RELIGION OR EXERCISE?

Religion or exercise? Debate on yoga raises concerns

By DEBORAH FRAZIER
Scripps Howard News Service
September 06, 2002

ASPEN, Colo. - Steve Woodrow, pastor of the First Baptist Church, said this week that the words "chant," "mantra," "mandela" and other terms in a Colorado school district yoga program violate federal rulings that bar religion in classrooms.

Woodrow made the comments at a public meeting at Aspen High School to air concerns and hear support for the district's plan to teach yoga to elementary students.

"You can't separate the religious and spiritual aspects of yoga from the physical aspects," Woodrow said, noting the Hindu roots of the ancient exercise form.

"I don't want my children to do that," Woodrow said. "This is scary."

Last month, Woodrow objected to Yoga Ed for about 220 elementary school students as a conflict between church and state. Woodrow has two sons in Aspen Elementary School.

At a public meeting attended by about 75 parents, teachers, school board members, yoga practitioners and other residents, Woodrow quoted from the Yoga Journal that the meditation, breathing and stretching was "an altered state of consciousness" that promoted a "oneness with God."

And, Woodrow named four court rulings that found yoga violated the separation of church and state.

There was polite applause. And then there was spirited rebuttal and defense.

"Yoga is not about faith," said Allison Dailey, a substitute teacher and mother of two boys. She was a missionary and has done yoga exercises for five years. "I want my two sons to experience the focusing and stretching."

Ministers, priests and rabbis have contacted the Aspen School District since Woodrow challenged the yoga classes. A priest at the Benedictine Monastery in Aspen wrote that comparing religion to yoga is like comparing religion to running - there is no comparison.

Yoga Ed, the district's yoga program, was developed by the Children's Health Initiative at the Aspen Center for New Medicine after Sept. 11 as part of a program to make children feel safer in the schools. .

Few people in the audience had read the 2-inch-thick Yoga Ed Curriculum statement, but most were yoga enthusiasts that saw no religious connotations.

"Semantics is all we are talking about. We can change a few words and make it all happen," said Lloyd Herman, an Aspen dentist. At the end of the nearly four-hour meeting, the school board agreed to consider the options and make a decision next week.

(Contact Deborah Frazier of the Rocky Mountain News at http://www.rockymountainnews.com.)

BACK TO HOME

BLESSED CAUSE TWO CENTS:
Teachers instructing children to "clear their minds" is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. There IS a spirit world, there ARE demons. Many Christians will deny it unless confronted with one. When our children "clear their minds" and get into that mind altered place, it leaves them wide open to the spirit world. Remember the lesson Jesus taught? "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

It is not enough to be emptied of evil, we must then be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. When teachers tell our children to chant and "clear their minds", they concentrate on opening up to a spiritual entity. If they succeed in "clearing their minds" (the new mind of Christ) THEY ARE SUSCEPTIBLE. It is Antichrist in sheep's clothing.

THE LIFE OF THE GOOD THIEF

This Gospel also contains facts belonging to, what we may call, tradition of the second order. To this category belongs the following history. It is in the twenty-third chapter:

“And, presently, they came to the entrance of the desert. And, hearing that it was infested by robbers, they determined to cross it, during the night. But, suddenly, they perceived two robbers, who were lying near them, asleep, and round about were many other robbers, their associates, and they also were asleep. The names of these two robbers were Titus and Dumachus. The first said to the other, ‘I beg thee, let these travelers go in peace, lest our comrades discover them.’ And Dumachus refused. Whereon Titus said to him: ‘I beseech thee, accept of me, forty drachmas, and take my belt as security.’ And he, offering it, implored him not to call their comrades or give the alarm. “Mary, seeing this robber so well inclined towards her, said to him, ‘May God uphold thee with His right hand, and grant thee the remission of thy sins.’ “And the Lord Jesus said to his mother, ‘In thirty years’ time, O my mother, the Jews will crucify Me, and these two robbers shall be crucified with Me, Titus on my right hand and Dumachus on my left, and behold, that day, Titus shall be with me in Paradise.’ “And when He had thus spoken, His mother answered Him, saying, ‘God forbid that such things should befall Thee.’ And they went on their way towards the city of idols.”

