "commandment" says that the customer must reign supreme, then whatever may be offensive to the lost must be discarded, revamped, or downplayed. . . .
secondly, if you want to attract the lost on the basis of what might interest them, for the most part you will be appealing to and accommodating their flesh. wittingly or unwittingly, that seems to be the standard operating procedure of seeker-friendly churches. they mimic what's popular in our culture: top-forty and performance-style music, theatrical productions, stimulating multi-media presentations, and thirty-minutes-or-less positive messages. the latter, more often than not, are topical, therapeutic, and centered in self-fulfillment -- how the lord can meet one's needs and help solve one's problems. . . .
thousands of churches here and abroad have completely restructured themselves as outreach centers, for the unchurched. this, by the way, is not biblical. the church is for the maturing and equipping of the saints, who then go out to reach the lost. . . .
the vast majority of those who attend seeker-friendly fellowships profess to be believers. yet most were drawn to those churches by the same worldly allurements that were meant to entice the unchurched, and they continue to attend, being fed the same biblically anemic diet created for the wooing of unbelievers. at best, they receive the skimmed milk of the word; at worst, pablum contaminated with "profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called" (1 tim.6:20). . . .
the overriding message from psychologically driven willow creek and saddleback is that the word of god and the power of the holy spirit are insufficient for delivering a person from a habitual sin and for transforming his or her life into one that is fruitful and pleasing to god. . . .
well, it’s been almost a week since my last post. we were 500 miles away from home due to the death of my father-in-law. getting caught up now is going to take me a while! i figured i may as well start out with a “random” post based on links i’ve collect the past couple weeks.
oh joy! roma downey has a new tv show. downey, a new ager/roman catholic, will be highlighting false teachers — as standards of truth!!!!
erin benziger gives a perfect example as to why i rarely step into a “christian” bookstore. they are minefields of aberrant theology, apostasy, heresy, and even outright blasphemy — let alone idol worship!
freemasons have claimed that jesus was married and had children, the mormons have claimed that jesus was married and had children, the “da vinci code” made similar claims. and if that wasn’t enough people lying, you can buy a new book with the same story! and of course they all say the the wife was mary magdalene. someone really needs to get a new lie.
while this article may be a bit humorous, there is much truth in it. the way so many in our culture see jesus has no resemblance to the jesus of the bible.
many people claim to have come to christ due to billy graham and his crusades. however, as i have previously pointed out, billy graham is not really a good teacher! he may be used by god to reach people, because god can use many things to reach people, but he still has some really rotten teachings and theology. after all, many of those attending his crusades are sent to roman catholic churches for further spiritual guidance, and he teaches a form of universalism. additionally, graham has very often sanctioned false teachers, and his political affiliation is the democratic party! i could give a whole lot more reasons why billy graham should not be followed or recommended, but i’ll leave that to this article by elizabeth prata.
sola sisters has a great article about reconstructionism (and dominionism), of which i have many times stated is a legalistic and aberrant theological system.
neil has a good examination of one of the prayers to “mary” used by the pope. as neil notes, this prayer gives mary the attributes of the holy spirit.
if you want to know who to watch out for in regards to bringing the “new spirituality” into the church (stuff like lectio divina, labyrinths, contemplative prayer, spiritual formation, etc), lighthouse trails research ministry has a listing of them.
lastly, lighthouse trails also has a report about the damage control at thomas nelson in regards to sarah young’s book, “jesus calling.” thomas nelson apparently only cares about false teachings when an uproar is made, since they still publish benny hinn.
if truth be not diffused, error will be; if god and his word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; it the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness, will reign without mitigation or end.
the man whose doctrine is shaky will be shaky in his whole life. . . those who are driven with every wind of doctrine are those who are too lazy to study doctrine. my observation over the years is that the people who have not been taught the truth negatively as well as positively always get carried away by the heresies and cults. . . .
d. martyn lloyd-jones, quoted in the banner of truth magazine, aug/sep 1986. cited in "quotable," the berean call, june 2001.
today i played for a funeral at a catholic church 76 miles away. i play for many funerals and weddings at catholic churches because they have many irish-descent families, and they like the bagpipes.
catholic funerals are always so sad for me, because the liturgy and rituals, including the mass, only demonstrate how lost they are in their traditions, and how burdened these people are with all the works they feel are necessary for salvation. in fact, the priest said of the deceased that he was afraid of dying because he didn't think he was good enough to go to heaven! what a burden!!!
today, while waiting around, i picked up two items from a display - sort of like a tract rack. they are such good examples of what is wrong with the doctrine of the rcc that i decided i had to write about them!
this picture is the front side of the first one. it is posted by the "knights of columbus," and the image is titled, "immaculate conception," by sister marie de i'eucharistie.
"we fly to thy protection, o holy mother of god; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, o glorious and blessed virgin. amen."
the next painting is a scene from the book of tobias in the apocrypha. it is called, "raphael and tobias," by andrea del verrocchio (1435-1488).
the prayer on the back of this is called "prayer for vocations," and is quite lengthy. and for more information you can contact the director of vocations in dubuque, ia!
"saint raphael, angel guardian of our archdiocese of dubuque, who stands before the divine majesty, and is sent by god to bring healing to those who suffer and help those who journey, hear our prayer.
"as you were an angel guide to tobias, attend now to people still on the way towards discovering, embracing, and living god's plan, whether to be: a priest or deacon in the archdiocese of dubuque; a religious sister, brother or father; a wife or husband; or a dedicated single person.
"and then, once having arrived at that destination, be our constant companion as we do our part to carry on the church's mission, as we imitate jesus' gift of self in service of others, and as we make our pilgrim way through this life to our true home in heaven.
"st. raphael the archangel, pray with us that we will all hear, answer, and live our vocation, for the glory of god and the benefit of others. and pray too that we will always have priests to heal and help us in the future.
"conscious of our need and confident of god's help, we say, amen! may it be so!"
1. how do they know that "raphael" is their guardian angel? did someone in the dubuque archdiocese have a vision from god to tell them? did "raphael" visit them?
2. how do they know that "raphael" is sent to help "those who journey"?
3. why are they praying to an angel?!?! is there anywhere in the bible in which people pray to angels? are we ever instructed to pray to angels?
4. if we can pray directly to god through our mediator, jesus christ, what is the purpose of praying to an angel?
5. if every catholic prayed to "raphael," wouldn't that mean that, like mary, he'd have to have the attributes of god?
it is truly sad that roman catholics have been so deceived to the point where they have no idea that they have no need of saints or mary, because they have one mediator between them and god (1 tim. 2:5), and our prayer are to be to the father in jesus' name.
unless you’ve been in a coma, it is difficult to miss the news about the “prayer service” last friday at the washington national cathedral. this was a muslim prayer service in an ostensibly christian facility.
can’t you just see paul inviting the pagans to pray to their gods while assembling with christians? perhaps elijah was wrong to challenge the baal worshipers?
even the secular press had an excellent commentary about this event, addressing an issue the episcopals are obviously totally ignorant of, let alone the issue of theology.
only one person spoke the truth during this service; a woman who drove from tennessee just to expose the fraud for what it was. the sad thing is that there were no men with the courage to stand up to this as she did. how many hundreds of thousands of good christian men within short driving distances would have been able to do the same thing? the defense of the christian faith is more and more done by women, as men abdicate spiritual leadership.
