The name on the address of this blog is obsolete in many ways and thus a new address is in order so please update your links as from now on my blogging will be found on http://rantinchick.blogspot.com/ I will try and move over all the material to the new one eventually. See you all on the other site.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
starting the financial future
Do you remember the first time you opened your own bank account, and the emotions you felt? Well today Anisten had that priviledge as we signed up for both a savings and a checking account. Seems you can't take out the money unless you transfer it into the checking first.
For a while now we have used canning jars to hold our money into different categories and since her savings jar added up to over $15, I decided it was time to let the bank pay her to have the priviledge of holding it. I am looking forward to seeing her expression the first time she receives the wopping 2-3 cents of interest, at least I am hoping it will be that much.
Experiencing new things for the first time can be pretty exciting and she did not disappoint, while holding and caressing the brand new bank card she exclaimed
"I am now complete!"
to which I replied "oh really?"
"Oh mom... it is only an expression of how this makes me feel at the moment, nothing else"
Something about looking at the world through the eyes of a child!
Thank you Anisten for making me smile, today will forever be ingrained in my memory.
You are indeed Gods greatest gift to me. And I thank God that he has spared my life so I may share in these experiences with you. I love you Boo!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Its really me!
Someone asked me how come there are few pictures of me on the blog so I decided to add one.
I changed my profile picture to an edit of this picture, and yes it is really me as a little girl, taken in Argentina. When my mom showed Anisten this picture she was perplexed and asked "is this me?"
I changed my profile picture to an edit of this picture, and yes it is really me as a little girl, taken in Argentina. When my mom showed Anisten this picture she was perplexed and asked "is this me?"
Monday, October 23, 2006
Results of study on world-wide Pentecostals/Charismatics
Pew Conducts a 10-country Survey of Pentecostals
Mark D. Tooley
Weekly Standard
NOW NUMBERING OVER 500 million, and probably the fastest growing religious movement in the world, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians are transforming the global religious demographic, especially in Latin America and Africa. They comprise nearly half of Brazil's population, and 25 percent of the United States is Pentecostal or Charismatic.
Are these religious, social conservatives replicating in the Global South political trends that are present among Republican-oriented evangelicals in the United States? A new study from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life tries to answer just this question.
Pew estimated that Pentecostals and Charismatics account for about one fourth of the world's 2 billion Christians. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, published in 2001, there are about 66 million Pentecostals and 470 million Charismatics.
Both Pentecostals and Charismatics have effusive worship styles, emphasize divine healings and other gifts of the Holy Spirit, and believe that evangelism is imperative. Pentecostals belong to specifically Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God, which date to the early 20th century. Charismatics are found across evangelical and Protestant churches, but also within Roman Catholicism. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there are about 120 million Catholic Charismatics, or over one fifth of the Pentecostal/Charismatic total.
Pew measured opinion among Pentecostals/Charismatics where they are thought to be strongest: the United States, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the Philippines, South Korea, and India. Though there are also millions in China, government restrictions on religion there likely would have made polling problematic.
Not surprisingly, Pew found that Pentecostals/Charismatics in every country are more socially conservative than the general population, disapproving of homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, and divorce. In Africa and Asia, they were more strongly opposed to the practice of homosexuality than they were in Latin America and the United States. Africans and Asians, both the general population and Pentecostals/Charismatics, are also the most hostile to divorce and pre-marital sex. Brazilians and Chileans were the least disapproving.
About 60 percent of Pentecostals/Charismatics in the United States think abortion is always wrong, compared to 45 percent of the general population. But Latins, Africans, and Asians were all much more opposed to abortion. Americans were the most accepting of euthanasia. Only 50 percent of Pentecostals here insist it is never justified, though that is still higher than 37 percent of the general population.
Pentecostals/Charismatics everywhere attend worship services more frequently than other Christians, are more adamant about their doctrines, and have more literal understandings of the Bible. Politically, outside the United States, they are a little harder to measure beyond key social issues.
In most countries, Pentecostals/Charismatics are more pro-Israel than the general population. They also tend to support the free market, but not much more than the general population. This is a little surprising, as Pentecostals, especially in Latin America, are heavily influenced by U.S. parachurch groups and are commonly portrayed, especially by their critics, as extensions of American-style capitalism.
