THE 'MAN FROM APE' THEORY

I have always wondered about the theory that man originally came from an ape. I don't really vehemently disagree but as I see today, there are still a lot of apes walking around who had remained in their original ape appearance. I don't see an inch of evidence of evolution working in them. They are still as apes as they were before. If evolution really is working till now we would have already been seeing half-ape creatures walking around who would be partly intelligent too, I surmise.

This is thought provoking. That's why it just makes the evolution theory weaker and weaker than ever before. And there is one other thing, if we really had evolved from the ape then maybe there would not have been remained an ape today because they would all have been already become humans if I am not mistaken.

Well, that is only my opinion. I guess we are all entitled to our opinion, right? I apologize if I have just been ignorantly declaring blah-blah-blah in effect. I am just musing having nothing more interesting thing to note.

CHANGE YOUR FOCUS

When difficulties come, on what do you focus? Some look back. They are the ones who try to drive looking in the rear view mirror. Their thoughts are consumed with two questions which, like a broken record, play over and over again: “What if?” or “If only?” “What if I had not made that investment? What if I had listened to my mom or dad? Some focus entirely on the future when difficulties arise. And what’s wrong with that? Isn’t goal setting important? Yes. Certainly, if you have no thought of where you want to go, you’ll never get there, for sure. But focusing entirely on tomorrow is daydreaming, or living in a fantasy world divorced from reality. Tomorrow is uncertain, and when it arrives, God is going to be there; so I have to leave many things in His hands, confident that when tomorrow gets here, God will show me what to do.

Some focus on their circumstances, looking around them. They are the ones who, when trouble comes, are looking for an excuse, a scapegoat, someone whom they can blame for their failures. I’m thinking of a woman who seemed to have been baptized in Teflon. When her computer wouldn’t work she would assail, “Someone did something with my computer,” when, in fact, no one had touched her computer. I heard complaints about her mother, her husband, certainly her church, and the set of circumstances that had dealt her a bad deal in life. Never would she say, “I accept responsibility for this,” or “This is my fault.” When trouble comes, don’t look around you, striving to pin the blame on others or on circumstances. Some things just happen, and the key is not fixing blame but how you respond and how you get on with your life.

Some look inward when problems come. This is not altogether bad. At times we need to examine our motives and take a look within. But living in a world of introspection, always examining our thoughts and feelings, often leaves us wounded and hurting. Paul took a look within and didn’t much like what he saw. Read Romans 7 and see if you can relate to his comments that seemingly what he wanted to do, he didn’t do, and what he didn’t want to do ended up being exactly what he did. If you take a look within, do learn from it and then move on.

All right, you may be saying, if I shouldn’t look back, or I shouldn’t look to the future, nor look around me or within, what should be my focus? Ah, I’m glad you asked. Here it is: When difficulty knocks at your door, look up into the face of Jesus, realizing that God can be your source of strength, your help, your defender, and your deliverer. He will never disappoint you or leave you in the lurch. Looking to Him you will never be disappointed.

Take time to read through the book of Psalms and notice how David and the men who penned these marvelous expressions of faith responded to trouble. They knew that the Lord is a rock, a fortress, a hiding place, a deliverer, a shield, a stronghold, a friend, a companion, and a helper in the time of need.

Your focus in the time of difficulty will determine both how you weather the storm and where you go after the storm is over. How much better to learn that God will walk with you through the valley than to wonder if He is strong enough, sufficient enough, caring enough to meet you at the time of your need. Yes, how much better indeed!

DOING RIGHT

With the current financial meltdown, I see only bleak things happening that makes us think twice. Thousands lost their jobs. Many came back from overseas jobless as they also lost their job in countries where they worked. The forecasts of expert concerning this portray the worst to come. It is so evident that it makes the atmosphere foreboding to all. Maybe, just maybe, the happy days are over. The day is done and night time has come.

We need to make all possible remedy to brace ourselves. We must cut back on our needless expenses. Spend only what is necessary. No more binge eating, binge buying and binge travels because it unnecessarily drains what money we have. We need to practically scrimp even with food because there are just too many bills to pay that eat away at our earnings, like electricity, water, credit cards, LPG, food and travel expenses.

How about the government how does it go on adapting to our situation? I hope they are making the best in curbing impulsive junkets and needless expenses. Those who are inclined to pocket money as if it was their own income should think twice. We cannot afford to sink our ship by digging more holes.

We need to unite this time and save ourselves. I remember a verse in the Bible that says in effect like this 'Those who will try to save his own life will lose it, but those who will lose it will save it instead.' Interesting verse. Maybe it means that those who are selfish and try to save his own skin will only eventually end up losing his own life in the process. What could its meaning except the obvious?

