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This newsletter is available online by
clicking here. The archived newsletter are also available by
clicking here.
The News In Review newsletter is a service
provided
by Understand The Times that
is a compilation of the news articles
previously posted
on our site . Understand The Times does not
endorse these events but rather is
showing the church the current events.
The
purpose of posting these articles is to warn the church of deception from a
Biblical perspective.
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September 20 - Homeland Security to test BOSS facial recognition at junior hockey game
Article: One World Government
The U.S. Department of
Homeland Security will test its
crowd-scanning facial recognition system, known as the Biometric Optical
Surveillance System, or BOSS, at a junior hockey game this weekend,
according to the Russian news agency RT.
With assistance from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, DHS will
test its system at a Western Hockey League game in Washington state.
The test will determine whether the system can
distinguish the faces of 20 volunteers out of a crowd of nearly 6,000 hockey
fans, to evaluate how successfully BOSS can locate a person of interest.
According to DHS, BOSS technology consists of two
cameras capable of taking stereoscopic images of a face and a back end
remote matching system. Stereoscopic images are two images of the same
object, taken at slightly different angles that create an illusion of
three-dimensional depth from two-dimensional images. The cameras transfer
the pair of images to the remote matching system by way of fiber optic or
wireless technology. The system then
processes and stores the two images into a 3-D signature, which is the
mathematical representation of the stereo-pair images that the system uses
for matching.
Read Full Article....
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September 22 - Seek God through his Mother, Pope encourages faithful
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
During his
Sunday homily in Sardinia, the
Pope explained how we should seek Christ through the
intercession of our Blessed Mother, whose
life was an example of faithful prayer and trust in God.
"Let us not grow
tired of knocking at God's door," he told crowds Sept. 22 in
Cagliari, Sardinia. "Let us go
to the heart of God through Mary, our whole life, every day,
knocking at the door of God's heart! Mary prays - prays together
with the community of disciples, and teaches us to have full
faith in God, in his mercy. This is the power of prayer!"
he told the faithful.
Read Full Article....
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September 25 - World needs the Church's witness of unity, Pope teaches
Article: Ecumenical Movement - Misc.
Today during
his general audience, Pope Francis drew attention to
the rich diversity within
the universal Church, saying that such differences are in
fact a sign of unity.
"Dear Brothers and
Sisters: in the Creed, we confess that the
Church is 'one.' When we consider the rich diversity of
languages, cultures and peoples present in the Church
throughout the world, we realize that this unity is a
God-given gift," the Pope said told
pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 25.
"In effect, the Church is one and it
is in that same unity, even though it is dispersed
throughout the world and there are many diversities."
"Like a big family, united
like brothers in one same faith and hope, in charity and in
the sacraments, in the apostolic ministry instituted by
Christ."
Read Full Article....
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September 25 - New Bridgeport bishop calls faithful to build 'spiritual bridges'
Article: Bridges To Rome
Bishop Frank
J. Caggiano was installed as Bishop of Bridgeport Sept. 19,
telling his new flock to
"leave no one behind": to build bridges with non-Catholics
and with those who have left the Church.
In his homily, Bridgeport's new bishop
said Catholics must begin
by strengthening their own unity and serving the body of
Christ in their own way. They must love
one another and "serve those in greatest need," including
the poor, the sick, the disabled, the lonely, the unborn,
those who "live in fear in distress," and those "who have
given up hope in life."
Bishop Caggiano, who was born to Italian immigrants in
Brooklyn in 1959, reflected on the unifying power of bridges
in both his native Brooklyn and in his new hometown of
Bridgeport. He said the
mission of Catholics is about "strengthening and building
spiritual bridges in our midst.
Read Full Article....
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September 20 - Methodist Pastors Defy Church Laws to Bless Same-Sex Unions
Article: Perilous Times
The Rev. Steve Heiss presided at his
first same-sex marriage ceremony in a field in
upstate New York on July 7, 2002. At the time,
gay marriage was not legal in New York, and it
remains illegal in the United Methodist Church.
But his
daughter was getting married,
and he wanted to bless her
relationship.
As pastor of Tabernacle United
Methodist Church in Binghamton,
N.Y.,
he knew he
was violating church law, but he
saw no reason the women should
not be treated as any other
couple.
"Even then I knew it was worth
the risk," he said.
"It was so
right. You only have one
opportunity to do this in your
lifetime. I couldn't imagine
anyone would be so upset about
it." In
2011, same-sex marriage became
legal in New York state.
Within a week, Heiss officiated
at a same-sex marriage, and he
has presided over six more
since. Five of those weddings
took place at his church.