Pentecostals/Charismatics in the United States strongly support the war on terror, but in most of the other polled countries, they are ambivalent or negative. The exceptions are Nigeria, Kenya, India, and the Philippines, all of which have struggled against Islamic terrorism and, in the case of Nigeria, Islamist repression of Christian populations. Americans, religious and not, are the most likely to trust their own nation's military. Religious Filipinos and Kenyans also trust their national militaries. The other national populations do not trust theirs.
In all of the measured countries except for the United States, South Korea, and South Africa, Pentecostals/Charismatics comprise the majority of Protestant Christians, and in Latin America overwhelmingly so. But in Brazil and Guatemala, Charismatics also comprise a majority of Roman Catholics. Pentecostals/Charismatics are a majority of the total populations of Guatemala and Kenya. And they are nearly half of Brazil and the Philippines. One quarter of Americans are Pentecostal/Charismatic.
Although the West, excluding the United States, is getting more secular, the Global South is getting more religious, or at least switching from traditional religion to more charismatic Christianity. Nigeria is a prime example. Pew reports that over the last 50 years Nigeria has gone from 45 percent Muslim to 50 percent, and from 21 percent Christian to 48 percent, a majority of which is Pentecostal/Charismatic. Traditional religion has declined from one third of the population to just less than 2 percent.
Similarly, South Korea is becoming more Christian and more Buddhist, with a quarter of the population now belonging to each, up from 20 percent each 20 years ago, with no religious affiliation slipping from 58 percent to less than half of the population over the same period. South Africa has gone from 68 percent to 80 percent Christian over the last 50 years. The Latin American countries and the Philippines have growing evangelical Protestant minorities, with Guatemala now 30 percent evangelical. But this evangelical resurgence has been accompanied by a growing Charismatic Catholicism in all these countries. Evangelical resurgence seems to stimulate a corresponding resurgence of Catholic faith.
Somewhat disturbingly, the Gospel of Health and Wealth has thoroughly penetrated much of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, especially in the Global South. Over 40 percent of Pentecostals/Charismatics in the United States believe that God grants good health to the faithful, compared to a quarter of the general population. But strong majorities of Pentecostals/Charismatics in Latin America and Africa believe in the promise of good health. Interestingly, the figures in Africa are not that different from the general population, among whom there seems to be a consensus that God will reward good living with good health.
Contrary to some stereotypes about the hyper nationalism of American evangelicals, an overwhelming majority of Pentecostals/Charismatics in this country said that their religion is more important than their nationality. This was true in every other country in Pew's study. Pentecostals/Charismatics did not differ very much from the general population on gender roles in most countries, although they were more inclined to support female clergy than were the general populations in Asian countries. There is a strong tradition of female lay preaching among Pentecostals, and some Pentecostal churches ordain women.
Americans, religious and not, were the most adamant about religious freedom among all the nations surveyed. But overwhelming majorities in each, religious and not, affirm the importance of multi-party democracy, free elections, freedom of speech, and independent courts. Pentecostals/Charismatics were only slightly more likely than others to affirm their importance.
Pentecostals cannot always be neatly lumped together with Charismatics. For example, 60 percent of American Pentecostals sympathize with Israel, compared to 7 percent with Palestinians. But only 37 percent of American Charismatics favor Israel, compared to 10 percent for the Palestinians. Pentecostals tend to have strong views about God's ongoing covenant with the Jewish people. Charismatics among mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics are less inclined to this view. This same difference was found elsewhere except in South Korea and Kenya.
In Latin America, Pentecostals/Charismatics were less inclined than the general population to support the American war on terrorism, but they were more supportive in Africa and Asia. When asked to place themselves on the ideological spectrum, Pentecostals/Charismatics everywhere overwhelmingly picked the middle, though they were slightly more tilted right everywhere except in Kenya and South Africa.
The World Christian Encyclopedia estimates that Pentecostals/Charismatics will number over 800 million in 20 years, comprising 10 percent of the world's population and nearly one third of all Christians. In 1970, they numbered fewer than 80 million, or two percent of the global population. They are now the majority in several nations, and likely will become the majority in many more within the next decade. Their growth has helped make evangelicals the largest religious group in the United States, with enormous political repercussions. Those repercussions have now become global.
Mark D. Tooley directs the United Methodist committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
Mark D. Tooley
Weekly Standard
NOW NUMBERING OVER 500 million, and probably the fastest growing religious movement in the world, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians are transforming the global religious demographic, especially in Latin America and Africa. They comprise nearly half of Brazil's population, and 25 percent of the United States is Pentecostal or Charismatic.