What I really want to say is that we must be united and help our ailing country instead of undermining it through corruption. We only have to decide to do what is right before it is too late.

MY RESPONSIBILITY

I was awakened by an urgent call in the middle of the night by my sister-in-law saying that my husband whom I was separated with was taken to the hospital because of a ruptured appendix. She informed me, in effect reminding me of my responsibility to take care of the insurance since he is still my beneficiary.

Just a day before he was hospitalized he came to where I live to ask money which I was not able to give at that time. He was irked that I did not give him, so he threatened to kill me. He raved and ranted about his old jealousies with my co-workers, all of which is not true of course. It is this thing he keeps rewinding like a broken record, accusing me endlessly. And threaten me that he would kill me if he caught me. That night I cried to God. Questions begin to crop up in my mind. What have I done to deserve this torture? Why won't he leave me alone in peace? Have I done something wrong to God for making me suffer like this?

And now that he is in need of medication, and here I am, still trying to do all I can to help him. I couldn't leave my son Israel be troubled on his own with this overwhelming problem. I had to do all I can but it does not mean that I still have any feeling for him. How can I still love him when all he did in our married life is to accuse me, beat me and extort money from me, not to mention that he has been unfaithful to me a number of times. What drove me to still help him is the fact that I am always helpful with those who are in need. As long as I have the capacity to give help, I'd give it and why not? It is my responsibility and I won't run from it. He is a fellow human being.

To me he is practically my enemy. When someone throws a stone at me, I must throw back bread. I still have to follow God's principle no matter what. I still have to show kindness to those who have shown only evil towards me. As long as I have done what is right. I only hope that in time he would be touched by the spirit of God to reform himself for the good of his soul.

My sister told me that she would pray that we would be reconciled with my husband. I was not amused by her statement. I told her that I had prayed to God for a long time that he would separate us finally. It was the only thing that can make me escape from the torture marriage that I was imprisoned in. It was given by God after a long time of petition so I feel it would not be right that she pray for our reconciliation. God knew what I had endured for a very long time. And it was not easy. It is his goodness that had made me escape from there. And I don't want to go back there. It is just plain stupid.

I went to the hospital not to visit him but to give the MDR, or the Member's Data Record because it is needed for the processing of the Phil. Health Insurance. My son was there so I gave it to him so he can be discharged from there. I will be going back to work to get additional forms as is instructed.

I hope to reap good fruits from the good seeds that I have planted. I have forgiven him of course. Let it remain right there, nothing more.

OF GLOBAL WARMING, CALAMITIES AND PROPHECIES

The earth is in a stage where the global warming phenomenon is the most urgent concern that has gotten the attention of millions of people. People scamble to find ways to help reduce the global warming effect that's being felt by everyone. There is some truth in it. It is noticeably unusually hot nowadays especially when the sun give off it's heat full blast. It's been reported that in various areas of our planet the temperature thermometer registers unusually high marks that it literally kindled terrifying fires which presently devours some of the forests in California.

In some places, it is also interesting to note that while it is so hot in other parts, many places are being devastated by floods and landslides due to heavy rains of unprecedented proportion. Fires devastated so much while water have posed a scourge in other countries. Many people lost their homes while others unfortunately lost their lives in the process. It is sobering to man's simple understanding as he contemplates the whs of the opposing phenomenon. Others may try to explain it away scientifically but it is still largely baffling to the human mind.

Global warmimg cannot be the only culprit we need to identify. We must also take into consideration that nuclear winter equally poses a threat to our existence. And we are seeing now how it would happen - simultaneously as dual or maybe multiple calamity. This is a reality not even remotely impossible because it is already underway.

If one has read the Bible, it can be read from the Bible that the time would come that men would curse God because of extreme heat. Instead of taking it as a cue to repent of their sins they instead curse God. I believe that it is already unfolding in front of our very own eyes. Even drinking water was prophesied that it would becoem so expensive in the last days. And we are already buying expensive bottled water. No one drinks from the well anymore. while sold mineral water is considered hygienic it is already stripped of the natural micro-nutrients which causes the body to become acidic if drunk continuously and thus making our bodies vulverable to various cancer diseases.

Wars, rumors of wars, calamities, diseases and hunger were foretold, just as it is happening in front of us. What's happening is nothing new. These things would happen as it was prophesied and nothing can stop it. People can only concoct their own solutions, but the only solution that would work is by listening and heeding to God's warnings and repent and pray that he would make us worthy to escape all these things even as calamities wreak havoc around us. A woman travails when she is nearing the giving birth of a new baby so it is with the world because this world is about to be replaced with the new heaven and earth.

It would be wise to make amends with the way we are living our lives and live according to God's plan. For more information on other prophecies concerning our time, see www.theTrumpet.com and be prepared to be stunned with the truth.

