Grow Where God Plants you

It has been a good weekend, spiritually… and as it draws to a close, I want to quickly share this with you:

God, as always, has a plan. He sees the bigger picture – the one we cannot. He knows the future. Resolve: To trust Him… and to grow where He plants…

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

- Prov 3:5-6

Former Lutheran Pastor, Joachim Gauck, Elected German President

(Reuters) – Germans resoundingly elected  Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor and human rights  activist from communist East Germany, as president of the  European Union’s largest country on Sunday, posing a potential  headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In the largely ceremonial office of president, Gauck   presents no threat to Merkel’s domination of national politics.  But his moral authority, independence of mind and lack of party  affiliation could make him an awkward partner for her government  as it struggles to overcome Europe’s economic crisis.

Gauck, 72, won 991 votes in the federal assembly comprising  members of parliament and regional delegates. His main rival,  veteran anti-Nazi campaigner Beate Klarsfeld, got 126 votes.

Germans hope Gauck, a prominent player in the peaceful  protests that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, can  restore dignity to the presidency, tarnished by financial  scandals that felled his predecessor Christian Wulff.

“I take up this post with the endless gratitude of a person  who, after a long trek through the political desert of the 20th  century, has finally and unexpectedly found his home again and  was able to witness in the last 20 years the joy of shaping a  democratic society,” he said after taking the oath of office.

His victory was never in doubt after all the main political  parties, including Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democrats,  threw their weight behind his candidacy.

Merkel played down suggestions that the feisty theologian  would use his office as a pulpit to harangue Germany’s  politicians or that they might clash over policy issues…

Unlike career politician Wulff, Gauck – who describes  himself politically as “a left-leaning, liberal conservative” -  likes to speak his mind on controversial issues, and he does so  with an eloquence forged in the pulpits of East Germany…

Source (and rest).

 

Quote

Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart.

- John Wesley

Overview of Some of the Most Important Recent Archaeological Finds in Israel

See here for an article on the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website about some of the most important archaeological finds in recent years in Israel…

Via Dr Aren Maeir.

A Blindfolded Child to Pick Next Coptic Pope, Successor of Pope Shenouda III

OCP News sheds light on the process of electing the next Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The Church has some  16 million members worldwide.

The media advisor of the Egyptian Evangelical Church clarifies the process of choosing the successor of Pope Shenouda III.

A General Congregation formed of The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the General Lay Council of the Church, which are part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, will elect three runner finalists from several candidates, one of which is  to succeed Pope Shenouda III who died on Saturday at the age of 88.

“The names of the three bishops will be written on three papers, and a blindfolded child will randomly pick one of the papers.

According to Ekram Lamei, the media adviser of the Egyptian Evangelical Church, this final step is designed to include “the will of God” to choose the new Pope.

Source