with all the protest marches in front of abortion clinics, at “gay pride” parades, etc, where were these protesters when muslims are invited to a “christian” facility to promote the religion of islam? if the woman could make a point by disrupting the service, couldn’t a point also have been made by a solitary man outside with a sign?
i’m just making a point, but in reality i doubt if this woman accomplished much. after all, those in charge of that church long ago turned apostate and will not listen to rebuke.
11/27/14 update: excellent commentary by eriwn lutzer.
it is astonishing how many have come to equate "worship" with loud and fast-paced music where the tragic poverty of the lyrics isn't even noticed because the rhythm excites the soul. such music is essential, we are told, to attract the new generation. will they rise to the low level of our estimation of them?
and our church has, unfortunately, accepted this philosophy.
early in his career, a young friend advised him [savonarola] that his manner of preaching did not compare favorably to that of a great (and now forgotten) orator of his day. "to which savonarola made reply, almost in anger, 'these verbal elegancies and ornaments will have to give way to sound doctrine simply preached.'"
savonarola did not aim to impress the people with his preaching, but with the truth. in fact, his early attempts at preaching were flat and nondescript, but in time, by means of "sound doctrine simply preached," that delivery became so eloquent it both stung and stunned the world.
here i am still busier than a one-armed wall-paper hanger, and still hoping to have time to continue my review of the book, new age bible versions. and i’m working as quickly as possible to get all my articles about mormonism transferred over to my new “anti-mormon blog,” while also adding “random….” posts over there!
i am still trying to keep up with the latest news about false teachings and false teachers so as to warn my readers about these things with these “random” posts. meanwhile, i hope the quotes i have been posting here have been thought-provoking or edifying.
i don’t visit “christian” book stores much, because walking through them gets me riled up to see all the false and heretical teachings being sold as “christian,” so i apparently missed that joel osteen, in collaboration with his wife victoria, have their own bible being published. “hope for today bible” features “notes and encouragement from joel & victoria osteen.” just what we need — a bible polluted with the osteens’ poison.
i’ve previously reported on the new “holy ghost” movie and how unbiblical it is (of course). i came across a youtube video this week, which i recommend for your viewing, which has an excellent review of the movie. it is 1 hr 36 minutes in length, but it would be well worth your while. i was able to watch/listen to this review by keeping it in one corner of my desktop screen while i worked on other projects — that might be a good way for you to spend the time.
if you’ve never heard of dr. scott mcquate, be forewarned that he is a false teacher. earlier this year the berean call exposed some of his teachings, and a reader took issue with them. the latest issue of tbc has a thorough response to the reader, with a good examination of mcquate’s teachings.
beth moore seems to never be out of the spotlight with her false teachings. her teaming up with joyce meyer is just one of the things which prove she doesn’t hear from god as she claims! erin benziger has a bit more examining of moore’s teachings.
lighthouse trails research ministry has a new booklet tract available: “changing ‘jesus calling’ — damage control for a false christ.” you can read it in its entirety on-line.
can anyone show me from scripture where christians are to have exorcism ministries? of course with the pope blessing them, that’s just another example of the false teachings of rome.
rick warren and russell moore are teaming with the pope for an “interfaith conference.” can’t you just imaging paul telling the church to have “interfaith conferences” with the pagans of his day?
mark driscoll - again. that guy just needs to grow up, have a serious repentance, and give up all ministry ideas. as he plays the victim, he is a disgrace to the body of christ.
the same subtle pressures today would persuade preachers to get in step with the times and ride the wave of the future. what we need are more preachers out of step with the times, more odd prophets like micaiah…. the pulpit is not a platform from which to boost the projects of men to bring in a false millennium….
it is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. it is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. let me tell you something friend, it is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of god. it is better to be hated for telling the truth, than to be loved for telling a lie. it is impossible to find anyone in the bible who was a power for god who did not have enemies and was not hated. it's better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. it is better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. there is only one gospel and paul said, "if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
objection is often raised even by some sound in the faith - regarding the exposure of error as being entirely negative and of no real edification. of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. but the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the new testament, both of the teaching of our blessed lord himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry-namely, showing the satanic origin and, therefore, the unsettling results of the propagation of erroneous systems which peter, in his second epistle, so definitely refers to as "damnable heresies."
our lord prophesied, "many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." within our own day, how many false prophets have risen; and oh, how many are the deceived! paul predicted, "i know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. therefore watch." my own observation is that these "grievous wolves," alone and in packs, are not sparing even the most favored flocks. undershepherds in these "perilous times" will do well to note the apostle's warning: "take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the holy ghost hath made you overseers." it is as important in these days as in paul's - in fact, it is increasingly important - to expose the many types of false teaching that, on every hand, abound more and more.
many christians have the misconception that to win the world to christ we must first ... make unconverted sinners feel comfortable with the christian message. ... give them something they want. put on a show. entertain them. avoid sensitive subjects like sin and damnation. .... the strategy is to tantalize non-christians rather than confront their unbelief. that is altogether incompatible with sound doctrine. it is compromise with the world. james called it spiritual adultery.
john macarthur, "reckless faith: when the church loses its will to discern."
consider the march for jesus, which brings literally millions around the world into the streets to “celebrate jesus.” this massive display of loyalty to christ is intended to show the world that christians are a large and powerful segment of society that can’t be suppressed but must be given their rights as much as demonstrating homosexuals. marches let the politicians know that here is a large voting block [sic] to be appeased.
in the star of 2000, jay gary boasts that “the march for jesus is becoming the world’s biggest street party.” is that really why christ came, so that street parties could be held in his name? march for jesus literature encourages everyone including catholics and even hindus, buddhists and muslims to join christians in the jesus celebration. how can those who embrace religions and philosophies that oppose christ express appreciation for him? does this not produce pseudofollowers of christ, as far from the truth as those in john 2, 6 and 8 and as much opposed to the gospel? gandhi admired jesus but remained a hindu whose very admiration for his false “christ” prevented him from knowing the real jesus and why he came.
the “march for jesus” is a total waste of time for christians. it accomplishes absolutely nothing in the way of preaching the gospel or leading people to christ.
truth demands confrontation: loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless. if our reflect action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong. just as what we may call holiness without love is not god’s kind of holiness, so also what we may call love without holiness, is not god’s kind of love. god is hoy and god is love…. [a] false spirit of accommodation is sweeping the world as well as the church, including those who claim the label of evangelical.
as dave hunt notes, all these powers given to mary by roman catholic doctrine and dogma indeed makes a god out of mary. the mary of the rcc is a myth and an idol, who has nothing in common with the mary of the bible.


