Biblical Ark of the Covenant returned to a church in the Old City of Jerusalem

ISRAELI tourist authorities have restored the biblical Ark of the Covenant to the city of Jerusalem after the historical relic was brought to the country by a Philippine visitor who came on annual pilgrimage.   Regarded as one of the most sacred symbols of Judeo-Christianity, the Ark of the Covenant is claimed to have all sorts of mythical powers. It is said to have  been so potent that any army that faced it was automatically defeated when it came up against Israel's forces when they marched into Canaan.   Missing for centuries, the location of the Ark has been the subject of a lot of speculation, with different objects in places like Ethiopia and Zimbabwe being fingered as the historical relic. This latest model is decorated with angels and coated in the colour gold, reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant that existed in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem during the First Temple period.   According to the Philippine pilgrim who brought the Ark to Jerusalem, it will stay in the country in one of the churches in the Old City. She added that she brought the model as part of a pilgrimage journey to the Holy Land and that she intends to leave it in one of the churches in the Old City.   Police officers that were deployed near the Old City when she placed it there, were asked to clarify the meaning of the pilgrims’ special item. Visitors and pilgrims have been queuing up to take a look at the relic.
ADAPTED FROM http://www.nigerianwatch.com/news

OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT

                                                                      DEFINATIONS

•          Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used in classifying overweight and obesity in adult populations and individuals.  It is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m2).

•          BMI provides the most useful population-level measure of overweight and obesity as it is the same for both sexes and for all ages of adults. However, it should be considered as a rough guide because it may not correspond to the same degree of fatness in different individuals.

•          The World Health Organization (WHO) defines "overweight" as a BMI equal to or more than 25, and "obesity" as a BMI equal to or more than 30. These cut-off points provide a benchmark for individual assessment, but there is evidence that risk of chronic disease in population increases progressively from a BMI of 21.

CAUSES OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT?

The fundamental cause of obesity and overweight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed on one hand, and calories expended on the other hand.

Global increases in overweight and obesity are attributable to a number of factors including:

• a global shift in diet towards increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat and sugars but low in vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients; and
• a trend towards decreased physical activity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation, and increasing urbanization.

COMMON HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY

• Overweight and obesity lead to serious health consequences.
•  Risk increases progressively as BMI increases.
• Raised body mass index is a major risk factor for chronic diseases such as:
• Cardiovascular disease (mainly heart disease and stroke) - already the world's number one cause of death, killing 17 million people each year.
• Childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of premature death and disability in adulthood.
• Diabetes (Type 2)
• Increased risk of arthritis
• Poor sleep or  waking up intermittently

Many low- and middle-income countries are now facing a "double burden" of disease:

While they continue to deal with the problems of infectious disease and under-nutrition, at the same time they are experiencing a rapid upsurge in chronic disease risk factors such as obesity and overweight, particularly in urban settings.

It is not uncommon to find under-nutrition and obesity existing side-by-side within the same country, the same community and even within the same household.

HOW CAN THE BURDEN OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY BE REDUCED?

Overweight and obesity, as well as their related chronic diseases, are largely preventable.

At the individual level, people can:

•          achieve energy balance and a healthy weight;

•          limit energy intake from total fats

•          shift fat consumption away from saturated fats to unsaturated fats increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grains and nuts

•           limit the intake of sugars

•          Increase physical activity - at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days.

•          More activity may be required for weight control.

The implementation of these recommendations requires sustained commitment. You must eat healthy foods to make you fit and stay active every time, everyday.

NB           It is very important that you follow up on the Lamplighter questionnaire. Visit the clinic for post health week test. Remember health is wealth.

BMI (BODY MASS INDEX) TABLE

This table will help you to know relatively after calculation of your BMI whether you are overweight or obese

CATEGORY	BMI (kg/m2)	Health Risks
Underweight	Below 18.5	Light
Normal Weight	18.5-24.9	Healthy
Pre-Obese	25.0-29.9	Light
Obese Level 1	30.0-34-9	More serious
Obese Level 2	35.0-39.9	Serious
Morbidity obese 3	40.0 & above	Very serious

BMI=           Weigh (kg)

                                                    Height (m) x Height (m)

HOW TO PREVENT EBOLA VIRUS IN NIGERIA AND ANYWHERE

Have You Heard about Ebola Virus in Nigeria? Do You Know that the dreaded EBOLA Virus has entered Lagos? VibeNigeria crew proudly researched about this deadly virus and share with you things you need to know about it and how to prevent it.