Things that's making me busy...

I had enrolled my son in a public school here in our place. I am glad that he is showing interest in going back to school since last year he was rather distracted with his barcadas (friends)and experimenting with drinking and smoking. I was so troubled with the way he is taking life in a negative way. But now he seems to have become bored with his ways and having no specific goal to achieve.
He is now very interested in school and reports to me everyday what transpired in school and that he found so many friends there, boys and girls. He also shows me his tests results which are indeed impressive considering that he has been out of school for a year. I bought him all he needed in school so he would not have to worry over anything except study.

In my workplace, I am also engrossed with the work in which I try not to have so much backlog. I prefer my table neat and uncluttered with unfinished work. The only thing that's making me cringe of going to work at times is the cold temperature inside the office. It feels I am in the Antarctic region. I have to endure the cold in the office because of the air conditioning going on full blast which my officemates prefer. I am beginning to think they like cold-blooded fishes in the ocean. It's making my lips blue that I have to bring with me a coat to keep out the cold from my body. I had a recent bout with coughs and colds with lasted more than a month. I had thought I contracted the dreaded tuberculosis. But thank God that the humiliation of having to cough in the office is over. I even incurred much leave of absences because of this. Anyway, all is well that end's well.

At the church, I was elected the leader of the women's group we call as WOMISO. I don't know what that word meant because I usually shy away from activities like this because I prefer to be private doing my own thing. I was completely taken aback when they elected me. But then, I thought maybe it's time I had to do some sacrifice of my time and do some work of this kind. I reluctantly accepted the responsibility.

I had to make time for everything. These are the things that made me busy as of the moment. Anyway, all the things will work together for good in the long run, I believe. We always reap what we sow, so I am sowing in essence, with the expectation of reaping something good in the near future. Wish me luck!

DESTROYING THE GREATEST GIFT EVER GIVEN

Driving through McDonald’s recently, my sense of guilt was replaced by another feeling: frustration. Not at my greasy cheeseburger, but at the teenage girl taking my money. I suppose I can live with her not looking me in the eye, or smiling, or even saying hello—it’s sad, but civility isn’t necessarily common these days. I was upset for another reason.

She was texting. Feverishly. Who? No idea. This girl was paid to talk to me and to handle my money, yet she was engrossed in her little plastic phone-–her thumb moving at impressive speed. She was totally disengaged from her surroundings.

Maddening.

But common. And by that I don’t necessarily mean young girls in take-out joints texting their friends when they should be working, I mean this: Young minds are disengaging from society, from life and from reality because they are plugged into gadgetry. It’s common, it’s pervasive, it’s normal.

We live in a gadget-dominated society, and young people are the vanguard of our cultural infatuation with technology. Studies show that young people today spend more time using media than they do any other single activity besides sleeping. They wake up to iPods blaring John Mayer and Miley Cyrus. Earphones dangle from their heads as they walk or bus to school. Before, during and after class, they instant message on laptops and chat or text with cell phones, the iPod still blaring. The frenzy intensifies when school finishes: After-school activities, be they sports, exercise, work, homework or socializing, are grafted with sustained rounds of text messaging, instant messaging, MySpace and Facebook updating and browsing, cell phone chatting, e-mail checking, virtual gaming, YouTube surfing, tv watching and Top 40 listening.

You think I’m exaggerating. I’m not.

According to a 2008 Princeton-Brookings study, the “typical U.S. 8- to 18-year-old lives in a household equipped with three tv sets, three video players, three radios, three pdmps (for example, an iPod or other mp3 device), two video game consoles, and a personal computer.” And they use them all, oftentimes concurrently. The average American 8- to 18-year-old spends more than six hours a day using media; take into account media multitasking (using a television, the computer and texting concurrently, for example), which is at an all-time high for teens, and that figure grows to 8½ hours of media exposure a day!

Just ask parents and teachers. In Florida recently, a 16-year-old girl was arrested for allegedly spiking her mother’s food to trigger an allergic reaction after her mother confiscated her cell phone. Across the country teachers are frustrated by the pervasive infiltration of gadgets into the classroom. Students employ all kinds of stealth measures to hide in-class text messaging, instant messaging and phone conversations. At work many young people, some of them being cashiers at McDonald’s, can’t perform their duties without a high-speed direct connection to their gadgets.

Some people see more or less isolated physical and academic impacts of this trend. Others detect some basic mental impacts that this technology dependence is having on our young people. More than a few studies detail these negative impacts.

But few people see this unprecedented generational infatuation with technology as an epidemic. It’s Western society’s new addiction, a cultural vice akin to alcoholism, drug abuse and smoking!