But, the most important of all the Apocryphal writings, is the Gospel of Nicodemus. Hardly a sentence of it, but what is reproduced by many of the early fathers, such as St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Chrysostom, Firmicus Maternus, and St. Hippolytus, so that its general sense is unimpeachable. It has been much read in the West, where it was known from a very early period. In its present form it is attributed to the fourth or fifth century. Gregory of Tours, Vincent of Beauvais, and many other writers of the Middle Ages, frequently quote this Gospel, without ever expressing any doubt as to its authenticity. Eusebius of Alexandria analyzed, and wrote a commentary upon it, and showed no scruple in accepting its authority. At no very distant time, the Gospel of Nicodemus was regularly read in the Greek Church, not, it is true, as forming part of the sacred canon, but as being a work full of edification, written by a holy and venerable man. It is impossible to say how many editions it has gone through. They are innumerable. Like the Gospel of the Holy Childhood, that of Nicodemus records, over and above those events of which the New Testament gives us divine testimony, certain other incidents and details not mentioned by the Evangelists, in their brief narrative. We will content ourselves with citing a single passage, which throws a light upon the subject of our history. It is from the tenth chapter:

“And Jesus went forth from the Pretorium. And when He had reached the place called Golgotha, the soldiers took off, from Him, His own garment, and girded Him with a linen cloth, and put, upon His Head, a crown of thorns and a reed in His hands; and they crucified with Him two thieves, Dismas on His right hand, and Gestas on His left.”

There are numerous passages in the works of the fathers in which mention is made both of the names of the two thieves and of their encounter with the Holy Family in the desert. The good faith as well as the discrimination of these writers being established beyond doubt, it matters little whether their information was derived from the above-mentioned documents, or from others which have long since perished.

Among the published works of St. Augustine is a treatise, entitled De Vita Eremitica. Until lately it was attributed to the great Bishop of Hippo. We ourselves are more inclined to the opinion of the learned Père Raynaud, who believes it to have been written by St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury. But, whoever the author, the work is undoubtedly old and of much weight. We quote it as confirming the tradition of which we have been speaking. “Consider as true that tradition, which represents the Holy Family as falling into the hands of robbers and owing their deliverance to a young man who was the son of their chief. The legend is that, being on the point of rifling them, he suddenly caught sight of the Divine Infant, resting in His mother’s arms. He was struck with awe on beholding the glorious beauty and majesty of His countenance, and believed at once that He was something more than man, and burning with love, he embraced Him, saying: ‘O most Blessed of children, if ever a time should come when I should crave Thy mercy, remember me and forget not what has passed this day.

THE PRIORITY OF FOLLOWING JESUS

Luke 9:57-62

[57] As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

[58] Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

[59] He said to another man, "Follow me."

But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

[60] Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

[61] Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."

[62] Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

---

Jesus Christ comes before everything. Nothing in my past life gave me any lasting peace or satisfaction. I was always looking, searching; all my vain attempts to be noticed, appreciated, loved, or respected, ended in ashes. I’ve had it all – marriage, kids, house, car, & job security - & lost it all through, sin. My purpose in life is to proclaim the kingdom of God, without looking back on my past life. I am a sinner who deserves to go to hell but Jesus has delivered me from my inequities, through his death on the cross. His love lasts forever. I was lost but was found by Jesus. I love Jesus, so much. Oh! Merciful Jesus! Praise the Lord!!

SIXTY - SEVEN SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES

Sixty-Seven Scriptural References

Which Tell Us That It Is The Sun

And Not The Earth That Moves

Genesis 15:12...... "...and when the sun was going down..."

15:17..... "...when the sun went down..."

19:23..... "The sun was risen upon the earth."

28:11..... "...because the sun was set...."

32:31..... "...the sun rose...."

Exodus 17:12..... "...until the going down of the sun...."

22:3...... "...if the sun be risen upon him...."

22:26.... "...the sun goeth down...."

Leviticus 22:7...... "...And when the sun is down...."

Numbers 2:3........ "...toward the rising of the sun...."

Deuteronomy 11:30..... "...the way where the sun goeth down...."

16:6....... "...at the going down of the sun...."

23:11..... "...when the sun is down...."

24:13..... "...when the sun goeth down...."

24:15..... "...neither shall the sun go down...."

Joshua 1:4..... "...the going down of the sun...."

8:29... "...as soon as the sun was down...."

10:12.. "...Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon...."

10:13.. "...and the sun stood still...."

10:27.. "...the time of the going down of the sun...."

12:1.... "...toward the rising of the sun...."

Judges 5:31.... "...as the sun when he goeth down...."

8:13.... "...before the sun was up...."

9:33.... "...as soon as the sun is up...."

