THE ROCK OF OUR FAITH

Three days ago, while sitting at the top of our apartment building roof top, contemplating the magnificent view of the mountains towering over the bay of Rio, my eyes stopped at a rock outcropping that I never noticed before. (See photo above).

Seen from afar, it looked to me as if the huge rock near the top had been forced out of the mountain, its distinct contours outlined the shape of a shield. Interestingly enough, I had never noticed it even after spending some time meditating on the roof top before, during the 3 weeks since our arrival here.

Besides the adjustment expected from being in new surroundings, the spiritual battle has been intense, especially with Mírian having to train at a new job, while my life here has been quiet and gratifying.

Needless to say praying for protection has been redoubling. The Lord has answered with an increase in his grace over the situation as he is orchestrating the circumstances in our lives. We have seen the hand of God moving in our family and heard his responses in ways that are so encouraging as we witness his faithfulness and his ever present loving kindness and tender loving care in our lives.

The morning this happened we had been praying for the edge of protection to be around Mírian and that her faith would be strong against the schemes of the enemy.

As I was looking more closely at the shield shape, the Lord reminded me of the covenant with Abraham and his words when the Lord appeared to him in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abraham. I am your shied and your very great reward. Genesis 15:1.

I am not one to seek signs, but the Lord at times shows me visuals and then interprets and confirms it for me through the Scriptures. We all know the various verses relating to faith in the Old and the New Testament. This however was directly related to fear that Mírian was feeling. To me this was clear, we are to raise our shield of faith against the enemy’s flaming arrows as a part of our spiritual armor. But in looking at the mountain two things seem to be relevant and underline the relevancy of the situation. The shield formation was taken out of but still very much attached to the mountain, which is to say that our faith depends on being connected to the Rock of our faith, namely our Lord Jesus through the communion with the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the faith shield was near the top of the mountain, which to me, means that the victory was close but that more efforts and cooperation on our part was necessary to reach the top of the mountain.

Another component of that scripture is that the reward of faith comes after having exercised the faith that God requires in our daily walk. Isaiah talks in chapter 40: 9,10, 11 about not being afraid and looking at the coming of the Lord in the last days:
Lift up your voice with a shout, Do not be afraid .See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Hebrews 10:35-38 says basically the same thing adding the need for perseverance in doing the will of God:

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."

And finally on the last page of the Book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus himself reiterates His promise in Revelation 22: 12:

"Behold, I am coming soon, my reward is with me and I will give to everyone according to what he has done."

Since the Word says that a matter shall be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses, three more confirmations with more explicit details came from our family who had been praying fervently about our present situation.

I feel so grateful and greatly encouraged that when our Lord gives us instructions and shows us the way, in response to our prayers, He also empowers us and accompanies us even though sometimes we get discouraged and temporarily experience fear and doubts that we are in the will of God. This is why we need to exercise the faith that He provides when we ask Him and receive the encouragement that we are on our way to the victory that he has promised us and that He already gained for us at the cross.


Jean-Louis.

He invites suicide jumpers for a cup of tea

Don Ritchie moved to a house outside Sydney, Australia, for the clifftop view. But soon he was stopping suicides by inviting potential jumpers inside for a cup of tea.

Don Ritchie has been awarded a medal for bravery and an Order of Australia (the nation’s second highest honor) for averting hundreds of would-be suicides by approaching people and offering them a cup of tea. ‘I used to sell kitchen scales and bacon cutters,’ he says. Now, ‘I’m trying to sell people life.’

Jeremy Piper/AP

By Kathy Marks, / Correspondent / October 18, 2010
Sydney, Australia

Don Ritchie bought his house for the beautiful views it affords of Sydney Harbor and "the Gap," the tall sandstone cliffs that guard the harbor mouth. Rather than simply admiring those views, though, he has spent the past 40 or so years persuading tortured souls not to jump to their deaths.

When he moved here with his wife, Moya, Mr. Ritchie was aware of the Gap's reputation as Australia's most notorious suicide spot. But he didn't think much about it.

Almost from Day 1, though, he found himself keeping an eye on the rugged cliff tops. Since then, he has coaxed hundreds of people back from the brink: the desperate, the depressed, and the mentally disturbed.

Ritchie, now an octogenarian, has been awarded a bravery medal and an Order of Australia, the country's second-highest honor.

