News Headlines
Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. (Prov 25:25)
This is a season to celebrate “good news of great joy that will be for all the people”. Not many news items can be described in these words; we are often more familiar with terrible and hard news from our media houses – newspapers, TV, radio and internet channels. Good news seems not to sell and spread as quickly as bad news:
Bad news? Headlines that cause ears to stand must include violent riots, wars breaking out, numerous fatalities in accidents, sex scandals or defilement, or huge moneys stolen! In his book ‘The Seven Mountain Prophecy’, Johnny Enlow observes that “The mountain of media is currently occupied almost entirely by evil forces. … the Enemy … has lived almost unopposed on this mountain, and he has taken full advantage of its influence.” The media in this way speaks for, and seemingly glorifies terrorists, rebels and big thieves, without highlighting enough of the powerful interventions in these situations as well as the vaster peaceful lands around the world.
Rumors? At a lower level, some people become generous mongers of rumours, gossip, hearsay and amplified human weaknesses – circulating stories of uncertain or doubtful truth, and creating jam in corridors as they whisper to whoever cares to hear. Such is a dishonest person that ‘spreads strife’ and a whisperer that ‘separates close friends’ (Prov 16:28). They can paint bleak images about great and flourishing people to make them appear as wicked as a damned hell-bound soul!
Pledges? It is exciting and thrilling to hear and receive a big sweeping pledge towards a noble cause. However, some long time yet unfulfilled pledges from high echelons of power have made prickly news recently. Some international pledges are made to look huge and juicy, without highlighting the ‘strings attached’ and the thin spread of the real benefits. As truly as He fulfills His promises, the Lord desires that no one be in bondage due to an unfulfilled pledge that keeps the recipients only hoping and yearning! [illustration: pregnant woman is expected to deliver at a certain season- not beyond: when it goes beyond, worries, etc… imagine years pregnant!!! Now with a big stomach… better illustration]
The published news conditions the audience to take what they hear as if it is the only stuff happening, yet there are many other good things that go unreported.
Sadly, it is such uncouth news that excites and intrigues the majority. The reality is that bad news causes people to live in a cycle of tension, stress, despair and at worst hopelessness. But good news is as refreshing as water to a thirsty soul; it is a solid anchor on a stormy sea, constructive as ,
Powerful reporters like Kenneth Bwire, Agnes Nandutu or Sudhir Byaruhanga
The news read to you by emma; starting with the headlines
- New disease causes pregnancy to virgins: This strange disease has left gynaecologists more than bewildered; pneumatosis – this disease was discovered when a virgin preparing for her wedding ran a little insane and in her hallucinations / schizophrenic started talking of angels; upon being taken to the International Hospital, it was found that while she is a virgin, she had a fetus in her womb at 11 weeks 5 days
- A coup d’etat in the offing
- Augustus Ceasar census postponed
- Eli breaks his neck, dies; Ark of God captured
- Man kills son: Jedidah in Judges
2013 highlights / disasters
- Storms: Typhoon Hayan – Philippines: preparation, progression, damage, history; Storm that hit Northern Europe; US
- Strikes/industrial action – US fast-food restaurant workers
- Deaths: Madiba: any relevant quotes?
- Kalangala girl child abuse scandal
World Subjects of the heart:
- Food, Agriculture
- Music and Entertainment
- Clothing
“Every day we hear or read multiple reports from Iraq, for example, on casualties and every other tragic turn of events. Media outlets rarely tell of the schools Americans have built or the people we
have helped in so many different ways in Iraq. Yet they don’t miss a chance to pump into the nation any bad report available. They do it so well and so consistently that we actually believe it’s a truthful picture.”
“news is not a minor issue. The news we hear and the news we give are both powerful conditioners of the human spirit. Defiled news defiles people, and noble news invigorates people. News that is properly presented extracts the redemptive message God is giving. God does not bring us hopeless, tragic news and just expect us to deal with it. He always seasons it with hope.”
“The message comes as a divine “sandwich.” The bread on each side is something positive or redemptive, while the meat of the message is actually very negative and serious. The objective picture of the church at Ephesus—the example in the verses above—was that God was on the verge of extinguishing them because of their lack of love. Yet He couched it in amazing grace, while still bringing home the seriousness of the moment.”
[Mirror News UK - 16 Dec 2013]
Computer software Who is Bigger has ranked Jesus as the most famous person in history, with Prime Minister David Cameron coming an embarrassing 1,483rd.
President Museveni ranks at 3193rd.
The US software searches for online opinions on famous people and uses an algorithm to rank them on how popular they are expected to be in 200 years time.
Napoleon came second and Mohammed third, with Shakespeare slipping in at fourth ahead of Abraham Lincoln (fifth) and George Washington (sixth).
Adolf Hitler is ranked seventh, Aristotle at eight, Alexander the Great is ninth and US president Thomas Jefferson made up the top 10.
Surprisingly Nelson Mandela came in at 356th, President Barack Obama at 111th and former Margaret Thatcher at 271st.
Steven Skiena, professor of computer science at Stony Brook University in New York, and one of the professors behind the programme Who Is Bigger, told the Sunday Times it can also be used to measure social change.
Legendary singer Elvis Presley is ranked top pop musician at 69th, with Madonna at 121st, Bob Dylan at 130th and John Lennon at 162nd.
Mozart is the highest ranking musician at 24th, Beethoven is at 27th and Bach is 48th.
And shockingly Winston Churchill comes in at 37th, beaten by Theodore Roosevelt in 23rd place and George W Bush at 36th.
Aljazeera 21Dec
- War or Violent Unrest in South Sudan over power struggles: 700 dead, 20 Dinkas killed in UN peace keeping base by thousands of armed Lou Nuer youth
- Canada lifts all restrictions on prostitution: Landmark Supreme Court ruling says bans on solicitation and brothels violated sex workers’ right to safety. Katrina Pacey, a lawyer for the petitioners, called it "an unbelievably important day for the sex workers but also for human rights."
- American and Yemeni officials have said the target of a deadly drone strike that hit a wedding convoy and killed 15 people in Yemen earlier this month was a mid-level al-Qaeda leader al-Badani, the leader behind a bomb plot that briefly closed 19 US diplomatic posts across Africa and the Middle East earlier this year.
- Canada's highest court struck down the country's anti-prostitution laws Friday, a victory for sex workers who stepped up their fight for safer working conditions. The high court struck down all three prostitution-related laws: against keeping a brothel, living on the avails of prostitution, and street soliciting. The landmark ruling comes more than two decades after the Supreme Court last upheld the country's anti-prostitution laws.
- Ugandan politicians have passed an anti-gay law that punishes "aggravated homosexuality" with life imprisonment.
- Britain's Foreign Office has said it will help the international mission to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal by destroying 150 tonnes of industrial-grade stockpiled chemicals at a commercial facility.
- Philippine mayor killed at Manila airport: Gunmen have shot dead a town mayor and three other people at the airport in the Philippine capital, Manila, sending travellers fleeing for safety, authorities said. Ukol Talumpa, the mayor of the town of Labangan in Zamboanga del Sur province, was killed together with his wife, an 18-month-old baby and one other person,
- Libyan military colonel assassinated: Colonel Fethallah al-Gaziri, the newly appointed chief of military intelligence in Benghazi, has been assassinated during a visit to his family in the eastern Libyan city of Derna.