Things you need to know about Ebola Virus to stay SAFE…

1. It is a Central African disease that has traveled over countries in a living host to West Africa. It is easily spread by physical contact and eating contaminated bush meat. Major hosts are in 5 species of Bats but monkeys and apes are easily infected and killed.

2. It kills in a week, leaving no time to treat an individual.

3. It has no known vaccine or cure

4. Known cases have been experienced recently in Guniea, Liberia and Central Africa Rep, spreading eastwards and westwards towards Nigeria. Death toll so far in West Africa is over 100.

5. The Ebola outbreak of 2014 is the most challenging one witnessed in Africa.

How To Prevent Ebola Virus

1. Avoid bush meat or any meat you are not sure of its source.
2. Wash your hands frequently with detergent or soap using clean water.
3. Avoid trips to Ebola endemic countries (DRC ,UGANDA , CONGO, GABON SUDAN etc)
4. Get a hand sanitizer for people to use in your office and educate them on the importance of sanitizers, Get one for your kids to use in school frequently and if possible for their class.
5. Avoid buying Food stuffs, Clothing or other personal materials from Markets/Shops that share the same vicinity with live or roasted bush meat, dealer’s or sellers
6. Be careful with hands when using railings on the stairs, door knobs and other utilities used by the public.
7. Gloves and other appropriate protective clothing should be worn when handling sick animals or their tissues
8. Watch out for people with flu-like symptoms and sudden fever
9. Avoid Pig farms, Pig farms in Africa play a role in the amplification of infection because of the presence of fruit bats on these farms.
10. Avoid bat meats and bat products

FOR HEALTH WORKERS

WHO states as follows,
Standard precautions are recommended in the care and treatment of all patients regardless of their perceived or confirmed infectious status. They include the basic level of infection control—hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment to avoid direct contact with blood and body fluids, prevention of needle stick and injuries from other sharp instruments, and a set of environmental controls.
Signs and symptoms of Ebola
EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of
1.Fever
2.Intense weakness
3.Muscle pain,
4.Headache and sore throat.
5.Followed by vomiting, Diarrhea, Rash, Impaired kidney and Liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding

Adapted from Vibe nigeria

Share This On Social Media To Help Save your Friends.

Can a Christian Be Gay? (Part 1) 9:56AM EDT 5/17/2013 LARRY TOMCZAK

Departing a restaurant where we celebrated my wife’s birthday recently, I got a 10 p.m. call on my cellphone. The lady in Kentucky needed help because her bank teller friend, who identifies as a Christian, was confused about homosexuality.

Her unmarried female friend read a book called Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate by Justin Lee, 36-year-old founder of the Gay Christian Network that “helps educate the Christian community about sexual issues from a biblical standpoint.” Having feelings at times for members of the same sex, the woman's friend was being influenced by his theories and asking, “Is it OK to be a gay Christian?” “What about same-sex marriage?”

Lee encourages his followers to embrace counsel from the New Testament (Rom. 14) and “not quarrel over disputable matters” and choose one of two paths:

o    Side A: God allows permanent, monogamous gay relationships.

o    Side B: Gay Christians remain celibate. 

What follows is my way of helping someone like this lady. In a day where even the president of the United States, for whom I pray daily, seems to be either naïve or misinformed, as a professing Christian on this critical topic, I hope to offer help in the national conversation.

I approach this subject not as an angry, mean-spirited extremist but rather in a spirit of humility, as a would-be friend of both supporters and opponents. As a Christian who was formerly a “rock star” drummer in a band called the Lost Souls (and I was lost!), I admit the church has unfortunately fallen far short in our testimony, due to divorce, hypocrisy and uncharitable attitudes in our ranks. Yet I want to be part of the generation arising that is not so much imposing but proposing a better way that really does lead to peace, freedom and long-term happiness in human relationships.

I’ve engaged and befriended gays and regularly attended their gay pride events for over a decade in different states. I’ve stood at the bedside of my buddy John who changed from gay to straight but later died of AIDS and requested I do his funeral (which I did, with his daughter and over 50 of his past gay friends present).