I know that sounds extreme. But consider: Our young people’s addictive overuse of technology ravages the mind in the same manner alcoholism ravages the liver and smoking degenerates the lungs. Even some of the social impacts are also similar. Everyone knows alcoholism and drug abuse drive a wedge between the user and those around him, weakening relationships with family members and even society in general. In many cases, our young people’s perpetual connection to, craving of, and dependence on technology does the same thing.

Entire generations of young minds are being gutted by gadget addiction, yet few adults are speaking out about this travesty.

The minds of our young people today are being stolen, not by armed kidnappers but by flashy electronics. Misguided, undisciplined and constant use of technology is robbing young minds of intellectual curiosity and mental maturity. Young people are stripped of the ability and time to think, reason and judge. Their minds are being hijacked by what is really a new form of Stockholm Syndrome!

We now have a generation of young people whose lifestyles are held captive by iPods, cell phones, online games, instant messaging, text messaging, e-mail and social networking. This addiction diverts their minds from the present, from parents, from teachers, from the customer wanting to pay for his cheeseburger, from books, from homework, and from original and deep thought. Millions are perpetually tuned into electronic devices and are, to varying extents, disengaged from their surroundings.

When this happens, parents and siblings become annoyances, distractions from the screen. Work is a stumbling block to texting. Teachers are white noise behind in-class IM; homework is a fourth-tier priority squeezed in between MySpace posts. Everything substantive, meaningful and purposeful is marginalized, while unimportant, unnecessary, even harmful activities are given bountiful attention. Mental maturation is impeded because the young person lives life in the shallows, their addiction distracting them from ever strengthening their mind by exploring the mysteries and majesties of deep thought.

This is our world. Physical and mental downtime is despised. Solitude is feared. Independent thinking abhorred. Critical thinking has become a lost art.

Activities once used as opportunities for contemplation and self-analysis—walking alone to school, riding the school bus, taking a minute to lie quietly on the bed, driving, reading, working alone—are merely different environs in which to chat on the phone or text-message (often with a friend the person has been with all day at school), or listen to monotonous, mind-numbing pop music.

Not that there’s something inherently wrong with talking on a cell phone, texting or listening to music. But when these activities consume the mind and crowd out other substantive activities, they become weapons of mental destruction. Yes, they demand mental concentration and activity—but so much of it is reactionary and emotion-based. They require rapid user response, but generally little contemplation. Critical thinking and creative thought are crushed in the hands of immediacy. The mind is active but its action void of substance and leading nowhere. It’s the kind of mental activity that actually destroys quality thinking. In a word, shallow.

The end result: We have young generations plagued by a collective and individual lack of substance and depth, purpose and drive!

Strong minds and substantive, meaningful, purpose-driven lives, on the other hand, are built around certain constants that are based on deeper thought—strong human relationships, law, contemplation, self-analysis, reading, study, prayer, meditation. All of these require time and uninterrupted, original, imaginative thought!

What we fail to see is that our young people’s perpetual connection to and infatuation with gadgetry is destroying the greatest gift ever bestowed upon mankind, the human mind!

Few subjects on Earth are more misunderstood than the human mind. Physically, the human brain is not much different than the animal brain. Brains of elephants, whales and dolphins are even bigger than the human brain. Yet animals lack the ability to build impressive skyscrapers, design intricate computers, appreciate art or develop deep relationships. No animal—not even one with a brain bigger than ours—has ever sent another animal to the moon; designed, launched and landed a spaceship on Mars; or written a great piece of literature. Animals have a brain and instinct, but they don’t have the power to think, reason and judge. They lack mental understanding and intellect.

No one can deny that the human brain and mind is vastly superior to that of animals. But why? That’s a question no scientist or philosopher can answer. In fact, the human mind presents evolutionists with a real quandary! If humans gradually evolved from animals, how is it that the human mind is transcendentally different than the animal mind? If our intellectual and mental powers evolved, as scientists imply, why didn’t a single animal out of the millions of different species develop a mental capacity even close to the level of the human mind?

Surely we can admit that there is something profoundly unique and special about the human mind!

The spectacular intricacies of the human mind would take an entire book to discuss adequately. And that’s exactly what we want to give you, free of charge. It’s called The Incredible Human Potential, and you can request it here. If you study this book, you’ll come to see that the attack on the minds of our young people is actually an attack on the highest form of God’s creation! This book explains the magnificent difference between the human brain and the animal brain. It reveals the human mind for exactly what it is: God’s greatest gift to mankind. It will teach you how to take care of your mind, how to build and strengthen it, and, most importantly, how to add a spiritual dimension to your life that will truly expand your mind! •

from theTrumpet.com
See www.theTrumpet.com for more interesting articles.