Are these religious, social conservatives replicating in the Global South political trends that are present among Republican-oriented evangelicals in the United States? A new study from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life tries to answer just this question.
Pew estimated that Pentecostals and Charismatics account for about one fourth of the world's 2 billion Christians. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, published in 2001, there are about 66 million Pentecostals and 470 million Charismatics.
Both Pentecostals and Charismatics have effusive worship styles, emphasize divine healings and other gifts of the Holy Spirit, and believe that evangelism is imperative. Pentecostals belong to specifically Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God, which date to the early 20th century. Charismatics are found across evangelical and Protestant churches, but also within Roman Catholicism. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there are about 120 million Catholic Charismatics, or over one fifth of the Pentecostal/Charismatic total.
Pew measured opinion among Pentecostals/Charismatics where they are thought to be strongest: the United States, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the Philippines, South Korea, and India. Though there are also millions in China, government restrictions on religion there likely would have made polling problematic.
Not surprisingly, Pew found that Pentecostals/Charismatics in every country are more socially conservative than the general population, disapproving of homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, and divorce. In Africa and Asia, they were more strongly opposed to the practice of homosexuality than they were in Latin America and the United States. Africans and Asians, both the general population and Pentecostals/Charismatics, are also the most hostile to divorce and pre-marital sex. Brazilians and Chileans were the least disapproving.
About 60 percent of Pentecostals/Charismatics in the United States think abortion is always wrong, compared to 45 percent of the general population. But Latins, Africans, and Asians were all much more opposed to abortion. Americans were the most accepting of euthanasia. Only 50 percent of Pentecostals here insist it is never justified, though that is still higher than 37 percent of the general population.
Pentecostals/Charismatics everywhere attend worship services more frequently than other Christians, are more adamant about their doctrines, and have more literal understandings of the Bible. Politically, outside the United States, they are a little harder to measure beyond key social issues.
In most countries, Pentecostals/Charismatics are more pro-Israel than the general population. They also tend to support the free market, but not much more than the general population. This is a little surprising, as Pentecostals, especially in Latin America, are heavily influenced by U.S. parachurch groups and are commonly portrayed, especially by their critics, as extensions of American-style capitalism.
Pentecostals/Charismatics in the United States strongly support the war on terror, but in most of the other polled countries, they are ambivalent or negative. The exceptions are Nigeria, Kenya, India, and the Philippines, all of which have struggled against Islamic terrorism and, in the case of Nigeria, Islamist repression of Christian populations. Americans, religious and not, are the most likely to trust their own nation's military. Religious Filipinos and Kenyans also trust their national militaries. The other national populations do not trust theirs.
In all of the measured countries except for the United States, South Korea, and South Africa, Pentecostals/Charismatics comprise the majority of Protestant Christians, and in Latin America overwhelmingly so. But in Brazil and Guatemala, Charismatics also comprise a majority of Roman Catholics. Pentecostals/Charismatics are a majority of the total populations of Guatemala and Kenya. And they are nearly half of Brazil and the Philippines. One quarter of Americans are Pentecostal/Charismatic.
Although the West, excluding the United States, is getting more secular, the Global South is getting more religious, or at least switching from traditional religion to more charismatic Christianity. Nigeria is a prime example. Pew reports that over the last 50 years Nigeria has gone from 45 percent Muslim to 50 percent, and from 21 percent Christian to 48 percent, a majority of which is Pentecostal/Charismatic. Traditional religion has declined from one third of the population to just less than 2 percent.
Similarly, South Korea is becoming more Christian and more Buddhist, with a quarter of the population now belonging to each, up from 20 percent each 20 years ago, with no religious affiliation slipping from 58 percent to less than half of the population over the same period. South Africa has gone from 68 percent to 80 percent Christian over the last 50 years. The Latin American countries and the Philippines have growing evangelical Protestant minorities, with Guatemala now 30 percent evangelical. But this evangelical resurgence has been accompanied by a growing Charismatic Catholicism in all these countries. Evangelical resurgence seems to stimulate a corresponding resurgence of Catholic faith.
Somewhat disturbingly, the Gospel of Health and Wealth has thoroughly penetrated much of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, especially in the Global South. Over 40 percent of Pentecostals/Charismatics in the United States believe that God grants good health to the faithful, compared to a quarter of the general population. But strong majorities of Pentecostals/Charismatics in Latin America and Africa believe in the promise of good health. Interestingly, the figures in Africa are not that different from the general population, among whom there seems to be a consensus that God will reward good living with good health.