We’re on a journey of discovery, and I hope this following counsel helps multitudes who are being asked similar questions as me.

Let's Not Be Non-Specific but Straightforward 

The entire Bible unambiguously defines marriage between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24 in the Old Testament; Matt. 19:5 in the Gospels; Eph. 5:31 in the New Testament). Outside that state, obedient Christians are called to sexual purity/celibacy (Eph. 5:3-6; Col. 3:5-6; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 Thess. 4:3-8).

Paul says, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (2 Tim. 4:3-4, NIV).

Dr. Timothy Keller, world-renowned author and pastor, had to respond to similar inquiries at Oxford University. He lovingly and succinctly helped students with sound counsel from Scripture. He told them:

1.      As Christians we’re called to love not disdain our neighbor—atheist, gay or antagonist.

2.      If you call yourself gay and Christians disagree with you, that doesn’t mean you’re being judged unfairly.

3.      The Bible clearly teaches that homosexuality is not God’s way or design for His creation.

4.      Don’t let your sexuality destroy your objectivity (to come to grips with biblical truth).

5.      Admittedly, some church people have attraction to the same sex but do not allow themselves to be governed by those feelings (temptations). Their identity in Christ is central, not their sexual identity. This shift is what frees them to both change and live changed.

6.      God designed us for human intimacy—companionship, touch and sexual expression—in the right place and right time, but people can choose to fulfill normal desires in unrighteous ways. Key: it is a choice!

Not long ago, Sex and the City starlet Cynthia Nixon caused a firestorm when interviewed in a New York magazine saying she did the heterosexual thing for a while but then chose to go gay. 

Rosaria Butterfield, author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, describes how she was a leftist lesbian professor who “despised Christians then somehow became one!” Now she’s married to a pastor, raising her children in North Carolina.

Understanding the Bible Correctly

Today, there’s a lot of misunderstanding regarding Scripture because some gay-affirming leaders and churches take a “salad bar” approach, conveniently selecting passages that support positions while neglecting other more challenging ones.

Some people are dishonest with Scriptures (intentionally or unintentionally): “Where in the Bible does it even mention cocaine or pornography?” “I haven’t seen gay marriage in the Bible once!” (This actually came from a chairman of one of our political parties.)

Others “cherry pick” verses to defend conduct without taking into consideration the context or the whole of what Scripture teaches on a topic (“A text out of context is a pretext.”). The fact is, the Good Book doesn’t categorically say, “Don’t judge”; “Don’t dance”; “Don’t drink”; “Don’t enjoy sex”; or dozens of other so-called “prohibitions” many erroneously believe. Neither does it tell us in every situation to “turn the cheek”; “hand over our cloak”; “give and expect no return”; or scores of other recommendations that need to be clearly explained in their context.

Sometimes people try to discredit the Bible by mocking its content and citing Old Testament passages that seem outdated or severe in application. What they don’t understand is this: There are basically three types of laws prominent in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible: 1) ceremonial, 2) hygienic and 3) moral.

The first two (ceremonial and hygienic)don’t apply anymore for those who are part of the New Covenant since the time of Christ; otherwise there would be no more football (handling a pig skin was a no-no), and the over-40 crowd couldn’t approach the altar of God with a disability or during that “time of the month.” (“You mean I can go get a Wendy’s cheeseburger with bacon, have some Red Lobster jumbo shrimp or enjoy a Honeybaked ham?” Absolutely!) Yet the moral laws do still apply—not for or as a means to redemption but to show us our need to be redeemed!

It really is time to gain a better understanding of the Bible, not primarily as a harsh legalistic code of dos and don’ts but rather as a guidebook of timeless wisdom. It also provides us with a coherent framework for outlining society’s problems, then prescribes answers to remedy them.

Our challenge is simple: Will we follow a secular or a scriptural worldview? I suggest we embrace our Creator’s ways for His creation. “For best results, follow instructions in the manufacturer’s handbook!”

Larry Tomczak is the apostolic leader and evangelist with Larry Tomczak Ministries www.larrytomczak.com. He is the author of six books, including Divine Appointments (Destiny Image).