14:18.... "...before the sun went down...."

19:14.... "...and the sun went down...."

II Samuel 2:24.... "...the sun went down...."

3:35.... "...till the sun be down...."

23:4..... "...when the sun riseth...."

I Kings 22:36.... "...the going down of the sun...."

I Chronicles 16:30.... "...the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved...."

II Chronicles 18:34.... "...time of the sun going down...."

Job 9:7.... "...commandeth the sun and it riseth not...."

Job 26:7.... "...He hangeth the earth upon nothing...."

Psalm 19:4.... "...tabernacle for the sun...."

19:5 ... "...cometh out to run...."

19:6.... "...goes forth in a circle from one end of heaven to the other...."

50:1.... "...from the rising of the sun...."

93:1.... "...the world also is stablished that it cannot be moved...."

104:19.. "...the sun knoweth his going down...."

104:22.. "...the sun ariseth...."

113:3.... "...from the rising of the sun...."

Ecclesiastes 1:5.... "...The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down

and hasteth to the place where he arose...."

Isaiah 13:10.... "...sun shall be darkened in his going...."

38:8...... "...is gone down on the sundial of Ahaz...."

38:8...... "...so the sun returned...."

41:25.... "...from the rising of the sun...."

45:6...... "...from the rising of the sun...."

59:19.... "...from the rising of the sun...."

60:20.... "...the sun shall no more go down...."

Jeremiah 15:9.... "...her sun is gone down while it was yet day...."

Daniel 6:14.... "...going down of the sun...."

Amos 8:9.... "...cause the sun to go down at noon...."

Jonah 4:8.... "...when the sun did arise...."

Micah 3:6.... "...and the sun shall go down...."

Nahum 3:17.... "...when the sun ariseth...."

Habakkuk 3:11.... "...the sun and moon stood still in their habitation...."

Malachi 1:11.... "...from the rising of the sun...."

Matthew 5:45.... "...for He maketh His sun to rise...."

13:6..... "...and when the sun was up...."

Mark 1:32.... "...when the sun did set...."

4:6...... "...when the sun was up...."

16:2...... "...at the rising of the sun...."

Luke 4:40.... "...when the sun was setting...."

Ephesians 4:26.... "...let not the sun go down upon your wrath...."

James 1:11.... "...for the sun is no sooner risen...."

That is a Total of 67 Verses from the Bible Which Say

that It Is the Sun that Moves and Not the Earth!

*******************

# of Verses from the Bible Which Say

that It Is the Earth that Moves and Not the Sun:

0

***********************

Will You...your Preacher...your Church Boldly

Stand With The Bible on this Creationist Teaching??

In the Biblical Creation there was, after all,

no sun for the earth to go around

until the fourth day!

(Genesis 1:14-19)

*******

Those who would like still further proof that there is no getting around

the fact that the Bible teaches that it is the sun--not the earth--

that moves, will want to read this title also:

"Grammatically and Semantically

the Holy Bible is Wholly Geocentric"

HERE

Also, go to "What If?" for the top 11 references in 7 Bible Books

which teach that the Earth is an immovable, stationary body,

around which the sun travels daily...and for some

other subject-related "What Ifs?"....

HERE

*******

DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES

A Summary of the Overwhelming

Mathematical Evidence of the

Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures

A converted Russian nihilist, Ivan Panin, graduated from Harvard in 1882 as a mathematician. He then spent 50 years (wow!) on deciphering the mind-blowing mathematical structure of the Bible from the first word to the last. Since every letter in every word of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts also has a numerical equivalent, every letter, word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, and even every subject has a definite arithmetical sum.

What follows is a severely abbreviated example of the kinds of phenomena Dr. Panin discovered when working with those numerical equivalents...regardless of whether they pertained to a given subject such as the genealogy of Christ, or a book of the Bible, or the Bible in its entirety. Marvel at each of these as you read:

The number of words in the vocabulary will divide by the number seven.

The number of words beginning with a vowel is divisible by seven.

The number of words beginning with a consonant is divisible by seven.

The number of letters in the vocabulary of a subject (like the genealogy of Christ) is divisible by seven.

Of these letters, those which are consonants and those which are vowels both divide by seven.

The number of words occurring more than once is divisible by seven. Those occurring only once likewise divide by seven.

The number of nouns is divisible by seven. The number that are not nouns divides by seven.

The number of proper names divides by seven. The male names divide by seven. The female names divide by seven.