Contrary to some stereotypes about the hyper nationalism of American evangelicals, an overwhelming majority of Pentecostals/Charismatics in this country said that their religion is more important than their nationality. This was true in every other country in Pew's study. Pentecostals/Charismatics did not differ very much from the general population on gender roles in most countries, although they were more inclined to support female clergy than were the general populations in Asian countries. There is a strong tradition of female lay preaching among Pentecostals, and some Pentecostal churches ordain women.
Americans, religious and not, were the most adamant about religious freedom among all the nations surveyed. But overwhelming majorities in each, religious and not, affirm the importance of multi-party democracy, free elections, freedom of speech, and independent courts. Pentecostals/Charismatics were only slightly more likely than others to affirm their importance.
Pentecostals cannot always be neatly lumped together with Charismatics. For example, 60 percent of American Pentecostals sympathize with Israel, compared to 7 percent with Palestinians. But only 37 percent of American Charismatics favor Israel, compared to 10 percent for the Palestinians. Pentecostals tend to have strong views about God's ongoing covenant with the Jewish people. Charismatics among mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics are less inclined to this view. This same difference was found elsewhere except in South Korea and Kenya.
In Latin America, Pentecostals/Charismatics were less inclined than the general population to support the American war on terrorism, but they were more supportive in Africa and Asia. When asked to place themselves on the ideological spectrum, Pentecostals/Charismatics everywhere overwhelmingly picked the middle, though they were slightly more tilted right everywhere except in Kenya and South Africa.
The World Christian Encyclopedia estimates that Pentecostals/Charismatics will number over 800 million in 20 years, comprising 10 percent of the world's population and nearly one third of all Christians. In 1970, they numbered fewer than 80 million, or two percent of the global population. They are now the majority in several nations, and likely will become the majority in many more within the next decade. Their growth has helped make evangelicals the largest religious group in the United States, with enormous political repercussions. Those repercussions have now become global.
Mark D. Tooley directs the United Methodist committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
A Different Road
This Saturday I spent most of my day in a workshop/seminar called a Different Road- for divorced and separated people. The day started great with breakfast and mingling to get to know the seminar participants. There is something so comforting about being in a room with people who share the same pain with you. As we settled into the room in where the teaching would occur it became evident very quickly how some where in such dispair and it broke my heart as well as others with the full knowledge of knowing what that pain feels like. The best part was seeing that at the conclusion we shared many laughs over dinner at Montanas restaurant. The majority of the paricipants in the seminar are not regular church attenders but we were all able to receive wisdom in dealing with the pain and hear how we are spiritual beings who need spiritual balance that was found in Jesus as the group leader shared. The workshop may of been for a day but the participants have the option to join a support group on Tuesday nights to dig deeper into the curriculum. As I currently attend "Just Me and the Kids" on Tuesdays I will have to wait till the new year to join them, and I am really looking forward to that. The people responsible for setting this up are prior participants and they shared how the group has become a family to them and I could sense how that is possible even through the different personalities, age, race or gender.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Meet Jason Illian.
Jason was a contestant on "The Bachelorette" and was introduced as a 29 year old motivational speaker who is also a Virgin. Yes Jason is a born again Christian and his writtings will make you say uhmm. Check out his myspace blog for plenty of reading and contemplating, never boring I promise. http://www.myspace.com/jasonillian
The picture is of his book cover that was just released on October 16th. You can read the first chapter right on his blog. I promise it will make you think and ponder irregardless of your marital status.
I specially like his quote "Somebody slap Paris Hilton for me!" Read on to find out why. Make sure you listen to the song that plays on the page.
Monday, October 09, 2006
First week of work
So I have completed my first week of work and I hope I don't get fired on Tuesday for forgetting to forward the phones to the Montreal office before I left on Friday! I did return as I remembered blocks away from home but since you need a special security key to get in(which I don't have) it was all in vain since everyone was gone.The job is as a receptionist at Innotech-Execaire http://www.innotech-execaire.com/ and it is really quiet most of the time. On thursday the internet was turned on to the computer I was using and I was able to do some research work on "chemicals and their "material safety data sheets" ooh sounds interesting right? Well it is amazing how you can have many many forms of a "grease 27".
