Love Is A Shield (VIDEO)

Love is a shield,
to hide behind,
love is a field
to grow inside,
and when I sometimes close my eyes
my mind starts spinning around.
Love is a baby
in a mother’s arms,
love is your breath
which takes me warm,
and when I sometimes close my eyes,
my mind starts spinning around.

Is Living Together Really a Big Deal ?

We say yes. Here’s why.

Everyone wants to love and to be loved—they are the echoes that still reverberate in us from the Creator. But for whatever reason, it seems like it is getting more and more difficult to find and keep love. Some think it’s because we hardly talk anymore. With the advent of texting, twittering and Facebooking, it seems we’ve lost the art of holding in-depth, substantive conversations essential for long-term, loving relationships. > more.
foto: carlo nocora,flickr.com

Smokie – Living next door to alice (VIDEO)

Originally called The Yen, then The Sphynx and later Essence, the band was formed in 1965 at St. Bede’s Grammar School in Heaton, Bradford. It was composed of Chris Norman, Terry Uttley, Alan Silson and Ron Kelly. As Essence, they toured small clubs in Bradford and the surrounding communities. The band became The Black Cats in 1966 and in Nov 1967 the band changed their name to The Four Corners.

Is God present with us ? YES !

The question of the presence of God – is he here or not – has long been a fascinating topic for me. I think it’s a very important question. We often assume God’s presence and approval of our worship and ministries, and I wonder if that’s wise. Is there evidence to support our assumption?
On the one hand, we have to say of course God is present. God is present everywhere and at all times. He can’t not be present with us. Scripture is clear on the belief in God’s omnipresence (Psalm 139, for example). And yet… > more.
foto: picapp.com

The Golda wars

Gideon Levy in the liberal news- paper Ha’aretz (15.10.2009).

Those who are to blame for everything have been found: the “Goldstoners.” Not the occupation, the settlements, Israeli aggressiveness or brutality; just Goldstone. According to Ari Shavit (Haaretz, October 8), the spirit of Judge Richard Goldstone will bring the next war upon us, and it will be called the Goldstone War. > more.

foto: picapp.com

Jewish voice for a JUST PEACE in the Middle East

We address all people, regardless of their religious beliefs and political opinions, who desire a just peace in the Middle East.

Everyone is welcome to join us. We have learned a lesson from the Holocaust: not to keep silent in the face of injustice and crime. We have joined forces because of this belief and because of the concern for the future of the Palestinian and Israeli people.

We condemn the ongoing occupation of Palestinian land, which has existed since 1967.

Moreover we share the concern of the majority of the citizens of the European Union about Israel’s policies. In a poll conducted by the European Union in 2005 59% of the respondents said that they believed that Israeli policies were among the biggest threats to world peace. > read more.

More information:
> European Jews for a Just Peace (EJJP)
> Infos about EJJP foto:wikicommons,wikipedia.de (Dror Feilner)

“Simply Unprecedented” — President Obama and the Gay Rights Movement

“This was a historic night when we felt the full embrace and commitment of the President of the United States. It’s simply unprecedented.” Those words were spoken by Joe Salmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, just after President Barack Obama spoke to the group’s 13th annual national dinner. > more.

foto: wikicommons,wikipedia.de

Hava Nagila (VIDEO)

“Hava Nagila” (הבה נגילה in Hebrew) is a Hebrew folk song, the title meaning “let us rejoice”. It is a song of celebration, especially popular amongst Jewish and Roma communities, and is a staple of band performers at Jewish festivals.

The melody was taken from a Ukrainian folk song from Bukovina.^[1] The commonly used text was probably composed by Abraham Zevi (Zvi) Idelsohn^[2][3] in 1918 to celebrate the British victory in Palestine during World War I as well as the Balfour Declaration. The transliteration, spelling of the title and lyrics vary.

Faith without god ?

Does society depend on faith in god, or faith in moral truth? Can it survive without either? - At the Tony Blair Faith foundation talk on Wednesday the most memorable moment came when John Reynolds, the chairman of the Church of England’s Ethical Advisory Group, described protectionist policies towards Africa as “a fucking disgrace”. But that’s hardly news. It is the view of almost everyone who cares about development and poverty. > more.

foto: neocorsten,flickr.com

Some Faith Leaders Offer Women More Than Prayer

One in 33 American women who attend church regularly have received some form of sexual advance by a religious leader, according to a recent study by the Baylor University School of Social Work. Valencia Bey, who experienced sexual abuse by a faith leader, tells her story of survival. Bey is joined by Baylor University Professor Diana Garland, co-author of the study , who explains the factors behind such abuse. > more.

foto: danny hammontree, flickr.com

John Calvin: Comeback Kid

Few figures in Christian history have been esteemed so highly or despised so meanly as the shy French lawyer born 500 years ago this summer. John Calvin became not only the greatest theological genius of the Reformation, second only to Luther, but also, as French historian Émile G. Léonard dubbed him, “the founder of a new civilization.” Some have gone so far as to depict Calvin as both the greatest teacher of Christian doctrine since Paul and a near-infallible guide in every arena of human endeavor, from art and architecture to politics and economics. > more.

foto:wikipedia/wikimedia.

God and Atoms

In ‘How to Know God’, Deepak Chopra claims that “(t)he same brain responses that enable you to see a tree as a tree, instead of as a ghostly swarm of buzzing atoms, also enable you to experience God” (Chopra 2000:17). - As I have suggested in previous postings, there are undoubtedly mechanisms within the neural labyrinths of the mind which take the raw data of the world and transform it into our imagination of that world. > more.   foto: mark cummins,flickr.com

Al-Qaida: eight years after 9/11

Al-Qaida: Tales from Bin Laden’s volunteers - Eight years after the attack on New York, intelligence reports from captured western recruits suggest the terror network is weakening. > more.

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foto: drp,flickr.com

Intelligent Evolution ?

Can we believe in a Creator and evolution?
Arguing for God being the Creator of the universe doesn’t necessitate an attack on the theory of evolution. Don’t misunderstand me; some evolutionists (particularly some of the neo-atheists like Richard Dawkins, who argues in his new book people who don’t believe in evolution are on the same level as Holocaust deniers) have gone ape over their theory (forgive the pun) to the point that they seem to forget it is a theory, and refer to it as if it is an undeniable scientific fact. > more.

foto: jurvetson,flickr.com