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Hereford, popular breed of beef cattle, the product of generations of breeding work on the part of landed proprietors and tenant farmers in the county of Herefordshire (now in Hereford and Worcester county), England. Herefordshire was noted for its luxuriant grasses, and in that district for many generations the Hereford was bred for beef and draft purposes. The characteristic colour, red with a white face and white markings, has been fixed for only a comparatively short time. When the first herdbook was published in 1846, the editor grouped the breed into four classes: mottle-faced, light gray, dark gray, and red with white faces. Twenty-five years later all but the last had practically disappeared. The outstanding characteristics of the breed are uniformity of colour, early maturity, and ability to thrive under adverse conditions.
Hereford bullHereford bull. Henry Elder/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Herefords were first introduced into the United States in 1817 by the politician Henry Clay, who imported a young bull, a cow, and a heifer to his home in Kentucky. In the range areas of North America it has become the predominating breed from Canada on the north to Mexico on the south. In Great Britain it is chiefly bred in the county of Hereford and Worcester and its vicinity, although herds of this breed are found in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The Hereford also has met with much success under range conditions of Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil.
Hereford beef cattle. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

lowercased:
hereford, popular breed of beef cattle, the product of generations of breeding work on the part of landed proprietors and tenant farmers in the county of herefordshire (now in hereford and worcester county), england. herefordshire was noted for its luxuriant grasses, and in that district for many generations the hereford was bred for beef and draft purposes. the characteristic colour, red with a white face and white markings, has been fixed for only a comparatively short time. when the first herdbook was published in 1846, the editor grouped the breed into four classes: mottle-faced, light gray, dark gray, and red with white faces. twenty-five years later all but the last had practically disappeared. the outstanding characteristics of the breed are uniformity of colour, early maturity, and ability to thrive under adverse conditions.
hereford bullhereford bull. henry elder/encyclopædia britannica, inc.
herefords were first introduced into the united states in 1817 by the politician henry clay, who imported a young bull, a cow, and a heifer to his home in kentucky. in the range areas of north america it has become the predominating breed from canada on the north to mexico on the south. in great britain it is chiefly bred in the county of hereford and worcester and its vicinity, although herds of this breed are found in scotland, ireland, and wales. the hereford also has met with much success under range conditions of australia, new zealand, argentina, uruguay, and southern brazil.
hereford beef cattle. encyclopædia britannica, inc.


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We’ve seen it coming. And It’s here now, the end of internet privacy for Australia. The reason is that a mandatory data retention scheme has come into effect today, April 13, 2017. This law requires internet service providers to retain customer metadata when customers use the internet. This metadata can include internet usage statistics, traffic, and even information about application use.
In March of 2015, Australia first passed legislation which started this process. The law stated that telecom providers will be required in the future to log account name, date, time, connection, location data, as well as internet history and activity. From this information, telecom providers can specifically see where users are spending their time, whether on social networking or to visit P2P sites.
ISPs and telecom providers were given a year to install systems to handle a large amount of data. Today marks the end of that deadline, and it marks the beginning of the massive impending data collection that throws privacy out the window.
We’ve been recommending VPN use in Australia ever since this law was first mentioned, so at TorGuard we are glad to see that Digital Rights Watch stands by us in our pursuit of a private internet.
“It’s important that we mark this date – and pause to remember that a detailed picture of the private lives of Australian citizens is being collected by telecommunication companies on behalf of the Government. Many interactions we have in the digital world are being collected and stored by our communications providers, all without adequate safeguards” says Digital Rights Watch Chair, Tim Singleton Norton.
Digital Rights Watch has noticed that VPN use has shown a huge uptick in activity since the legislation first passed. One reason is that users are using Australia VPNs like TorGuard to get around streaming restrictions, unblock websites, to protect themselves in mobile cafes with unsecured Wi-Fi, or to just surf the internet with peace of mind.

lowercased:
we’ve seen it coming. and it’s here now, the end of internet privacy for australia. the reason is that a mandatory data retention scheme has come into effect today, april 13, 2017. this law requires internet service providers to retain customer metadata when customers use the internet. this metadata can include internet usage statistics, traffic, and even information about application use.
in march of 2015, australia first passed legislation which started this process. the law stated that telecom providers will be required in the future to log account name, date, time, connection, location data, as well as internet history and activity. from this information, telecom providers can specifically see where users are spending their time, whether on social networking or to visit p2p sites.
isps and telecom providers were given a year to install systems to handle a large amount of data. today marks the end of that deadline, and it marks the beginning of the massive impending data collection that throws privacy out the window.
we’ve been recommending vpn use in australia ever since this law was first mentioned, so at torguard we are glad to see that digital rights watch stands by us in our pursuit of a private internet.
“it’s important that we mark this date – and pause to remember that a detailed picture of the private lives of australian citizens is being collected by telecommunication companies on behalf of the government. many interactions we have in the digital world are being collected and stored by our communications providers, all without adequate safeguards” says digital rights watch chair, tim singleton norton.
digital rights watch has noticed that vpn use has shown a huge uptick in activity since the legislation first passed. one reason is that users are using australia vpns like torguard to get around streaming restrictions, unblock websites, to protect themselves in mobile cafes with unsecured wi-fi, or to just surf the internet with peace of mind.


text: I am working on a 30 paintings in 30 days challenge this month doing them as 10 minute paintings. This is my first one of a beautiful late summer scene in Bristol. Photo reference by Photographer Steve Lyddon. This is an original painting , painted with acrylics on 5" x 7" canvas board, completed with a coat of varnish. Signed by the Artist Gloria Ester, and comes with an Authentication Certificate. (C)ARTstraussa watermark does not appear on actual painting.All rights reserved.

lowercased: i am working on a 30 paintings in 30 days challenge this month doing them as 10 minute paintings. this is my first one of a beautiful late summer scene in bristol. photo reference by photographer steve lyddon. this is an original painting , painted with acrylics on 5" x 7" canvas board, completed with a coat of varnish. signed by the artist gloria ester, and comes with an authentication certificate. (c)artstraussa watermark does not appear on actual painting.all rights reserved.