I did get to see the interior of one of the jets on Friday and the inside though very lavish was alot smaller than I imagined or seen on the brochures. I can tell you one thing and that is that my car has never been as shiny or as clean as one of those. Maybe I will get to see the helicopters another day, looking forward to that.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Wear your Friday red
If you are not aware of it yet, wearing red on Fridays is a way to show our Canadian troops that we support the sacrifice they make to advance the cause of freedom for all wether it would be in Afghanistan or elsewhere.If you have received a phony mushy email story about an American soldiers body being brought home on an American commercial flight, disregard the spam and know that this is truly a Canadian show of support since red is the dominat colour in our flag!
When is the last time you heard of a soldiers body being brought home on a commercial flight? (The email sets the story from the vantage point of a passenger on a plane). NOT! They are brought home in full fanfare to honour the ultimate sacrifice that was paid and rightly so.
Stand up, be Canadian and wear your red on Fridays.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Anti anxiety drugs
FOR DIETRICH! ONE OF OUR CATS. Yes Dietrich today was prescribed anti anxiety drugs. I made a long overdue apt. with the vet. because Dietrich who has been on antibiotics 3 times now and a diet change goes back within 2-3 days of finishing the prescription to having pain and how does he show me? by peeing and doing number 2 outside of the box. Yah, really pretty and great to smell! NOT!
As you know veterenary bills are not on my budget right now and though it pained me to tears to the point of still feeling the sting in my eyes, I came to the decision that maybe it was time to put him down. Through the tears I tell the vet the decision, this is when she decides in her professional honest opinion that he is just an anxious cat and causing himself so much stress that he is literally making himself sick. So yes off course I once more get a prescription filled for an antibiotic (30 days worth) and the anti anxiety drug(60 days worth). So if this fails she agrees he wouldn't have more options(short of thousands of dollars of work).
Right now I pray that I have a crazy cat. I don't want to go through another day(though I am sure more will come) when I have to tell Anisten who is 9 how we have to let a member of the family go. I was so proud of her in how she handled herself through it all, mind you though she loves Dietrich immensly it does not compare to her love for Shadie(oh how I dread that day when it is her turn).
I called from the vets office to tell Anisten the good news and I hear "I just knew it, I just knew it that he would come back home as I prayed and prayed. I just knew it Mommy!" Her enthusiasm was also evident as they both (Anisten and Shadie) welcomed Dietrich home and Anisten announced it was officially "Dietrich Day"
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
On the Job Front
I am happy to announce that I have a job! Well for 2 months anyways, it's a temp. position that I was given right after I was tested at Randstad Employment agency. The job is at the Airport doing secretarial work for an airplane charter/sales and service company.
So, yes I am already nervous but I am sure everything will work out, I start this Monday. I won't be getting rich anytime soon but I need more experience to fill up my resume with. Off to work I go!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Cory Trepanier Artist
Cory Trepanier is an old friend of my brother Andrew. He is quite the talented accomplished artist. This summer Cory and his wife along with their 2 daughters did a trip to Canadas artic which had them stop in to visit Andrew and his family in Devon AB. You may of actually seen some of his commercial work on the Scotties tissue Christmas box, a blue winter christmas scene. It has been out for a few years so keep a look out since Christmas themes are already infiltrating the stores.http://intothearctic.com/
Monday, September 25, 2006
A mathematical equation
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been in situations where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 101%? What equals 100% in life?Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these
Questions:If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K =8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98%
and
K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E =11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%
But,
A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E =1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%
AND, look how far the love of God will take you
L- O- V- E-O-F-G-O-D =12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%
Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Energy spent
Well life takes us places we never thought we would go. Here I am now stating "I am a single mom!" I must apologize because I always used to equate that word with alot of negative thoughts and now I find myself being taught of the Lord how his Grace is sufficient to get anyone through this and even grow one through it. Don't get me wrong, marriage breakdown is a result of sin in this world and this road sucks!!!!!
Bill and I are working the specifics out in little bits and I am so glad that today we are on fairly good terms with each other. Did you catch the "today" we are on good terms because it changes as we face different stages.
Tomorrow night Anisten and I will be going to a "Just me and the kids" program at a nearby church. The program is designed to teach parents how to help their kids through this time and they also have a separate time for the kids to learn and share their feelings. The night starts out with diner, Bonus!
I had a friend give me a word that this will be a time of growth and learning to spread my wings. I agree that If I am open to learning and changing that this is what will happen, and if I am not then I will become a bitter and stunted old woman.
Life is too short to waste energy on being bitter,
spend the energy wisely and it will light your way to a bright future!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
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