The number of words beginning with each of the letters of the alphabet is divisible by seven.

Having explained the function of numeric and place values in the Hebrew and Greek languages in Scripture, it is noted by way of example that the value of the word "Jesus" in Greek is 975, of which the numeric value is 888, and the place value is 87. These features produced these astonishing results in addition to the previous examples:

The numeric value of the vocabulary is divisible by seven.

The numerical value of the various alphabetical groups of words is divisible by seven.

The numerical value of the various forms in which the words occur produce the same phenomenon.

Dr. Panin challenged any person to write one paragraph of 300 words intelligently and produce some numeric phenomena of like designs, and complete it within six months. Anyone who could do it would prove himself/herself a wonder. No takers.

Since many of the writers of the Scriptures were men from ordinary walks of life with little or no schooling, it is beyond astonishing that the same harmonious numerical features were found in different wording of the same or similar accounts, as in the four Gospels. Even more amazing, the number of words found in Matthew that are not found in any other New Testament book display elaborate numeric design. How did Matthew know that he had used words that would not be used in any of the other 26 books? He would have to have before him all of these books, and would have to have written last.

It so happens, however, that each of the other books shows the same phenomena! Did each writer write last?! If not, then, was each writer a mind reader as well as a literary and mathematical artist, never equaled and hardly even conceivable?

But that is just the start of Panin’s findings! He proceeded to prove that every book of the Bible carries such features, that each one is necessary to cause the numerical scheme of the entire Bible to work out correctly, and that nothing can be added to or subtracted from the Bible, as we have it, without spoiling these features. From the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelation, these divine evidences are found. The God of nature is, therefore, proved to be the God of Scripture. The quarrel of modern skeptics, therefore, is not with believers of the Bible, but with God Himself.

Panin’s discoveries revealed that several numbers other than seven produced equally astonishing results. For example--having gone through detailed lists of the known and unknown authors of the Bible’s 66 books and through their arrangement from the Hebrew Received Text and the Greek Text and the numeric values of the names of those which have known authors--it was found that the sum was 721 elevens. The sum of the factors involved was 121 or 11 x 11.

The presence of these factors of 11’s in connection with the number, order and names of writers is either accidental or designed. That the number of books in the Bible should be a multiple of 11 might be purely accidental. Since, however, only every 11th number is a multiple of 11, the chance for any number being a multiple of 11 is only 1 in 11.

That this number could be so divided between anonymous and non-anonymous books that each class could also be a multiple of 11.... Well, this may also be accidental, but the chance of it happening is only one in 11 x 11, or one in 121.

That this number could also be divided between anonymous and known authors by 11’s among the authors of only one book and those of more than one may be due to chance, but the chance of this being accidental is only one in 11 x 11 x11, or 1,331.

Going thus far through the 8 features of 11’s noted, every one might be accidental, but the chances for their being so is only one in the 8th power of 11, or 214,358,881.

The sum of the numeric values of the 26 authors (7,931) is also a multiple of 7. Of this number the 21 writers of the Old Testament (3 sevens) have 3,808, or 544 sevens, and the N.T. writers have 4,123 (589 sevens). Of the 3,808 belonging to the O.T., 2,933 (419 sevens) belong to the writers of the Law and the Prophets, from Moses to Malachi, and 1,190 (170 sevens) belong to the writers of the so-called Hagiographa, from David to Nehemiah. Seven of the 21 O.T. writers (3 sevens) are expressly named as such in the N.T.; Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Joel. Their numeric value is 1,544 (222 sevens). The numeric value of Moses who heads the list and John who closes it, is 345 plus 1,069, totaling 1,414 or 202 7’s.

The Bible begins with the Hebrew word "beginning" and ends with the Greek word hagios, "saint". The Hebrew word occurs in the following books (lists them) and the Greek word occurs in the following books (lists them).... These books are 42 in number (6 sevens). Take the respective numbers of these books in the order of their place and there sum is 1,575, (225 sevens).

These eight features of 7’s in connection with the order and writers of the books may also be accidental, but the chance for these features of 7’s and 11’s happening together is one in billions.

The conclusion of these and many other similar features--the labor of a professional mathematician for half a century, remember--is what anyone open to the Truth will readily concede, namely, no mere human authorship of these phenomena is possible. Only a superior mathematical mind, the very mind of God could have planned these numeric results (unbeknownst to the writers themselves). Verbal inspiration of the Scriptures in this discovery of mathematical configurations which are immediately recognizable and instantly understood to be far beyond the capabilities of the mind of man must henceforward be attributed to a loving God Who has left no reason to change or doubt anything in His Guide Book to eternal life. "Study to show thyself approved" (II Timothy 2:15) is a fair request for God to make of all of us it seems.