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ReSound EnyaTM delivers the excellent sound quality and speech understanding that we have come to expect from GN ReSound in discreet, durable designs. It's their new wireless hearing aid range and you can stream your favourite sounds directly to your hearing aids with their excellent 2.4 GHz wireless accessories. You can also have deeper control of your hearing aids with the Resound ControlTM app. We will be introducing them to our line up of hearing devices in Glasgow.
Many of life's pleasures depend on your ability to hear well, even just the joy of good conversation. ReSound Enya™ delivers excellent sound quality so you can enjoy your life with less effort. Thanks to advanced features, you'll understand clear speech and a comfortable listening experience with ease. Allowing you to experience the simple pleasure of spending quality time with your loved ones.
The Enya is a wireless range so you can enjoy easy, relaxing conversations on the phone, watching TV with your family or listening to your favourite music in stereo. Simply pair your ReSound Enya™ wireless hearing aids to your ReSound Unite™ wireless accessory and stream crystal clear sound directly to your ears.
They have also made sure that they connect to your smart phone with the ReSound Control appTM which gives you more power over your hearing aids. You can discreetly control the volume and program of your hearing aids from your smart phone with the free, easy-to-use Control app which is available for both iOS and Android.
With ReSound wireless accessories, you can stream sound directly to your hearing aids, whether you want to hear a friend at the concert or your favorite TV program. They are easy to use and best of all, you do not need to wear a streamer around your neck.

lowercased:
resound enyatm delivers the excellent sound quality and speech understanding that we have come to expect from gn resound in discreet, durable designs. it's their new wireless hearing aid range and you can stream your favourite sounds directly to your hearing aids with their excellent 2.4 ghz wireless accessories. you can also have deeper control of your hearing aids with the resound controltm app. we will be introducing them to our line up of hearing devices in glasgow.
many of life's pleasures depend on your ability to hear well, even just the joy of good conversation. resound enya™ delivers excellent sound quality so you can enjoy your life with less effort. thanks to advanced features, you'll understand clear speech and a comfortable listening experience with ease. allowing you to experience the simple pleasure of spending quality time with your loved ones.
the enya is a wireless range so you can enjoy easy, relaxing conversations on the phone, watching tv with your family or listening to your favourite music in stereo. simply pair your resound enya™ wireless hearing aids to your resound unite™ wireless accessory and stream crystal clear sound directly to your ears.
they have also made sure that they connect to your smart phone with the resound control apptm which gives you more power over your hearing aids. you can discreetly control the volume and program of your hearing aids from your smart phone with the free, easy-to-use control app which is available for both ios and android.
with resound wireless accessories, you can stream sound directly to your hearing aids, whether you want to hear a friend at the concert or your favorite tv program. they are easy to use and best of all, you do not need to wear a streamer around your neck.


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Palomar San Diego and Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach are feeling festive over Feb. 29.
Staying at the Shorebreak Hotel in Surf City USA on Monday, Feb. 29? Rates are starting at $29. Dig a suite? Those are $229.
CIRCLE THE DATE: We don't typically grab a red pen and circle an empty date on the calendar, one that lacks appointments or must-dos or special events. (And how much we actually grab red pens and paper calendars these days is another topic, though many of us remain devoted to the classic way of time-keeping.) Here's a riddle though: Why would you circle an empty date? For what reason? It might be your birthday, yes, because we humans have a charming way of noting our birthdays on our own calendars. But it also might be February 29, a date chock full of lore and rarity and a bit of calendar-cool cachet. We want to mark it, remember it is coming, and even if we don't have plans, we want to make some. A few hotels and destinations around California are helping us out on the Leap Day front, in terms of filling it up with something pretty nifty, and helping us to save cash while we do so. Look to Kimpton Hotels, which is offering a pair of Monday, Feb. 29 deals at properties in San Diego and Huntington Beach.
IS THE NUMBER "29" INVOLVED? You guessed it: It very much is. But it doesn't apply to the rooms, right, as in rates beginning at $29? Hold up right there: It actually does. Quite often when "29" comes into play it won't cover a stay, but at both Palomar San Diego and Shorebreak Hotel in Surf City USA, that's the kick-off point for room rates. The Shorebreak is also serving up suites for $229, if that's your pleasure, while Palomar San Diego has a few add-ons at that price point, including a "60-minute spa treatment at Nature's Spa by Jurlique" for twenty nine bucks as well as other goodies tagged at that amount. The package at Palomar is called S'Leap, Spa and Dine for $29, while you'll just need to inquire after the Leap Day package at Shorebreak Hotel. Sunshine, surf-close stays, and savings on the last day of February? Which just happens to be that unusual extra day? It feels special enough to circle on the calendar, whether anything is currently penned in on February 29 or not.

lowercased:
palomar san diego and shorebreak hotel in huntington beach are feeling festive over feb. 29.
staying at the shorebreak hotel in surf city usa on monday, feb. 29? rates are starting at $29. dig a suite? those are $229.
circle the date: we don't typically grab a red pen and circle an empty date on the calendar, one that lacks appointments or must-dos or special events. (and how much we actually grab red pens and paper calendars these days is another topic, though many of us remain devoted to the classic way of time-keeping.) here's a riddle though: why would you circle an empty date? for what reason? it might be your birthday, yes, because we humans have a charming way of noting our birthdays on our own calendars. but it also might be february 29, a date chock full of lore and rarity and a bit of calendar-cool cachet. we want to mark it, remember it is coming, and even if we don't have plans, we want to make some. a few hotels and destinations around california are helping us out on the leap day front, in terms of filling it up with something pretty nifty, and helping us to save cash while we do so. look to kimpton hotels, which is offering a pair of monday, feb. 29 deals at properties in san diego and huntington beach.
is the number "29" involved? you guessed it: it very much is. but it doesn't apply to the rooms, right, as in rates beginning at $29? hold up right there: it actually does. quite often when "29" comes into play it won't cover a stay, but at both palomar san diego and shorebreak hotel in surf city usa, that's the kick-off point for room rates. the shorebreak is also serving up suites for $229, if that's your pleasure, while palomar san diego has a few add-ons at that price point, including a "60-minute spa treatment at nature's spa by jurlique" for twenty nine bucks as well as other goodies tagged at that amount. the package at palomar is called s'leap, spa and dine for $29, while you'll just need to inquire after the leap day package at shorebreak hotel. sunshine, surf-close stays, and savings on the last day of february? which just happens to be that unusual extra day? it feels special enough to circle on the calendar, whether anything is currently penned in on february 29 or not.


