Istanbul's population is officially 12 million. A Christian friend writes, "When I first came in 1979, there were less than a dozen Muslim background believers. By the early 1990's there were only four or five fellowships. But now I can count up to about thirty, and quite a few of these are Turkish-led by Muslim background believers."
Thank the Lord for the ongoing work of His Kingdom in this enormous city.
The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the creation or annihilation of matter/energy is impossible, yet here we are. Obviously, the origin of anything cannot have been solely by today’s natural processes.
Likewise, the Second Law of Thermodynamics holds that nature cannot self-organize, and yet both life and inanimate matter are highly complex. Therefore, an organizing process different than today’s degenerative processes must have acted.
To choose unguided, unthinking, impotent nature as the organizer and selector remains a choice of faith—but that of an inferior faith, indeed!
(excerpted from John D. Morris, The Language of Evolution, Acts & Facts, July 2011, Institute for Creation Research)
Evolutionists say Energy overcomes the Second Law
To create any kind of upward, complex organization in a closed system requires outside energy and outside information. Evolutionists maintain that the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics does not prevent Evolution on Earth, since this planet receives outside energy from the Sun. Thus, they suggest that the Sun's energy helped create the life of our beautiful planet. However, is the simple addition of energy all that is needed to accomplish this great feat?
Compare a living plant with a dead one. Can the simple addition of energy make a completely dead plant live?
A dead plant contains the same basic structures as a living plant. It once used the Sun's energy to temporarily increase its order and grow and produce stems, leaves, roots, and flowers - all beginning from a single seed.
If there is actually a powerful Evolutionary force at work in the universe, and if the open system of Earth makes all the difference, why does the Sun's energy not make a truly dead plant become alive again (assuming a sufficient supply of water, light, and the like)?
What actually happens when a dead plant receives energy from the Sun? The internal organization in the plant decreases; it tends to decay and break apart into its simplest components. The heat of the Sun only speeds the disorganization process!
Students at one university in the Middle East have suddenly stopped attending informal Bible studies, even though there had been steady interest and good attendance. It appears that pressure from university or government officials has made them afraid to participate.
Pray that such leaders will instead allow genuine intellectual and religious freedom.
God made history last September in Youghal, Ireland, a mostly Catholic city. Citizens in boats lined the river's beach to watch, loudspeakers broadcast to the city, two national newspapers reported the event - the first submersion baptism that ever occurred in Youghal.
No fewer than five people were involved in the chain of events that led to the baptism of this Irish believer. A teenager visited a youth group, and then invited her mom to attend the evangelical church. Then the mom invited her son, who brought his friend who was about to go to jail for repeated incidents of drunken violence. This son invited his father, Philip, to go with him.
Philip has heart problems, his wife has health problem, his other son has a learning disability. Life felt overwhelmingly hopeless, and Philip didn't know where to turn. He went to the CrossWorld church plant in Youghal (pronounced "y'all"). Philip listened intently to the sermon on 1st John. It was the first Bible teaching he had heard in his life.
"I have to go back and see what happens next," Philip thought.
He made friends with a Cross World worker who gave him a 30-day Daily Bread devotional. At the end of it, he read, "Is there any reson why you wouldn't believe in Jesus?" Philip felt God telling him to believe, so he prayed the prayer on the back of the pamphlet, surrendering his life to Jesus.
That surrender marked the start of a new life. The CrossWorld worker led Philip through the booklet Growing in Christ, and Philip raced through it, finishing all13 lessons in a few weeks. Philip also volunteered with the church to hand out Christian literature at a local festival. While there, he fearlessly shared his newfound truth with friends and neighbors. Five months after Philip's first visit, he was baptized: the first immersion baptism ever recorded in Youghal.
Although Philip's life situation is the same - he and his wife still have health problems and both of his sons still struggle - he sees life differently. He has a new sense of peace and hope, as well as resources and a supportive church to help him handle the hardships.
Those around him have noticed the change. Although at first his neighbors criticized Philip for leaving the Catholic church, they have now started asking him for prayer! They recognize that he has something they don't. Likewise, Philip's wife has asked him to do a Bible study with her because she wants the same hope she sees in him.
Praise God for planting new life in Philip, and pray that Philip's neighbors and family will find his same hope.
Every month, some 1,300 ships heading to or from the Suez Canal must pass through the lawless waters off the coast of Somalia. Pirate attacks are at an all-time high - more than 200 have already been reported this year. As of May, pirates were holding more than 500 hostages and 26 hijacked ships, and companies are losing up to $8.3 billion a year.
Cargo ships are easy prey, and with an area the size of the continental U.S. to patrol, even NATO and navy teams from several coastal countries can't protect every vessel. Bypassing the canal means a journey of thousands more miles around the Horn of Africa. The United Nations International Maritime Organization advises ships t speed up through high-risk areas, add more lookouts, and try other low-tech solutions that are not always effective against pirates with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. Arming merchant ships with lethal weapons might solve the pirate problem, but that approach would never gain international acceptance.
New nonlethal defenses, however, offer an alternative. BAE Systems is developing an onboard laser that could target unidentified vessels from more than a mile away. If the pirates continued to approach, the beam's intensity would disorient and temporarily lind them to the point that they couldn't aim and fire their own weapons. BAE tested a prototype of the laser in January.
Mace Security International, meanwhile, is testing a ship-mounted spraying system to keep pirates from boarding vessels. Three sets of 18-gallon pressurized tanks filled with oleoresin capsicum, a pepper derivative that is neither corrosive or flammable, would line the ship's perimeter. Attackers who ventured too close would be doused and immediately incapacitated for up to an hour by intensely burning eyes, skin and throat.
(reposted from Pirate Pushback, by Rena Marie Pacella, Popular Science, August 2011)
Marko comments: most people say that these Muslim pirates are lawless. But are they following Sharia law?
