Geneva celebrates John Calvin’s 500th birthday

About 500 worshipers yesterday attended the opening convocations for Calvin 500, the international Quincentenary celebration of the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth (July 10, 1509), at St. Pierre Cathedral in the old town of Geneva, reports Michael Ireland, chief correspondent, ASSIST News Service.

Beginning with a welcome by Mr. Guillaume Taylor from the St. Pierre Parish Council, the opening convocations, featured morning worship from Calvin’s time and a sermon on Philippians 3:8-12 by Dr. Sinclair Ferguson of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina.

The evening services featured Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, much psalm singing, and a sermon by Dr. Bryan Chapell, President of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

“Calvin is one of the most important thinkers in history,” said Calvin500 Executive Director Rev. David Hall, who also is pastor of Midway Presbyterian Church in America located in Powder Springs, GA, according to a media release.

“His ministry and writings left an indelible impression on the modern world, and especially Western culture. It would be hard to find a figure from history more worthy of remembering, if lasting impact for good is the standard,” said Hall.

“St. Pierre’s Cathedral in Geneva as unusually full for a morning worship service on July 5th, but admittedly a congregation that includes at least one archbishop, six seminary professors, twenty-four seminary professors, approximately 100 Reformed pastors from around the world and the author of over 300 books on Calvinist themes do not make up an ordinary congregation,'” said one attendee on a blog at the celebration website.

The writer stated: “As Dr. Ferguson noted, ‘Calvin would be surprised to see us here, and I am not sure he would have approved,’ however hopefully he would approved of the text.”

Another writer commented: “The evening was brought to a close with a truly wonderful exposition of Ephesians 1:3-6 by Bryan Chapell, a sermon which he called ‘In praise of predestination.’ With some memorable illustrations from Calvin and elsewhere, he carefully took us through the text urging us to see Paul’s commitment in showing us more of God’s Fatherhood than his sovereignty. God, he told us, is shouting: ‘I’ve been in love with you longer than the stars have been in sky or the fish have been in the sea.'”

Throughout the coming week, scholars and ministers will present lectures and sermons in these historic environs to celebrate the contributions of the Genevan reformer. The public is invited.

Report from the Christian Telegraph 

A CURRENT AFFAIR: Where is the Real Current Affairs Reporting???

I have grown increasingly annoyed by ‘A Current Affair,’ the Channel 9 current affairs program here in Australia.

Where have all of the good reporters gone with the good reports (not necessarily good news of course) on what is happening in the world and in this country? Perhaps I should be watching the ABC, which admittedly has some very good news programs and the like. SBS also has some good news programs. But Channel 9, what has happened? Increasingly the channel I used to watch because it had some good news programs has become increasingly ordinary.

In the last week there have been two particularly annoying reports. The first involved a frog and a frog pond that was supposed to be keeping someone awake at night, along with journals recording the happenings of the frog and the pond, etc. The husband of the couple being plagued by such a terrible situation had apparently died since the first report several years ago and the frog and the pond were being blamed for contributing to the death. I couldn’t believe that this was such a massive news story.

Then tonight, Channel 9 is having a go at Channel 7 because two young stars from Home and Away were involved in scandals. Sure, they were truly scandals. The report then went on to list a number of other recent Channel 7 scandals. What was I thinking? ‘Hang on, what about all of the scandals at Channel 9 with various AFL and NRL reporters/commentators?’ There have of course been others too. What hypocrites!!!

A Current Affair is one program well and truly past it used by date – get it off the television and replace it with a quality news program!!!

Me – I’m off to view ‘The 7.30 Report’ on the ABC for starters. I’ll also be looking at several other programs on the ABC and SBS. I want quality news and current affairs programs – not the rubbish being offered up on Channel 9.

CRICKET: AUSTRALIA V SOUTH AFRICA – FIRST TEST

The First Test between Australia and South Africa is a fascinating contest as both teams strive for dominance. Before lunch on the fourth day it is clear that Australia has now clearly gained the upper hand and a tremendous lead over South Africa that is fast approaching 400.

The stars for Australia in this match have been Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin, though it has been a team effort. The only exception has been Matthew Hayden who is still struggling for form and has perhaps reached that point in his career when retirement has perhaps become the clear choice for his immediate future.

BELOW: Report on Mitchell Johnson at the end of the second day (Same footage in both videos)

NASA: LATEST ON ‘TENTH PLANET’

On the 8^th January 2005, scientists discovered that an object captured in time lapse images on the 21^st October 2003 was in fact a tenth planet in our solar system while studying the images. The planet was known as 2003UB313 (Xena) and was photographed using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California. The tenth planet is now known as Eris, after the Greek goddess of discord and strife. Eris is thought to be a dwarf planet and to be slightly larger than Pluto (confirmed by the Hubble Space Telescope) at about 2400 km (1422 miles) in diameter.

On the outer edge of the solar system is a collection of objects (possibly 70 000) known as the Kuiper Belt (Kuiper Belt Objects – KBO). Most of these KBO are relatively small and some have names such as Sedna, Quaoar, Ixion, Varuna and Chaos.

Eris is thought to be about 97 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun (Pluto is 30 times the distance of the Earth to the Sun) – which means it is a very long way away from Earth (about 10 billion miles from Earth).