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Software has the highest perceived value, and it often sells like hot cakes, but the problem is that most people hire the wrong programmer and lose money.
Most people will go and create a job post on a freelancing site to find the first programmer that comes along.Oftentimes the situation is wonderful in the beginning, but then just gets worse over time.
With this 8-part video course you will learn how to develop WordPress plug-ins for a fraction of the cost and how to find the right programmer.

lowercased:
software has the highest perceived value, and it often sells like hot cakes, but the problem is that most people hire the wrong programmer and lose money.
most people will go and create a job post on a freelancing site to find the first programmer that comes along.oftentimes the situation is wonderful in the beginning, but then just gets worse over time.
with this 8-part video course you will learn how to develop wordpress plug-ins for a fraction of the cost and how to find the right programmer.


text:
“In these criticisms [of our ability to foresee the future] there is a tacit assumption that being able to predict the future accurately is the only useful kind of conversation about the future. (…). However, consumer electronic brands trying to compete in a new market are attempting to play a role in the future of that market. And in this case, it is not correctly predicting the market that is important, it is shaping it so that you can lead. (…). When there is a chance of agency in the future, then there is value in talking about it other than to predict it precisely.’ - Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow: a modest defence of futurology.
“As new design fictions come flickering across our screens, we need to judge them not just in terms of the appeal of plausibility of their story-telling, but in terms of the quality of their thinking.” – Anne-Marie Willis.
“How can small objects speak of much bigger things? We’re using these props as catalysts for the visitor’s imagination.” – Fiona Raby in Are nuclear trains and cars made of skin? The future of Travel? By Oliver Wainwright, April 30, 2013, The Guardian.
“We are very suspicious of the idea that designers should think on behalf of people (…). Historically there has always been the master architect or designer, showing us what the world should be. But we see our role as sparking thinking about the future.” – Anthony Dunne in Are nuclear trains and cars made of skin? The future of Travel? By Oliver Wainwright, April 30, 2013, The Guardian.
The great existential challenges facing the human species can be traced, in part, to the fact that we have underdeveloped discursive practices for thinking possible worlds ‘out loud’, performatively and materially, in the register of experience.
The general purpose of futures studies could be regarded as the provision of tools for the invention and pursuit of preferred futures; that is, the reconciliation of hopes and expectations. But it begins and ends, finally, with what any individual does in relation to those things.
To design, futures brings a holistic and systematic view of the range of longer-term impacts of today’s decisions; and design brings a concrete, communicatively potent form of exploration and an ethos of pragmatic efficacy to futures.
My vision of what a futurist can and should be does not primarily entail telling people what the future can or should be, but consists in encouraging and enabling as many as possible to make such discoveries for themselves.
futures is ultimately about becoming aware of, and then improving in the present, the range, robustness and rigour of our own images of the future.
The ultimate reason to engage in futures work, then, and especially to create scenarios – which are merely tools to help us think – is to enrich our perceptions and options in the evolving present.
The world they imagine living in 30 years later may be going to hell in a handbasket, with bus strikes and terrorist attacks as far as the eye can see, but in the essay about themselves, there tends to be no sign of society’s challenges, their lives are mysteriously insulated. To recognise this mismatch, and begin reconciling personal expectations with those at the community level, is among the first signs of increased futures literacy.
As things are remade, when lines are redrawn, on however large or small a scale, the political is activated.
Our ability to imagine difference is undoubtedly imperfect, and limited, but we do have one, and it can be cultivated: indeed design, futures, and critical politics are all approaches to accomplishing just that.
People can and should indeed cultivate a habit of ‘thinking the unthinkable’. The difference is one of rationale – constantly to expand horizons, generate new possibilities, and pursue preferred worlds, rather than to prop up existing ways of ordering things.
We designed our way into this mess, we must design our way out.
Alternative possibilities exist, and failure to act is also a choice, in effect, for the momentum of the status quo.
To be sure, some of the largest challenges that humans presently face could be said to result from insufficient ‘futurity’ being built into the designed world (this is one way to restate the argument of Cradle to Cradle, for instance) and so, using alternative futures to produce things more wisely, in a more future-proof fashion, as it were, would be a way to address this.
Life in futures work entails constant labour on the frontier of acceptability. Those whose thinking would benefit most from a plural futures perspective are sceptical or uninterested, while those predisposed to be aware and interested for that reason do not need it as much.
We must go beyond ‘jamming’ existing futures communications, and actively elaborate alternatives.
A future scenario is a discursive technology at the what if end of the spectrum. It is first and foremost a thought experiment.
As Whitehead reminds us, it is the business of the future to be dangerous – which makes it our business to be able, at certain times, to conjure with that danger in order to navigate it more wisely.