To some, he's the "Angel of the Gap." It's an accolade that makes him smile with embarrassment. "Now I'm an old angel," he says during an interview at his home in Vaucluse, a suburb east of Sydney.

He and Moya live across the road from the Gap. Through the picture window in their living room, he has a bird's-eye view of the cliffs, which attract a steady flow of tourists and joggers. If he sees someone lingering a little too long, he crosses the road and offers them a cup of tea.

Over the years, many have followed him home. Others have not – his kind words have been the last thing they heard.

The self-effacing former salesman shrugs when you ask him why he does what he does. "I'm just trying to save a life," he says. "I used to sell kitchen scales and bacon cutters, then I was state manager of a life insurance company. At the Gap I'm trying to sell people life."

Australians have been committing suicide at this spot since at least 1863, when a local woman, Anne Harrison, leapt to her death. An estimated 50 people kill themselves there every year.

The municipal council wants to install taller, curved fences; emergency telephones; and closed-circuit TV cameras. But it needs $2.1 million (Australian; US$1.96 million) and the federal government has twice turned down its request for funds.

Over the decades, Ritchie says, many of the faces of the people he's saved have blurred. But some he still remembers clearly, such as the woman he spotted from his bedroom window early one morning, sitting right on the cliff's edge.

"I quickly got dressed and went over," he recalls. "She had already put her handbag and shoes outside the fence, which is pretty common. They very often leave something behind – sometimes it's a note, but generally a piece of clothing.

"I said to her: 'Why don't you come over and have a cup of tea?' She came with me, and Moya made her breakfast. When she got home, she rang to say she was feeling much better. Two or three months later, she walked up the garden path with a magnum of French champagne."

Dawn O'Neil, chief executive of Lifeline Australia, a counseling service for the suicidal and depressed, says the intervention of someone like Ritchie can be crucial when people are considering killing themselves.

"We know from research around the world that most people who are suicidal are ambivalent about dying," she says. "Most don't want to die; they just want to end their pain.

"So there's a hesitation, and anyone or anything that can distract them, or assist them to get help, can save their lives."

Gordon Parker, executive director of the Black Dog Institute, a clinical facility that treats people with depression, says: "People go to places like the Gap in a state of perturbation. They pace up and down, and in that period of time there's a window of opportunity. Don has saved lives because he has gone up to people and chatted to them."

Tragically, Ritchie's efforts are not always successful. He recalls a 19-year-old who jumped as Ritchie stood beside him. As he fell, his hat flew off, and the wind blew it into Ritchie's hand.

"It turned out that as a little boy he had lived in the block of flats just behind our house, and he used to play with our grandkids," Ritchie says. How did that make him feel? He removes his glasses and rubs his eyes. "It's just another case," he says.

In years past, Ritchie would scale the fence and sometimes physically drag people to safety. Once a woman nearly hauled him over the edge with her. He claims not to be troubled by those he couldn't rescue. "You can't do much about it," he says, turning his palms upward.

Dianne Gaddin, whose daughter, Tracy, committed suicide in 2005, says Ritchie may have been there for Tracy when she went up to the Gap on previous occasions. "Maybe he changed her mind those times," says Ms. Gaddin, who now campaigns for better suicide-prevention measures.

She is full of admiration for Ritchie's work. "It takes an enormous amount of courage just to go up to a person who is going to jump," she says.

"Don has a charisma about him. He makes people feel safe, secure, and calm. I really think he is one special man."

La Révolte des Dorlotés

Traduction de l'article par Pat Buchanan


Posted: October 14, 2010
7:57 pm Eastern
© 2010


Cela fait quatre jours que la France est paralysée par les grèves. Les compagnies aériennes annulent des vols. Les voyageurs venant de Charles de Gaulle et d’Orly à destination de Paris subissent de longs délais.

Les touristes sont coincés. La Tour Eiffel fermée. Le trafic des trains et du métro sur Paris est restreint. A cause de la fermeture des raffineries, les ouvriers français pourraient provoquer la fermeture des stations-service et forcer le gouvernement à entamer les réserves stratégiques de pétrole.
Des millions de personnes font la grève. Un lycée sur 10 est fermé. Les élèves du secondaire et les universitaires manifestent côte à côte avec les ouvriers et bloquent les portes d’entrée pour paralyser le système d’éducation publique.
Et pourquoi cette crise de colère nationale ?