[The foregoing is a sanforized and freely paraphrased version of Dr. Keith L. Brooks’ editing of Dr. Ivan Panin’s

work, the full text of which may still be available from: Book Fellowship - Box 164 - N. Syracuse, N.Y. - 13212. About

50 free copies are also available through FEF - Box 866 - Cornelia, GA 30531. I personally think this is a

dynamite testimony to the miraculous inerrancy of the Bible and hence to its credibility and trustworthiness

from the first word the last. Stark evidence of such un-dreamed of precision of detail leaves no doubt that

this same ineffably wonderful God would not use "doublespeak" when He used "Sun, stand thou still" et al.

The Writings Of Ivan Panin, 1918, 586 pp is the full reference; Se also Panin’s The Last Twelve Verses Of Mark,

56 pp.; Number In Scripture, E.W. Bullinger, D.D., 7 printings from 1894-1978, is another good source...

"TERRIFIED CHRISTIAN!!"

Patrick!
You do not seem to have heard what I have said. If you insist on continuing your childish one-way conversation, then carry on. Your arguments can always be applied to your own self, by the way. I can always claim that you have a repressive childhood involving the Christian churches. Unless you are willing to read Scripture and examine your beliefs under its light, I have no wish of listening to your pontificating regarding my supposed 'hurtful childhood'. I pray that God will have mercy on your soul and save you from your sins. Your calling me David after being corrected shows either that you have some psychological problems or that you are being deliberately malicious. Anyway, I am ending this conversation unless you respond respectfully. That's it, Mr. Judgmental heretic! All emails you send would be summarily deleted without being read. Until you repent of your sins and turn to Jesus Christ alone, I would have no part in your evil activities.

Daniel

A FISHING STORY

Have you tried fishing? Not your common or gardening angling, but “reel fishing”! Not with worms or artificial flies, but with “real meat”, like horses or donkeys. We used to do it every summer…well! It was your summer & our winter. You’ve probably gathered, that I used to live in Australia.

We’d hire this boat, quite a big one it was, Ethel & the kids, John 14 & Sandra…she’d be 17 by now. We’d do a picnic basket – lovely it was, ham, salad, cold turkey, a couple of bottles of wine & a case of Lager. And off we’d sail over the reef. The sun would beat down, often the sea would be as calm…no calmer than a mill pond & we’d just drift. We’d put our lines over then & just wait – play cards, gossip & sing carols. Wonderful it was. Mind you, Ethel, didn’t care for the bait, it was the smell you see & the sight of this dead horse cluttering up the deck. “Patrick”, she’d say! “That horse is putting me off my dinner”! Well, it didn’t bother me or the kids, it wasn’t like that, the abattoirs delivered it quite fresh but Ethel used to say that it “sneered” at her & made noises, offensive noises, when the gases escaped from its gut. The kids loved that “Mum”! They’d say when it did it – “The horse is playing, God Save the Queen”! Well she didn’t like that, not Ethel, strict monarchist, she was, thought it was very disrespectful. She would go into one of her sulks & it would last for “bloody hours”.

Mind you, she did get a bit more excited when we got a shark interested. Well she had to with the thing thrashing the water & banging against the side of the boat. And then there would be more…dozens of the bastards, tearing chunks out of the horse, blood everywhere, snapping at each other. But I don’t think she really approved, not Ethel. She said it was senseless slaughter. Well I suppose it was if you look at it that way! But there are lots of sharks aren’t, there?

It went wrong when we got the “great white”! Huge it was, more like a submarine, really. Again & again it tore great hunks of flesh from the carcass, but it wouldn’t take the hook. Clever “bugger”! It had learned you see. Well I was determined that it wasn’t going to get away. I threw the Lager, all the picnic stuff in the water. Ethel went mad; I’d never seen her so upset. She tore the rod out of its restraints & hurled it in the water. I didn’t stop to think, that’s always been my problem, “being impetuous” – Ethel followed the rod! Well! She was gone in “two bites” & I didn’t catch the shark. It seemed to know, it sort of “grinned” at me & then just made off. The kids weren’t too pleased either…they’d missed their PICNIC!!