Somewhere along the line the balance needs to shift from guerrilla futurist agitation, to a more mundane, ordinary, and embedded use of futures thinking.
A foresight culture therefore emerges at the dawn of the 21st century. It is a culture that routinely thinks long-term, takes future generations seriously, learns its way towards sustainability and brings the whole earth back from the brink of catastrophe.
Current futures practice is one of special occasions; here we are speaking of a futures of everyday life.
‘Future-shock therapy’ is concerned with creating maximum impact, ideally triggering some sort of realisation that a particular future scenario, perhaps insufficiently considered up until that point, may be possible. (…) Future-shock therapy is the guerrilla futurist’s tactic of first resort.‘Ambient foresight’ is a contrasting idea of building futures awareness subtly, into the mental environment. Rather than demanding attention with fireworks, an ‘ambient’ future awareness is gentle, or perhaps almost invisible. They are, then, a pair of fundamentally different ways of choreographing attention, polar opposites in a sense. Both are valuable, but for different purposes; they both adjust how we experience time, but use different temporal strategies. The former optimises for impact now, the latter for sustainability. One is explicit, uninvited, disruptive, provocative; the other is implicit, incidental, enabling, and subtle. Future-shock therapy is fireworks, ambient foresight is wallpaper. Ambient foresight contains the seed of an idea for gentle suggestions and decisional inputs, relating especially to you, right now, that may help.
It seems to me that the final aim, the noble end-game for the futures profession (albeit rarely articulated within the field), as being actually to make itself redundant. In a social foresight culture, the job description ‘futurist’ would probably be unnecessary.
In a society where futures are a reflexive, ordinary part of everyday life, we would be constantly envisioning, forecasting, fine-tuning and collectively deciding what to do next. We would be designing and redesigning society on a collective, ongoing basis.
It's an acknowledgement of the need for collaborative, grassroots futures work, as opposed to the more predictive guru model, the long history of which clearly overshadows participatory, exploratory approaches to the future in the public mind.
Later, when I had lost this happiness, I clearly understood these connections without deriving the slightest benefit or comfort from them. When something precious and irretrievable is lost, we feel we have awakened from a dream. In my case this feeling is strangely correct, for my happiness did indeed arise from the same secret as the happiness in dreams; it arose from the freedom to experience everything imaginable simultaneously, to exchange outward and inward easily, to move Time and Space about like scenes in a theatre. And as we League brothers travelled throughout the world without motor-cars or ships, as we conquered the war-shattered world by our faith and transformed it into Paradise, we creatively brought the past, the future and the fictitious into the present moment.
All these images – the starship, the space colony, the lapis – are precursory images. They follow naturally from the idea that history is the shock wave of eschatology. As one closes the distance with the eschatological object, the reflections it is throwing off resemble more and more the thing itself. In the final moment the Unspeakable stands revealed. There are no more reflections of the Mystery. The Mystery in all its nakedness is seen, and nothing else exists. But what it is, decency can safely scarcely hint; nevertheless, it is the crowning joy of futurism to seek anticipation of it.
In the latter case the course was easier and more material. With suitable mechanical aid a mind would project itself forward in time, feeling its dim, extra-sensory way till it approached the desired period. Then, after preliminary trials, it would seize on the best discoverable representative of the highest of that period's life-forms. It would enter the organism's brain and set up therein its own vibrations, while the displaced mind would strike back to the period of the displacer, remaining in the latter's body till a reverse process was set up.
The projected mind, in the body of the organism of the future, would then pose as a member of the race whose outward form it wore, learning as quickly as possible all that could be learned of the chosen age and its massed information and techniques.
Meanwhile the displaced mind, thrown back to the displacer's age and body, would be carefully guarded. It would be kept from harming the body it occupied, and would be drained of all its knowledge by trained questioners. Often it could be questioned in its own language, when previous quests into the future had brought back records of that language.
If the mind came from a body whose language the Great Race could not physically reproduce, clever machines would be made, on which the alien speech could be played as on a musical instrument.
The Great Race's members were immense rugose cones ten feet high, and with head and other organs attached to foot-thick, distensible limbs spreading from the apexes. They spoke by the clicking or scraping of huge paws or claws attached to the end of two of their four limbs, and walked by the expansion and contraction of a viscous layer attached to their vast, ten-foot bases.
As a matter of fact, in reality our relation both to the past and to the future is far more complicated than it seems to us. In the past, behind us, lies not only that which really happened, but that which could have been. In the same way, in the future lies not only that which will be, but everything that may be.
The past and the future are equally undetermined, equally exist in all their possibilities, and equally exist simultaneously with the present.
By time we mean the distance separating events in the order of their succession and binding them in different wholes. This distance lies in a direction not contained in three-dimensional space, therefore it will be the new dimension of space.
This new dimension satisfies all possible requirements of the fourth dimension on the ground of the preceding reasoning.