Le Président Sarkozy a proposé à l’Assemblée Nationale et pousse au Sénat une mesure élevant l’âge de la retraite pour les pensions d’état de 60 à 62 ans.


Or si la France n’élève pas l’âge de la retraite, le système de service de la gestion de la retraite et des pensions fera face à un déficit de 58 milliards de dollars en 2018. La réforme Sarkozy vient à la suite de sa victoire lors de l’abrogation de la loi socialiste datant d’une décennie qui autorisait la semaine de 35 heures de travail.


Sur quelle planète, se demande-t-on, vivent ces français ?


Vers 2050, ces élèves de lycée et étudiants atteindront presque ou surpasseront l’âge de la retraite à 60 ans. Qui, croient-ils, va cracher l’argent pour leur pension ? Sont-ils ignorants de ce qui attend la France et l’Europe?


Aujourd’hui, 23 pour cent des hommes et femmes français ont 60 ans ou plus. Ce chiffre passera à 33 pour cent vers 2050, quand il y aura un travailleur pour verser pour chaque retraité, si on garde l’âge de a retraite à 60 ans.


Aujourd’hui, 5,5 pour cent des hommes et femmes français ont 80 ans ou plus. Vers 2050, ce chiffre doublera jusqu’à 11 pour cent.


Qui, les grévistes français pensent-ils, va payer les impôts pour les frais médicaux de cette neuvième partie infirme et vieillissante d’une nation ?


Alors que l’âge moyen est de 40 ans, en 2050, il passera à 45 ans. Cependant, derrière ce chiffre se cache une réalité encore plus effrayante.


Depuis 1970, le taux de fertilité des femmes françaises est resté au-dessous des 2,1 enfants nécessaires à maintenir la population de la France, ce que les démographes appellent la croissance démographique zéro. Pour les prochaines quatre décennies jusqu’en 2050, il est prévu que le niveau de fertilité des femmes françaises se maintiendra à peu près à 15 pour cent au-dessous de la CDZ


Pourtant il est prévu que la population française de 62,6 millions va faire un bon saut jusqu’à 67,7 millions. Comment une population peut-elle continuer à croître quand le taux de naissance depuis près de 80 ans jusqu’à 2050 est au-dessous du niveau de remplacement ?


La réponse: au fur et à mesure que les français prennent leur retraite, vieillissent et meurent, la France se remplit d’immigrants qui viennent remplacer ceux qui partent et ceux qui sont près de partir et les milliers de bébés français qui ne sont jamais nés parce que leurs parents potentiels ne les voulaient pas.


D’ou viennent-ils ces immigrants?


Certains viennent de l’Europe de l’Est. Mais le plus grand nombre arrivent du Maroc, de l’Algérie et de la Tunisie et des anciennes colonies français au sud du Sahara. Les arabes et les africains peuplent les villes comme Marseille et Grenoble, remplissent les banlieux bourgeonnantes autour de Paris, où toutes les quelques années, ils se déchainent et mettent le feu à des milliers de voitures. Sauf s’ils se déplacent en pelotons, les banlieues sont hors-limites pour les policiers à Paris.


Ces immigrants n’amènent pas les connaissances professionnelles, l’éducation ou les aptitudes aux langues de la jeunesse française. La plupart ne gagneront pas les salaires des français nés en France et de là ne contribueront pas au même niveau d’impôts nécessaires à maintenir un état providence construit par un parti socialiste qui a régné en France de temps à autres pendant des décennies.


Avec la fin de la semaine à 35 heures et celle de la retraite à 60 ans, la perte des bénéfices octroyés aux français au temps des jeunes années du socialisme vient à peine de commencer. Ils peuvent marcher dans les rues, manifester et faire la grève, mais ils ne peuvent pas empêcher l’inévitable.


Ce qui est vrai pour la France est aussi vrai pour l’Europe, où pas une seule nation a un taux de fertilité qui puisse remplacer la population autochtone. Parmi les russes, les ukrainiens, les estoniens, lithuaniens et latviens, le taux de la mort dépasse déjà celui de la naissance. Ces pays ont commencé à disparaître. Et leurs voisins vont les suivre.


Avec la crise financière de 2008-2009, suivie par la menace de non-paiement de dettes par un ou plusieurs pays de l’Union Européenne, soient le Portugal, l’Irlande, la Grèce et l’Espagne, l’Europe entière semble aussi réduire les budgets de la défense pour sauver tout ce qu’ils peuvent de leur États providence.


