Spiritual Matters

While an American Muslim girl sang the "Star Spangled Banner" inside the statehouse in Oklahoma City, about two dozen anti-Islamic protesters outside hurled insults at the group, mostly students, as they visited the Capitol to speak with lawmakers. There were no reports of violence.

"If they had a sword, they'd cut your head off," protesters shouted. Some carried signs saying "Islam equals Death." …

The "Oklahoma Muslim Day at the Capitol" was organized by the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and supported by the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma, whose members helped escort attendees into the Capitol and past the protesters. …

A few lawmakers in the socially conservative state have previously made statements against Muslims, including Republican Representative John Bennett, who has said Islam is "a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out."

"…the president defends Islam and chastises Christians, rebukes our allies and befriends our enemies, and fully supports gay marriages and abortion but denies the religious freedoms of those who don't agree. Our nation is ridiculed abroad and morally crumbling within. We are in trouble. We have turned our back on God." -Franklin Graham

A very private, very personal message to a lost love. Moving. (If Larry didn't want it to be linked, he shouldn't've put it online.)

"…You knew the worst of me, and you were the best of me. Who else, then, would have found someone so perfect for me? …"

ISIS militants take sledgehammers to Mosul tomb of Prophet Jonah

…God was the author so "who exactly would I get the approval from?" [Concerns cases regarding Bible, Urantia Book, Course in Miracles, Christian Science, more]

Pope Francis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded words on Monday over the language spoken by Jesus two millennia ago.

"Jesus was here, in this land. He spoke Hebrew," Netanyahu told Francis, at a public meeting in Jerusalem in which the Israeli leader cited a strong connection between Judaism and Christianity.

"Aramaic," the pope interjected.

"He spoke Aramaic, but he knew Hebrew," Netanyahu shot back.

...twice Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with His finger, then all her accusers “went away one by one, beginning with the elders.” ...

I got thinking about this again the other day when I figured out that this event occurred on Shemini Atzeret. That is a day that God commanded be a Sabbath-level holy day of rest...."

The headlines coming out of the Episcopal Church’s annual U.S. convention are stunning — endorsement of cross-dressing clergy, blessing same-sex marriage, the sale of their headquarters since they can’t afford to maintain it.

…the denomination has been deserted in droves by an angry or ambivalent membership. Six prominent bishops are ready to take their large dioceses out of the American church and align with conservative Anglican groups in Africa and South America. …

U.S. Catholics out-number the Episcopal Church 33-to-1. There are more Jews than Episcopalians. Twice as many Mormons as Episcopalians. Even the little African Methodist Episcopal denomination -- founded in in 1787 -- has passed the Episcopalians. …

A few years ago, the annual national Episcopal convention overwhelmingly refused even to consider a resolution affirming that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Upon returning home from that meeting, Bishop Peter H. Beckwith, leader of the Springfield, Illinois, diocese, wrote in a pastoral letter that the Episcopal church was “in meltdown.” &hellip

St. Malachy prophesied that the final pope would be "Peter the Roman", which is interesting because no pope to date has chosen the name of Peter out of respect for Peter the Apostle. There has also been speculation that the final pope would be black. Even more curiously, there is a black cardinal in Ghana, Peter Turkson, who is believed to be a frontrunner and whose name has come up in previous discussions of papal appointment.

Cardinal Turkson has said in the past that "if God would wish to see a black man also as pope, thanks be to God." Catholic Church chronicler Rocco Palmo has called Turkson the lone Scripture scholar in the Pope's "Senate", and believes that his status as a potential "papabile" has been elevated due to his 2009 appointment as spokesman for the Second Synod for Africa.

Outside of the Church, there are also many who believe that Turkson is the favorite to take over as pontiff. Even the London bookmakers believe he's the top choice. Odds comparison site Oddschecker.com lists Turkson at best price odds of 4/1, and as short as 2/1 with some firms. Francis Arinze, the Nigerian Cardinal, is also a huge favorite with the bookies.

There are some who insist that Malachy did not say that the last pope he mentioned would be the 112th pope, insisting that he was merely the last, and theorizing that there could be more popes to come between Benedict and "Peter the Roman". However, this is not a belief that everyone subscribes to and many believe that "Peter the Roman" will be both the 112th and last pope of the Catholic Church.

Malachy's prophecies are taken very seriously as they've been uncannily accurate to date. Will the Catholic Church get its first black pope? Will "Peter the Roman" lead us into the End Times? These questions are set to be answered by Easter, which comes this year at the end of March, when the papal conclave announces their decision.

A: You know it’s interesting you bring up the virus. That is actually a question I had for you. Are you familiar with Urantia?
C: Yes.
A: OK. It also talks about that there had come a virus on the outer seventh sphere of the Universe. It equated the virus with fear, war, and amnesia. Do you agree with that?
C: Yes I would actually describe the way the virus was created was like a virus spreading around the galaxy. A mutation, an anomaly, an error, something that was also described in very old Gnostic texts from the last 2000 years and even earlier. So that this anomaly, this error needs to be corrected now. That is what we are doing. And this correction mechanism has reached its (?) right now.
[Like many references to the revelation, nothing of this sounds much like what I think the Urantia Papers say, but then again, I've said something similar myself.]

Pato Banton initially burst onto the international reggae scene in the same wave of British artists that included his friends and colleagues Ranking Roger and UB40. Over the years, Banton's music and lyrics have retained the lighter pop appeal of those performers, while incrementally adding depth and profundity. At this point in his career, Banton has become one of reggae music's most individual and powerful artists. ... Banton's motivation for making records clearly is not based on marketing strategies, however, as he has frequently worked on projects with a spiritual, rather than commercial, impetus. Banton has appeared on a series of religious albums titled "Words of Christ." Banton does not use his own lyrics on these works, but rather serves as a narrator, reading texts from the Urantia Book, also known as the Fifth Epochal Revelation, the central work of an esoteric Christian splinter group. "I've been very blessed to find the Urantia Book. After 21 years of studying it, I'm convinced that it is a revelation for the human race," Banton says. "It's a gift from the angels." Tenets of Rastafarianism also figure in Banton's lyrics, but he cherishes his role as a Urantian prophet. "It's become a tool not only that I give to people but also that I can use for my own edification," he says. Banton, who says he has the gift of revelation, explains that it becomes manifest in many ways. "In my travels, there have been times when I've seen miracles before my own eyes. I have to give thanks for those times," he says. "I don't talk much about them, because I don't want to freak people out or make people think that I'm anything special, but there have been times when God has used me to do certain things, and I just stand there in awe."