lowercased:
“in these criticisms [of our ability to foresee the future] there is a tacit assumption that being able to predict the future accurately is the only useful kind of conversation about the future. (…). however, consumer electronic brands trying to compete in a new market are attempting to play a role in the future of that market. and in this case, it is not correctly predicting the market that is important, it is shaping it so that you can lead. (…). when there is a chance of agency in the future, then there is value in talking about it other than to predict it precisely.’ - don’t stop thinking about tomorrow: a modest defence of futurology.
“as new design fictions come flickering across our screens, we need to judge them not just in terms of the appeal of plausibility of their story-telling, but in terms of the quality of their thinking.” – anne-marie willis.
“how can small objects speak of much bigger things? we’re using these props as catalysts for the visitor’s imagination.” – fiona raby in are nuclear trains and cars made of skin? the future of travel? by oliver wainwright, april 30, 2013, the guardian.
“we are very suspicious of the idea that designers should think on behalf of people (…). historically there has always been the master architect or designer, showing us what the world should be. but we see our role as sparking thinking about the future.” – anthony dunne in are nuclear trains and cars made of skin? the future of travel? by oliver wainwright, april 30, 2013, the guardian.
the great existential challenges facing the human species can be traced, in part, to the fact that we have underdeveloped discursive practices for thinking possible worlds ‘out loud’, performatively and materially, in the register of experience.
the general purpose of futures studies could be regarded as the provision of tools for the invention and pursuit of preferred futures; that is, the reconciliation of hopes and expectations. but it begins and ends, finally, with what any individual does in relation to those things.
to design, futures brings a holistic and systematic view of the range of longer-term impacts of today’s decisions; and design brings a concrete, communicatively potent form of exploration and an ethos of pragmatic efficacy to futures.
my vision of what a futurist can and should be does not primarily entail telling people what the future can or should be, but consists in encouraging and enabling as many as possible to make such discoveries for themselves.
futures is ultimately about becoming aware of, and then improving in the present, the range, robustness and rigour of our own images of the future.
the ultimate reason to engage in futures work, then, and especially to create scenarios – which are merely tools to help us think – is to enrich our perceptions and options in the evolving present.
the world they imagine living in 30 years later may be going to hell in a handbasket, with bus strikes and terrorist attacks as far as the eye can see, but in the essay about themselves, there tends to be no sign of society’s challenges, their lives are mysteriously insulated. to recognise this mismatch, and begin reconciling personal expectations with those at the community level, is among the first signs of increased futures literacy.
as things are remade, when lines are redrawn, on however large or small a scale, the political is activated.
our ability to imagine difference is undoubtedly imperfect, and limited, but we do have one, and it can be cultivated: indeed design, futures, and critical politics are all approaches to accomplishing just that.
people can and should indeed cultivate a habit of ‘thinking the unthinkable’. the difference is one of rationale – constantly to expand horizons, generate new possibilities, and pursue preferred worlds, rather than to prop up existing ways of ordering things.
we designed our way into this mess, we must design our way out.
alternative possibilities exist, and failure to act is also a choice, in effect, for the momentum of the status quo.
to be sure, some of the largest challenges that humans presently face could be said to result from insufficient ‘futurity’ being built into the designed world (this is one way to restate the argument of cradle to cradle, for instance) and so, using alternative futures to produce things more wisely, in a more future-proof fashion, as it were, would be a way to address this.
life in futures work entails constant labour on the frontier of acceptability. those whose thinking would benefit most from a plural futures perspective are sceptical or uninterested, while those predisposed to be aware and interested for that reason do not need it as much.
we must go beyond ‘jamming’ existing futures communications, and actively elaborate alternatives.
a future scenario is a discursive technology at the what if end of the spectrum. it is first and foremost a thought experiment.
as whitehead reminds us, it is the business of the future to be dangerous – which makes it our business to be able, at certain times, to conjure with that danger in order to navigate it more wisely.
somewhere along the line the balance needs to shift from guerrilla futurist agitation, to a more mundane, ordinary, and embedded use of futures thinking.
a foresight culture therefore emerges at the dawn of the 21st century. it is a culture that routinely thinks long-term, takes future generations seriously, learns its way towards sustainability and brings the whole earth back from the brink of catastrophe.
current futures practice is one of special occasions; here we are speaking of a futures of everyday life.
‘future-shock therapy’ is concerned with creating maximum impact, ideally triggering some sort of realisation that a particular future scenario, perhaps insufficiently considered up until that point, may be possible. (…) future-shock therapy is the guerrilla futurist’s tactic of first resort.‘ambient foresight’ is a contrasting idea of building futures awareness subtly, into the mental environment. rather than demanding attention with fireworks, an ‘ambient’ future awareness is gentle, or perhaps almost invisible. they are, then, a pair of fundamentally different ways of choreographing attention, polar opposites in a sense. both are valuable, but for different purposes; they both adjust how we experience time, but use different temporal strategies. the former optimises for impact now, the latter for sustainability. one is explicit, uninvited, disruptive, provocative; the other is implicit, incidental, enabling, and subtle. future-shock therapy is fireworks, ambient foresight is wallpaper. ambient foresight contains the seed of an idea for gentle suggestions and decisional inputs, relating especially to you, right now, that may help.
it seems to me that the final aim, the noble end-game for the futures profession (albeit rarely articulated within the field), as being actually to make itself redundant. in a social foresight culture, the job description ‘futurist’ would probably be unnecessary.
in a society where futures are a reflexive, ordinary part of everyday life, we would be constantly envisioning, forecasting, fine-tuning and collectively deciding what to do next. we would be designing and redesigning society on a collective, ongoing basis.
it's an acknowledgement of the need for collaborative, grassroots futures work, as opposed to the more predictive guru model, the long history of which clearly overshadows participatory, exploratory approaches to the future in the public mind.
later, when i had lost this happiness, i clearly understood these connections without deriving the slightest benefit or comfort from them. when something precious and irretrievable is lost, we feel we have awakened from a dream. in my case this feeling is strangely correct, for my happiness did indeed arise from the same secret as the happiness in dreams; it arose from the freedom to experience everything imaginable simultaneously, to exchange outward and inward easily, to move time and space about like scenes in a theatre. and as we league brothers travelled throughout the world without motor-cars or ships, as we conquered the war-shattered world by our faith and transformed it into paradise, we creatively brought the past, the future and the fictitious into the present moment.
all these images – the starship, the space colony, the lapis – are precursory images. they follow naturally from the idea that history is the shock wave of eschatology. as one closes the distance with the eschatological object, the reflections it is throwing off resemble more and more the thing itself. in the final moment the unspeakable stands revealed. there are no more reflections of the mystery. the mystery in all its nakedness is seen, and nothing else exists. but what it is, decency can safely scarcely hint; nevertheless, it is the crowning joy of futurism to seek anticipation of it.
in the latter case the course was easier and more material. with suitable mechanical aid a mind would project itself forward in time, feeling its dim, extra-sensory way till it approached the desired period. then, after preliminary trials, it would seize on the best discoverable representative of the highest of that period's life-forms. it would enter the organism's brain and set up therein its own vibrations, while the displaced mind would strike back to the period of the displacer, remaining in the latter's body till a reverse process was set up.
the projected mind, in the body of the organism of the future, would then pose as a member of the race whose outward form it wore, learning as quickly as possible all that could be learned of the chosen age and its massed information and techniques.
meanwhile the displaced mind, thrown back to the displacer's age and body, would be carefully guarded. it would be kept from harming the body it occupied, and would be drained of all its knowledge by trained questioners. often it could be questioned in its own language, when previous quests into the future had brought back records of that language.
if the mind came from a body whose language the great race could not physically reproduce, clever machines would be made, on which the alien speech could be played as on a musical instrument.
the great race's members were immense rugose cones ten feet high, and with head and other organs attached to foot-thick, distensible limbs spreading from the apexes. they spoke by the clicking or scraping of huge paws or claws attached to the end of two of their four limbs, and walked by the expansion and contraction of a viscous layer attached to their vast, ten-foot bases.
as a matter of fact, in reality our relation both to the past and to the future is far more complicated than it seems to us. in the past, behind us, lies not only that which really happened, but that which could have been. in the same way, in the future lies not only that which will be, but everything that may be.
the past and the future are equally undetermined, equally exist in all their possibilities, and equally exist simultaneously with the present.
by time we mean the distance separating events in the order of their succession and binding them in different wholes. this distance lies in a direction not contained in three-dimensional space, therefore it will be the new dimension of space.
this new dimension satisfies all possible requirements of the fourth dimension on the ground of the preceding reasoning.


