India's West Bengal State Reports Fresh Bird Flu Cases
By VOA News
09 March 2008
Authorities in eastern India say bird flu is spreading through poultry flocks in the same area of West Bengal state where the virus was thought to have been brought under control a month ago.
Nearly four million chickens were slaughtered in last month's attempt to suppress avian influenza, and sales or transport of poultry were banned throughout West Bengal state. The area borders Bangladesh, which also has been battling the deadly poultry disease.
Sunday, government officials in West Bengal said laboratory tests have confirmed the infection is present in two villages about 300 kilometers from Calcutta, the state capital. The deadly H5N1 variety of bird flu has killed nearly 1,000 birds in the area in the past week.
No human cases of bird-flu infection have been reported in India.
However, West Bengal officials say they will continue testing blood from people with flu-like symptoms, to make sure the virus has not spread to people.
The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 224 people around the world since 2003.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Updates on Bird Flu Outbreak in India: Watch and Pray...
India's West Bengal State Reports Fresh Bird Flu Cases
By VOA News
09 March 2008
Authorities in eastern India say bird flu is spreading through poultry flocks in the same area of West Bengal state where the virus was thought to have been brought under control a month ago.
Nearly four million chickens were slaughtered in last month's attempt to suppress avian influenza, and sales or transport of poultry were banned throughout West Bengal state. The area borders Bangladesh, which also has been battling the deadly poultry disease.
Sunday, government officials in West Bengal said laboratory tests have confirmed the infection is present in two villages about 300 kilometers from Calcutta, the state capital. The deadly H5N1 variety of bird flu has killed nearly 1,000 birds in the area in the past week.
No human cases of bird-flu infection have been reported in India.
However, West Bengal officials say they will continue testing blood from people with flu-like symptoms, to make sure the virus has not spread to people.
The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 224 people around the world since 2003.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
By VOA News
09 March 2008
Authorities in eastern India say bird flu is spreading through poultry flocks in the same area of West Bengal state where the virus was thought to have been brought under control a month ago.
Nearly four million chickens were slaughtered in last month's attempt to suppress avian influenza, and sales or transport of poultry were banned throughout West Bengal state. The area borders Bangladesh, which also has been battling the deadly poultry disease.
Sunday, government officials in West Bengal said laboratory tests have confirmed the infection is present in two villages about 300 kilometers from Calcutta, the state capital. The deadly H5N1 variety of bird flu has killed nearly 1,000 birds in the area in the past week.
No human cases of bird-flu infection have been reported in India.
However, West Bengal officials say they will continue testing blood from people with flu-like symptoms, to make sure the virus has not spread to people.
The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 224 people around the world since 2003.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Thoughts on Trials
Job 13:27 “You put my feet in stocks, and watch closely all my paths. You set a limit for the soles of my feet.” The other day as I was reading this verse I noticed the marginal note in the NKJV, which would render “set a limit” as “inscribe a print.” It made me think a little. Sometimes in trials we feel very confined, like our feet our in stocks, and we feel as if our every step is observed. We also feel very restricted, as if we can only take certain steps, we have no choice.
This is like a man climbing up a steep face of a mountain, he can only place his feet in the footholds there. God has inscribed a footprint for us to follow, it is a print that was made by His Son as He walked and overcame every trial.
When you are climbing a steep place, your choices are limited, just as when you are in a tunnel, your way is confined. However, the tunnel takes you through the mountain and keeps you on the road. So we can encourage ourselves when we feel hemmed in, I am following in the footsteps of Christ!
This is like a man climbing up a steep face of a mountain, he can only place his feet in the footholds there. God has inscribed a footprint for us to follow, it is a print that was made by His Son as He walked and overcame every trial.
When you are climbing a steep place, your choices are limited, just as when you are in a tunnel, your way is confined. However, the tunnel takes you through the mountain and keeps you on the road. So we can encourage ourselves when we feel hemmed in, I am following in the footsteps of Christ!