Read Full Article....
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September 26 - Like Benedict, Pope Francis doesn't want Church of 'moralists'
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
While
Pope Francis' mention of the Church's priorities in a
recent interview grabbed worldwide attention, few
remember that Benedict XVI said substantially the same
thing seven years ago. Pope Francis' interview with La
Civiltà Cattolica published Sept. 19 led to headlines
such as CNN's "Pope
Francis says religion does not have the right to
interfere spiritually in the lives of gays and lesbians"
and the New York Times' "Pope Bluntly Faults Church's
Focus on Gays and Abortion."
Among
other things, the Roman Pontiff had said that
the Church "cannot insist
only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the
use of contraceptive methods
when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about
them in a context."
He
continued, "The
church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the
transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to
be imposed insistently. Proclamation in a missionary
style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary
things: this is also what fascinates and attracts more,
what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples
at Emmaus the proposal of
the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is
from this proposition that the moral consequences then
flow."
Read Full Article....
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September 25 - Rob Bell Speaks With Oprah Winfrey on 'Super Soul Sunday'
Article: Emerging Church
Controversial
Christian author and former megachurch pastor Rob Bell sits down with Oprah
Winfrey for an interview in an upcoming episode of her spirituality-theme
program "Super Soul Sunday." Bell's
latest book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, has
been listed as the first recommended title in "Oprah's Super Soulful Book of
the Month" club.
"The Emmy Award-winning series 'Super Soul
Sunday' delivers a thought-provoking,
eye-opening and inspiring block of programming designed to help viewers
awaken to their best selves and discover a deeper connection to the world
around them," reads a press release from Winfrey's
network.
Winfrey has written on Oprah.com about her
time talking with Bell, whose books she
said opened her heart and mind. "When Rob Bell -
pastor, best-selling author, provocative thinker - recently joined me on the
show, we talked for two and a half hours, and I could have kept going,"
wrote Winfrey. "The ideas Rob sets forth in
his books Love Wins and What We Talk About When We Talk About
God opened my heart and my mind. People like him are the reason I set
out to build OWN in the first place: to be able to gather a global community
of like-minded seekers."
Read Full Article....
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September 22 - Dolan Calls Pope's Tone on Sexual Morality a 'Breath of Fresh Air'
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
Three days after
Pope Francis set a new tone for the Roman Catholic Church,
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York,
embraced the "magnificent interview" in which the
pope chastised the church for its obsession with sexual morality, and
called him "a breath of fresh air."
After Sunday Mass at St.
Patrick's Cathedral, Cardinal Dolan,
who has himself softened his language on homosexuality in the past year,
likened the pope to the Yankees' retiring relief pitcher: "I think he's
our Mariano Rivera. He's a great relief to all of us."
Last Wednesday,
Pope Francis surprised Catholics and
non-Catholics alike with the publication of a lengthy interview in which
he reprimanded the church for emphasizing dogma and moral doctrines over
ministering to its people, including "those who have quit or are
indifferent." He laid out a vision for a more inclusive church as a
"home for all" and said the church could not afford to be "obsessed"
with same-sex marriage, abortion
and contraception.
Read Full Article....
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We hope the Weekly News In Review has been a
blessing to you.
Sincerely,
Roger Oakland
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The government on Tuesday
authorized establishment of a committee that
will examine ways to eliminate cash from the Israeli economy - the better to
prevent citizens from cheating on their taxes. The
committee will be chaired by Harel Locker, director of the Prime Minister's
Office.
Pope Francis has indicated respect "for Islam and
Muslims" in a letter to the head of the main cultural institution of Sunni
Islam, marking the end of Ramadan. 
Sometimes,
archaeologists discover a sweater; other times, they uncover
entire towns. The latter turns out to be the case in Israel,
where a town has been found - and
it could be one mentioned in a well-known Bible story.
LiveScience reports that it was found along the northwest side
of the Sea of Galilee, and British archaeologists suggest
that it is Dalmanutha, a place that factors into the Gospel of
Mark's recounting of Jesus feeding a great crowd of people with
just a few fish and loaves of bread: Dalmanutha is where he
briefly sailed after that miracle.
Six months
into his papacy, Pope
Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church
on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the
church had grown "obsessed" with abortion, gay marriage and
contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about
those issues despite recriminations from critics.
A Kansas man whose online lecture about
the Bible and same-sex relationships gained considerable attention
has gathered about 50 Christians
from around the country to delve into his belief that the Scriptures
do not condemn homosexuality as a sexual orientation.