Associated Press – 7 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/more-100-hurt-peru-quake-141136951.html

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian authorities say 112 people have been treated for injuries after a magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck the country’s central coast. They say none of the injuries are life-threatening.

Regional civil defense director Cesar Chonate says a boy was hospitalized with a fractured hip but most injuries were minor and included heart palpitations as people fled homes in panic.

Chonate says 16 homes suffered some damage in the quake, which struck at 11 minutes after midnight (0511 GMT), nine miles (15 kilometers) southeast of Ica.

The city was badly damaged by a magnitude-8 earthquake in August 2007 and also suffered damage in a quake last October.

The U.S. Geological Survey says Monday’s quake was at a depth of 24 miles (39 kilometers).

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/will-they-remember-us/

Q.  You may have answered this, but after the Rapture people will be left behind.  Will they have a memory of us, or will they be confused about where we all went, and go out and start looking for us.  I believe some will know what happened to us but a lot won’t know.

A.  According to my understanding those left behind after the rapture will have full recognition that many are missing, and a lot of people will know why.  I see two hints in Scripture that this will be the case.

The first is the huge group of martyrs that will arrive in Heaven during the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week (Rev. 7:9-17).  John called them a multitude that no one could number from all over the world (Rev. 7:9).  By their description it’s obvious they’re not part of the Church, but to have such a large group arrive in Heaven just a year or two after the rapture signifies their conversion happened as a result of it.  I think they’re the fence sitters and nominal Christians of our time, having neither accepted nor rejected the Gospel.  When the rapture comes they’ll realize they waited too long to make their decision and will hurry up to do so.

The second hint I see that the rapture will be remembered is in Rev. 13:6.  I fully understand the anti-Christ slandering God, but why include those who dwell in Heaven?  It wouldn’t make any sense for him to slander angels, and the tribulation martyrs will have been sent there on his orders.  But if there’s another group missing whose disappearance he won’t be able to explain, it would make sense for him to slander us.   He could do this by attributing our disappearance to our evil and outdated beliefs.  Remember, when Satan indwells the anti-Christ the whole world will worship him (Rev. 13:8).  He’ll be seen as the good guy, while God and those who follow Him will be their enemy.

By Hussein Hajji Wario | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Fri, Jan 27, 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/father-son-ousted-trinity-bible-translations-003300519.html

A controversy is brewing over three reputable Christian organizations, which are based in North America, whose efforts have ousted the words “Father” and “Son” from new Bibles. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers are under fire for “producing Bibles that remove “Father,” “Son” and “Son of God” because these terms are offensive to Muslims.”

Concerned Christian missionaries, Bible translators, pastors, and national church leaders have come together with a public petition to stop these organizations. They claim a public petition is their last recourse because meetings with these organizations’ leaders, staff resignations over this issue and criticism and appeals from native national Christians concerned about the translations “have failed to persuade these agencies to retain “Father” and “Son” in the text of all their translations.”

Biblical Missiology, a ministry of Boulder, Colorado-based Horizon International, is sponsoring the petition.

The main issues of this controversy surround new Arabic and Turkish translations. Here are three examples native speakers give:

First, Wycliffe and SIL have produced Stories of the Prophets, an Arabic Bible that uses an Arabic equivalent of “Lord” instead of “Father” and “Messiah” instead of “Son.”

Second, Frontiers and SIL have produced Meaning of the Gospel of Christ , an Arabic translation which removes “Father” in reference to God and replaces it with “Allah,” and removes or redefines “Son.” For example, the verse which Christians use to justify going all over the world to make disciples, thus fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) reads, “Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiahand his Holy Spirit” instead of “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Rev. Bassam Madany, an Arab American who runs Middle East Resources, terms these organization’s efforts as “a western imperialistic attempt that’s inspired by cultural anthropology, and not by biblical theology.”

Third, Frontiers and SIL have produced a new Turkish translation of the Gospel of Matthew that uses Turkish equivalents of “guardian” for “Father” and “representative” or “proxy” for “Son.” To Turkish church leader Rev. Fikret Böcek, “This translation is ‘an all-American idea’ with absolutely no respect for the ‘sacredness’ of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church.”

SIL has issued a public response stating “all personnel subscribe to a statement of faith which affirms the Trinity, Christ’s deity, and the inspiration of Scripture.” However, in the same statement, which is similar to Wycliffe’s, it claims “word-for-word translation of these titles would communicate an incorrect meaning (i.e. that God had physical, sexual relationships with Mary) [sic],” thus justifying substituting “Father” and “Son” in new translations. Calls and emails to Wycliffe and SIL to clarify their positions were not returned. Frontiers responded to calls with articles that critics have already dismissed as skirting omissions of “Father” and “Son” in new Bible translations.

Gabi Ashkenazi says Israel needs to do all it can to operate under the radar against Tehran, but stresses that military option must be on the table.

Published 17:20 26.01.12
By Barak Ravid and DPA

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/former-idf-chief-israel-must-prepare-for-possible-attack-on-iran-1.409349

Former IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi said Thursday that Israel must operate under the radar against Iran, but it should also prepare for a possible strike against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

During a lecture at the Institute for National Security Studies, Ashkenazi stressed that Israel’s strategy on Iran must be a combination of several approaches.

“Israel must do all it can under the radar and combine that with paralyzing sanctions, but at the same time keep a reliable military option on the table with the willingness to use it if necessary,” Ashkenazi said.

“When the moment comes I don’t know if we won’t be alone, and for this reason Israel must also rely on itself,” he said.

During his term as IDF chief, Ashkenazi was considered a supporter of a more moderate approach on Iran, in which all diplomatic options must be exhausted before any attack is launched.

Earlier Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the new round of economic sanctions by the European Union will be “futile,” and added that his country was ready to resume nuclear talks with the six world powers – the U.S., China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

Ahmadinejad appeared to downplay the impact of a new round of EU sanctions on Iran, including a ban on oil imports, saying that trade with EU states made up only $23 billion of Iran’s $200 billion annual trade volume.

“Aren’t you ashamed to get together and make such statements. Where do you think you can get with these steps?” Ahmadinejad said.

“They are saying they (EU) do not want to harm the Iranian people, but the steps they take and the language they use are all against the people,” he added.

The EU sanctions, as well as similar measures taken by the United States to force Iran to curb its nuclear activities, are believed to have already had an impact on the Iranian economy, with the national currency, the rial, falling drastically in recent days.