The Healing of the Spring (2 Kings 2:19-22)
2Ki 2:19-22 “And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, please, the location of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees. But the waters are bad, and the ground is barren. And he said, Bring me a new jar and put salt in it. And they brought to him. And he went forth to the spring of the waters and threw the salt in there, and said, So says Jehovah, I have healed these waters. There shall not be any more death or barrenness from there. And the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke.”
Elisha had just received the mantle of Elijah and returned to Jericho. Jericho had a problem, the water was bad and it caused the land to be unfruitful. This is a type of our world and our local communities. Waters often refer to people in the Word of God, and the waters are causing barrenness. The people in our world our tainted by sin and their sin destroys the productivity of the land and causes misery and poverty (either naturally or spiritually). In Malawi it is estimated that 40% of the national budget is siphoned off (ie. graft and corruption) at various levels, this is one of the main reasons that this is one of the 5 poorest nations in the world.
When they came to him with their problem, he gave them a solution by the wisdom of God. In this solution and this miracle lies the answer to seeing our communities and nation and even the world changed.
His solution was twofold, a new vessel with salt in it.
A New Vessel
When we had finished repairing the house here in Malawi, we ran some new pipes. For the ones that ran to the kitchen sink the plumber had lubricated the joints with old motor oil. For about six weeks the water was tainted with it. I remember the one morning I went to get some coffee and as I raised it to my lips I smelt a strong oily smell. Being the good experienced missionary that I am, I overcame the urge to chuck the coffee out and took a drink. It tasted nasty, so bad that even though I need my morning dose of Java, I couldn’t finish my mug (I usually have at least 2-3). Actually the reoccurrence of the after-taste for the rest of the day made me sorry I had drunk as much as I had.
It was not the water that was the problem, but it was the channel that delivered it. Many times, as Christians, people are not able to receive from us because we taint our message with our attitudes and our walk. We need to become purified vessels of honour that are fit for every use the Master has for us (2 Tim. 2:20-21). The more Christ-like we are, the less nasty after-taste people will perceive when we share the Gospel.
Salt
Merely being good vessels will not change the world. We must have something in the vessels. We need the salt of the Gospel in all it’s potency working in our lives. Jesus said in Mark 9:49-50 to have salt in ourselves and be at peace one with another. The salt of God enables us to be peacemakers, and the peacemakers will be called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). When we are at peace with God, ourselves and each other, we have a powerful something that other people will see and desire.
So let’s be new vessels, with salt in us.
Elisha had just received the mantle of Elijah and returned to Jericho. Jericho had a problem, the water was bad and it caused the land to be unfruitful. This is a type of our world and our local communities. Waters often refer to people in the Word of God, and the waters are causing barrenness. The people in our world our tainted by sin and their sin destroys the productivity of the land and causes misery and poverty (either naturally or spiritually). In Malawi it is estimated that 40% of the national budget is siphoned off (ie. graft and corruption) at various levels, this is one of the main reasons that this is one of the 5 poorest nations in the world.
When they came to him with their problem, he gave them a solution by the wisdom of God. In this solution and this miracle lies the answer to seeing our communities and nation and even the world changed.
His solution was twofold, a new vessel with salt in it.
A New Vessel
When we had finished repairing the house here in Malawi, we ran some new pipes. For the ones that ran to the kitchen sink the plumber had lubricated the joints with old motor oil. For about six weeks the water was tainted with it. I remember the one morning I went to get some coffee and as I raised it to my lips I smelt a strong oily smell. Being the good experienced missionary that I am, I overcame the urge to chuck the coffee out and took a drink. It tasted nasty, so bad that even though I need my morning dose of Java, I couldn’t finish my mug (I usually have at least 2-3). Actually the reoccurrence of the after-taste for the rest of the day made me sorry I had drunk as much as I had.