Ce qui amène à se poser une question que nous-mêmes les américains qui sommes bourrés de dettes ne pouvons plus remettre à plus tard. Pourquoi, 65 ans après la 2ème guerre mondiale, défendons-nous ces nations ? Alors que l’Europe a plus de richesse, a une plus grande population et un état providence plus généreux que le nôtre, pourquoi imposerions-nous des sacrifices à nos compatriotes qui paient pour le privilège de défendre ses populations ?


Au lieu d’emprunter à l’Europe pour défendre l’Europe, pourquoi ne pas les facturer pour assurer leur protection ? Si nous voulons imiter les Romains, pourquoi ne pas demander un tribut, comme les Romains le faisaient?


America est le premier empire de l’histoire qui paie un tribut à ses satrapes.

Bem-te-vi - Português

Credit: from Carlos Weick's Flicker album.

Escristo e posto por Jean-Louis: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com 

Dedicado a Mamy, a melhor mãe que eu conheço. Com carinho.

Bem-te-vi, Bem-te-vi

Como eu gosto do seu canto

Pode ser monótono

Mas o chamado do seu coracão
Diferente em cada estação

É uma confissão ou uma caricia

Segundo minha alegria

Ou minha tristeza

Bem-te-vi, Bem-te-vi

Você, mensageiro dos ceus

Com seus olhos vigilantes

Os bons você chama

Como os maus

Se encarega fielmente

De revelar os segredos

Do coração escondidos

Sem acrescentar seu juízo

Bem-te-vi, Bem-te-vi

Por favor, seja meu amigo

Você me olha, eu sei

Porque você me o diz

Mas quando ao Pai

Minhas faltas você relata

Não esquesce de contar

Igualmente o bem que eu faço

Bem-te-vi, Bem-te-vi

Anjo disfarçado

A Palavra fala de ti

Como mensajeiro divino

Pois ela declara: Cuidado

Quando ao rei você vilipendia

Ainda em seu coração

Ou em privado ao rico maldiz

Porque Bem-te-vi podería

Até os ceus esvoaçar

E suas palavras divulgar

Por Jean-Louis

BEM TE VI -- Español

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi

Como me gusta tu canto tan lindo

Puede ser monótono

Mas el llamado de tu corazón

Diferente en cada estación

Es una confesión o una caricia

Según mi alegria o mi tristeza

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi

Tú, mensajero del cielo
Con tu ojo vigilante
Los buenos tu llamas

Como los malos

Te encargas fielmente

De revelar los secretos

Del corazón escondidos

Sin añadir tu juicio

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi

Por favor, seas mi amigo

Tu me miras, yo lo sé

Porque tú me lo dices

Mas cuando al Padre

Mis faltas relatas

No olvidas de contar

El bien que yo hago

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi

Angel disfrazado

La Palabra habla de tí

Como mesenjero divino

Pues declara: Cuidado
Cuando al rey vilipendias

Aun en pensamiento,

Y en privado al rico maldigas,
Pues Bem-te-vi podría

Aletear hasta el cielo

Para divulgar tus palavras

Jean-Louis.

BEM TE VI -- Français

Composé et publié par Jean-Louis Mondon

Bem Ti Vi le nom de l´oiseau qui en français donne "je t´ai vu" 

A ma femme Mírian qui adore les Bem-te-vis  

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi

Comme j’aime ton chant si joli

Il est peut-être monotone

Mais le son de ta voix différent

En été, ou en automne

Selon ma joie ou ma tristesse

C’est un aveu ou une caresse

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi

Toi, messager du ciel

A l’œil vigilant

Les bons tu appelles

Comme les méchants

Et te charge fidèlement

De révéler les secrets

Du cœur bien cachés

Sans porter de jugement

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi
Sois mon ami, je t'en prie 

Tu me vois, je le sais

Puisque tu me le dis

Mais quand au Père

Mes fautes tu rapportes 

N’oublies pas de raconter

Aussi le bien que je fais

Bem-te-vi, bem-te-vi

Ange déguisé

La parole parle de toi

Comme divin messager

Car elle dit : "fais attention

Quand tu méprises le roi

Même dans tes pensées

Ou maudis le riche

Dans ta chambre à coucher"

Bem-te-vi pourrait battre des ailes

Et rapporter le fait au ciel

Jean-Louis.