text:
Megapolis is an city building game developed by Social Quantum for iOS and Android platforms. Manage the finances of your own city and design and develop primary infrastructure. Trade materials and build alliances with neighbors. Challenge your friends to create the most successful city.
There are more than 500 buildings and sites, hundreds of construction materials and you can expand your city both on land and over the sea.
Megapolis is an city building game where you manage the finances of your own city and design and develop primary infrastructure. Trade materials and build alliances with neighbors. Challenge your friends to create the most successful city.
Welcome to the Megapolis Cheats and Codes and Tips page where our team of contributors will help you with a set of cheats, codes, hints, tips and unlockables.

lowercased:
megapolis is an city building game developed by social quantum for ios and android platforms. manage the finances of your own city and design and develop primary infrastructure. trade materials and build alliances with neighbors. challenge your friends to create the most successful city.
there are more than 500 buildings and sites, hundreds of construction materials and you can expand your city both on land and over the sea.
megapolis is an city building game where you manage the finances of your own city and design and develop primary infrastructure. trade materials and build alliances with neighbors. challenge your friends to create the most successful city.
welcome to the megapolis cheats and codes and tips page where our team of contributors will help you with a set of cheats, codes, hints, tips and unlockables.


text:
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lowercased:
have you dreamed for a home that is always clean and cozy? and have you discovered that cleaning requires too much time and effort you can not afford? perhaps the time has come for you to trust best london cleaning to take this burden off your shoulders. we are a cleaning company offering a variety of services throughout all london boroughs within m25 ring.
pulse cleaning services (0800 093 1559) provides a comprehensive and cost effective range of professional office and commercial cleaning services to businesses throughout south east england including kent, sussex and south london, .
letsclean.co.uk ltd specialise in all one off cleans, mainly pre and end of tenancy cleans through out surrey, hampshire, berkshire, middlesex and london. other services we provide are builders cleans,spring cleans, professional carpet & upholstery cleaning, oven cleaning, window cleaning, high pressure patio and external masionary cleaning. letsclean.co.uk has over 15 years experience in end of tenancy cleans and guarantee total customer satifaction and reach standards required for check outs,call us today for a free no obligation quote.
bright & beautiful is an award-winning concept in domestic cleaning services, providing eco-friendly cleaning, tidying, laundry and ironing; with the highest standards of security and service. if you are busy caring for your work, your home and your family then life can get very stressful. bright & beautiful offers affordable domestic cleaning services to take care of your home, so you can take care of yourself. we only recruit the highest quality professional cleaners and train them to our exact cleaning standards.


text:
Now you probably already know that we’re big fans of Social Media. We’ve done around 10 episodes on this already. But something we find a lot of people struggle with is how spending time on social relates to getting more business.
The problem is that the connection isn’t that clear.
You know social works well for some businesses, but it seems like a lot of trial and error - and it’s hard to tell if conversions are related social media, or something else.
First let's look at a good method for for using social media for business.
If you are writing blogs, creating infographics or videos, you should definitely be sharing them on your social media channels - and - they should have a link back to the relevant content on your website. You should also be using paid promotion to extend the reach of this content past your existing followers.
Now what you want to look for is engagement. Engagement is when someone interacts with a social post - this can mean “liking”, “favoriting” or “upvoting” - but what you really want to see is comments, shares and tagging, as this is what gets your post seen by friends of friends of friends.
Social media is a great way to find what is resonating with your potential customers. The content you post that has higher engagement on social media is more valuable to you potential customers, and will perform better in other marketing channels, such as organic search.
Put plainly, if it works on social media, it’s good content overall. The difference with social media is that you get feedback almost instantly.
A lot of people think social signals are a ranking factor for search, but according to Google’s Matt Cutts, google doesn’t check your social shares. It’s much more simple: good content on social media is good content anywhere.
Now speaking of google, lets take a look at social media in google analytics.
If you look in your acquisition tab, you can see that there’s a channels section under all traffic. This is where you see all your traffic categorised.
What you probably didn’t know is that your “direct” traffic is also usually 70% from social media also. This is known as “Dark Social” traffic - which is not a sinister as it sounds - it’s just social media traffic that is not allowing as much tracking data.
When someone finds your content on social, they may have their privacy settings set very high. Google analytics is not allowed to see where this person came from, so it will add them under your “direct” traffic.
So keep in mind when you are reviewing your social media performance, that your social traffic is usually more than what is shown. And if you are getting conversions in direct traffic, there’s a good chance it was thanks to social media.
And speaking of conversions, if you are using social media for promoting your business, you should definitely have conversion tracking setup. This is done by getting your tracking code and adding it to your thankyou page after an enquiry or purchase.
This will give you a bottom line when you are checking your social media insights, and is especially important if you are using paid advertising on your social channels.
On facebook for example, your “tracking pixel” will allow you to automatically show your content to display to groups of people that convert higher.
And that’s about all we have time for today folks, as always if you have any questions, or want us to do a video on a certain topic, just drop a comment below, send or send us an email.

lowercased:
now you probably already know that we’re big fans of social media. we’ve done around 10 episodes on this already. but something we find a lot of people struggle with is how spending time on social relates to getting more business.
the problem is that the connection isn’t that clear.
you know social works well for some businesses, but it seems like a lot of trial and error - and it’s hard to tell if conversions are related social media, or something else.
first let's look at a good method for for using social media for business.
if you are writing blogs, creating infographics or videos, you should definitely be sharing them on your social media channels - and - they should have a link back to the relevant content on your website. you should also be using paid promotion to extend the reach of this content past your existing followers.
now what you want to look for is engagement. engagement is when someone interacts with a social post - this can mean “liking”, “favoriting” or “upvoting” - but what you really want to see is comments, shares and tagging, as this is what gets your post seen by friends of friends of friends.
social media is a great way to find what is resonating with your potential customers. the content you post that has higher engagement on social media is more valuable to you potential customers, and will perform better in other marketing channels, such as organic search.
put plainly, if it works on social media, it’s good content overall. the difference with social media is that you get feedback almost instantly.
a lot of people think social signals are a ranking factor for search, but according to google’s matt cutts, google doesn’t check your social shares. it’s much more simple: good content on social media is good content anywhere.
now speaking of google, lets take a look at social media in google analytics.
if you look in your acquisition tab, you can see that there’s a channels section under all traffic. this is where you see all your traffic categorised.
what you probably didn’t know is that your “direct” traffic is also usually 70% from social media also. this is known as “dark social” traffic - which is not a sinister as it sounds - it’s just social media traffic that is not allowing as much tracking data.
when someone finds your content on social, they may have their privacy settings set very high. google analytics is not allowed to see where this person came from, so it will add them under your “direct” traffic.
so keep in mind when you are reviewing your social media performance, that your social traffic is usually more than what is shown. and if you are getting conversions in direct traffic, there’s a good chance it was thanks to social media.
and speaking of conversions, if you are using social media for promoting your business, you should definitely have conversion tracking setup. this is done by getting your tracking code and adding it to your thankyou page after an enquiry or purchase.
this will give you a bottom line when you are checking your social media insights, and is especially important if you are using paid advertising on your social channels.
on facebook for example, your “tracking pixel” will allow you to automatically show your content to display to groups of people that convert higher.
and that’s about all we have time for today folks, as always if you have any questions, or want us to do a video on a certain topic, just drop a comment below, send or send us an email.