It was not the water that was the problem, but it was the channel that delivered it. Many times, as Christians, people are not able to receive from us because we taint our message with our attitudes and our walk. We need to become purified vessels of honour that are fit for every use the Master has for us (2 Tim. 2:20-21). The more Christ-like we are, the less nasty after-taste people will perceive when we share the Gospel.
Salt
Merely being good vessels will not change the world. We must have something in the vessels. We need the salt of the Gospel in all it’s potency working in our lives. Jesus said in Mark 9:49-50 to have salt in ourselves and be at peace one with another. The salt of God enables us to be peacemakers, and the peacemakers will be called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). When we are at peace with God, ourselves and each other, we have a powerful something that other people will see and desire.
So let’s be new vessels, with salt in us.
Monday, March 3, 2008
PEOPLE NEED THE LORD
PEOPLE NEED THE LORD
By Steve Green
Everyday they pass me by
I can see it in their eyes
Empty people filled with care
Headed who knows where
On they go through private pain
Living fear to fear
Laughter hides their silent cries
Only Jesus hears
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams
He's the open door
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
When will we realize
People need the Lord
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right
What could be too great a cost
For sharing Life with one who's lost
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear
They must hear the Words of Life
Only we can share
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams
He's the open door
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
When will we realise
That we must give our lives
For people need the Lord
People need the Lord
By Steve Green
Everyday they pass me by
I can see it in their eyes
Empty people filled with care
Headed who knows where
On they go through private pain
Living fear to fear
Laughter hides their silent cries
Only Jesus hears
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams
He's the open door
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
When will we realize
People need the Lord
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right
What could be too great a cost
For sharing Life with one who's lost
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear
They must hear the Words of Life
Only we can share
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams
He's the open door
People need the Lord
People need the Lord
When will we realise
That we must give our lives
For people need the Lord
People need the Lord
Love Above Knowledge
Love is practical as well as sacrificial. It may cause inconvenience and challenges one's comfort zone. Though it is not based on the emotions, but if you're interested to let any relationship develop, it is essential to let your beloved feel and know that they are loved, by their language of love. You know there's "The Five Love Languages" coined out by Dr Gary Chapman:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Personal Touch
Recently I did a simple (unofficial) quiz on this. Looking back, I kinda doubt it's accuracy. Maybe it just reflects that moment of need. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...
By the way, there's also "The Five Languages of Apology" - how most sincere an apology is deemed:
1. Expressing Regret
2. Accept Responsibility
3. Make Restitution
4. Genuinely Repent
5. Request Forgiveness
People have their rights to conceal their personal data and I intend to respect their choice of revelation, rather than insist against their preference to resist, for whatever reasons. On the other hand, then, others certainly would have their rights to reveal more, regardless of the propriety. People differ in their understanding of the measure of proper behaviour and their comfort level. Nobody has the true standard to social norms and thus perhaps we should learn not to roll our eyes over varying choice of confirmity and love languages.
Perhaps, we can obtain the true standard from Galatians 5:22-26 on, not so much the method, but the kind of outcome from which our words, thoughts and deeds should reap in us:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Personal Touch
Recently I did a simple (unofficial) quiz on this. Looking back, I kinda doubt it's accuracy. Maybe it just reflects that moment of need. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...
By the way, there's also "The Five Languages of Apology" - how most sincere an apology is deemed:
1. Expressing Regret
2. Accept Responsibility
3. Make Restitution
4. Genuinely Repent
5. Request Forgiveness
People have their rights to conceal their personal data and I intend to respect their choice of revelation, rather than insist against their preference to resist, for whatever reasons. On the other hand, then, others certainly would have their rights to reveal more, regardless of the propriety. People differ in their understanding of the measure of proper behaviour and their comfort level. Nobody has the true standard to social norms and thus perhaps we should learn not to roll our eyes over varying choice of confirmity and love languages.
Perhaps, we can obtain the true standard from Galatians 5:22-26 on, not so much the method, but the kind of outcome from which our words, thoughts and deeds should reap in us:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
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