However, not all agree that Eris is a planet, preferring to call it a KBO. These same scientists generally regard Pluto as a KBO as well. Pluto is smaller than our moon and has its own moon which is called Charon.

In fact the International Astronomical Union (IAU) now recognizes both Pluto and Eris (along with another object known as MakeMake) as Plutoids. The IAU has assumed this role since 1919 and technically Pluto and Eris can no longer be considered planets.

Eris is the farthest known object in the solar system and is the third brightest of the objects in the Kuiper Belt and appears to be grey in colour. It is thought that there may be a methane frost covering the surface of the planet. It is the largest dwarf planet.

It is believed that Eris takes some 557 years to orbit the sun. It has one known moon known as Dysnomia (the name of the daughter of the goddess Eris). Dysnomia is about 175 km in diameter and is located about 37 370 km from Eris.

BELOW: Footage showing images related to Eris

For more information visit:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/29jul_planetx.htm

It is also interesting to note that there are some 327 moons in our solar system.

For more information visit:

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm

http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0804/

http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.html

Beyond our own solar system there are 319 known extrasolar planets – planets that orbit other stars (other than our Sun).

For more information visit:

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/atlas/atlas_search.cfm

http://exoplanet.eu/ (Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia)

 

NEW PARTNERSHIP HELPS THOSE TRAPPED IN PORNOGRAPHY TO GET FREE

SurfRecon, Inc., Shelley Lubben, and the Pink Cross Foundation have partnered to bring the latest Internet-safety software to families and communities struggling with Internet pornography and to raise awareness about the Pink Cross Foundation, which helps individuals trapped in the adult-entertainment industry start a new life, reports SurfRecon, Inc..

“We realize that parents are struggling with trying to protect their families from Internet pornography, and filters cannot do the job by themselves—especially when someone in the home has a pornography problem,” said Shelley Lubben, Director of the Pink Cross Foundation, “Filters are great, when they work. But I have heard too many scary stories about smart, tech-savvy kids bypassing an Internet filter to access Internet porn.

“We all need to do a better job watching our kids, and SurfRecon is the tool that parents to do just that.”

The new internet-safety software the partnership promotes is the SurfRecon pornography-detection tool, which works hand in hand with a filter to offer “protection + detection” in a home or business.

Besides raising awareness about SurfRecon pornography-detection tools, the partnership also provides much-needed funding for the Pink Cross Foundation by contributing a portion of all purchases of SurfRecon products through the Pink Cross Foundation’s website back to the foundation.

“I thought teaming-up with the Shelley Lubben and the Pink Cross Foundation was a great idea, because not only are we working together to help parents protect their families from pornography,” said Matthew Yarro, Executive VP for SurfRecon, Inc, “But we are also solving another problem. We are helping individuals, performers and sex workers, leave the adult entertainment industry and start a new life.

“We are proud to be contributing to the Pink Cross Foundation.”

 

What Is a SurfRecon Pornography Detection Tool?

The latest wave in Internet-safety tools is a pornography-detection tool, and SurfRecon is the leader. A pornography-detection tool leverages digital signatures, similar to fingerprints, that uniquely identify a pornographic image or video. SurfRecon currently maintains the largest collection of digital signatures with over 200 million in its database.

The SurfRecon software comes pre-installed on a standard USB thumb drive, which can be used on almost any Windows, Macintosh or Linux computer system. The software is easy to use and allows an individual to quickly and accurately scan a computer for pornographic content. The tool also offers a number of safety tools for individuals reviewing any content found.

 

About SurfRecon, Inc.

SurfRecon, Inc. is an Orem, Utah-based company that develops cutting-edge digital detection technologies. It’s flagship product, SurfRecon, is a pornography-detection tool that is in use by families, businesses and law-enforcement agencies around the world.

 

About Shelley Lubben

Shelley Lubben is a mother, a missionary to the sex industry, fighter for truth and advocate for sex workers and porn performers who are abused by the adult industry.

Shelley is also a former porn actress fighting tirelessly against the pornography industry, which affects most of the world in a destructive way. Unrelenting in the cause of human rights, Shelley is passionate to educate people all around the world about the abusive and illegally operating porn industry as well as inspire the world to stop viewing pornography and stop contributing to the destruction of men and women who are being abused daily in the pornography industry.

 

About The Pink Cross Foundation

The Pink Cross Foundation is a compassionate humanitarian outreach dedicated to helping improve the lives of persons struggling with pornography addiction, sex industry abuse, sexual abuse and more. Shelley Lubben, former porn actress and prostitute in the 90’s, was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Impulse Control Disorder and substance abuse due to years of trauma from the sex industry. She was prescribed anti-depressants, Lithium, and sleeping pills and recommended counseling for the next twenty years!

After eight years of recovery at the Champion’s Center, Shelley conquered the horrible effects of her past and became a Champion in life through the power of Jesus Christ. Ten years later Shelley is on a mission to go back to the sex industry to reach out to porn stars and sex workers with the power and love of Jesus Christ. Shelley is also on a mission to smash the illusion of porn and help people overcome pornography addiction.

Report from the Christian Telegraph