Useful Internet Safety Tips

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

 Some unknown person wants you to open the link. Opening the link, or sometimes, even calling the sending number, installs malware in your devices, giving that person access to all of your personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea. 

Here are some useful internet safety tips:

Be very skeptical of unsolicited emails.

2.      If a phone call comes from someone not on your contacts list, send it to voice mail.

3.      Make sure your social media profiles are set to private.

U   Use complex passwords and have a totally different password for each online  account. If you are like me, you will need to keep a small notebook to remember them all. Don't lose it.

4.      Add a second layer of security (like a time-sensitive code sent to your phone or authenticator app) for banking, email, and social media. This is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

5.      Never Share any access codes with anyone else. Delete them from your phone after you use them.

6.      Turn on automatic updates for your operating system, browsers, and applications to patch security vulnerabilities.

7.      Always use a VPN on public Wi-Fi. If you can, avoid public Wi-Fi entirely.

8.      Be highly skeptical of unexpected messages claiming you won a sweepstakes or have been hacked. Never click links in unexpected emails—

9. Restrict your accounts so only real-world friends can view your posts and photos.
10.  Turn off any location services. They do not need to know where you are.
11.  Do not post your schedule of when you will be at home alone, and especially, do not tell them when you will not be at home.
12. Remember that anything that is posted online will be online forever.

Definition: Bishop

 A modern definition of the word bishop is: an ordained member of the clergy who is in a position of oversight of a defined territory. The bishop is considered to be the chief pastor of the defined territory.

Bishop in English is derived from the biblical Greek word ἐπίσκοπος (transliterated into English as episkopos). This is the word from which episcopal is derived.

ἐπίσκοπος, as described in Strong’s 1985, is derived from two words, ἐπί (epi) and σκοπός (skopos). The preposition ἐπί (Strong’s 1909) is translated as on, upon, at, over, by, before, across, up against, beside, in, above, among, or on the basis of. The male noun σκοπός skopos (Strong’s 4649) is translated as look, watch over, to peer about, to act as a to consider, a sentry, an observer, and the mark toward which runners ran in a race.

ἐπίσκοπος is usually translated as an elder, bishop, watcher, or overseer. The biblical documents use only male pronouns for these persons. Whether or not this restricts eligibility for the office of bishop only to men is a contested issue among modern Christians. These persons are expected to be noble, above reproach, and able to teach.

In the Bible, bishops represented a single local church and served as a team of elders within that church. The idea of a bishop over a region or an entire country developed later as the Christian community became more organized and needed overall leadership. Just as with the office of bishop, the particular type of church governance is still a contested issue among modern Christians.

 Acts 20:17; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Peter 5:1.

Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters chj to chri

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters chj to chri. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

chocolate, Choctaw, choices, choir, cholesterol, Chonda Pierce, Chosen People, Christ, Christ figures, Christ of the Abyss, Christ the Redeemer, Christian, Christian art, Christian artists, Christian Biography, Christian blog, Christian Booksellers Association, Christian Broadcasting Network,  Christian comedy, Christian commerce, Christian community, Christian dating, Christian denomination, Christian diversity, Christian documents, Christian education, Christian extremism, Christian fellowship, Christian Film Database, Christian films, Christian freedom, Christian haiku, Christian history, Christian humor, Christian Identity, Christian joke, Christian Nationalism, Christian naturism, Christian occultism, Christian opinions, Christian owned business, Christian poetry, Christian rock music, Christian schools, Christian Science, Christian sexuality, Christian social network, Christian symbols, Christian unity, Christian warriors, Christian writers, Christianbook, Christianity, ChristianMingle.com, Christians, Christmas, Christmas tree, Christology, Christopher Hitchens. 

Hola, Kòrsou! Hallo Curaçao! Hello, Curaçao! Welcome to Saints on the Loose!

 Hello, Curaçao! Welcome to the world-wide group of readers from many countries who also visit this blog.  I hope you find some of the posts useful or meaningful. Tell your friends about this blog. Everyone is welcome.

As of 10 September, there have been 1,496,647 page views of this blog. The current number of posts is 1893. This blog has been viewed from at least one hundred and fifty-three countries, now including Curaçao.

Hola, Kòrsou! Bon biní na e grupo mundial di lektornan di hopi pais ku tambe ta bishitá e blog aki.  Mi ta spera ku bo haña algun di e postnan útil òf signifikante. Konta bo amigunan tokante e blog aki. Tur hende ta bonbini.

Te ku 10 di sèptèmber, tabatin 1.496.647 bista di página di e blog aki. E kantidat aktual di post ta 1893. E blog aki a wòrdu mirá for di por lo ménos shent’i sinkuenta i tres pais awor inkluyendo Kòrsou.

Hallo Curaçao! Welkom bij de wereldwijde groep lezers uit vele landen die dit blog ook bezoeken. Ik hoop dat je enkele van de berichten nuttig of waardevol vindt. Vertel je vrienden over dit blog. Iedereen is welkom.

Per 10 september zijn er 1.496.647 paginaweergaven van dit blog geregistreerd. Het huidige aantal berichten bedraagt ​​1893. Dit blog is inmiddels bekeken vanuit ten minste honderddrieënvijftig landen, waaronder nu ook Curaçao.

A Text in the Middle of the Night

This is a reprint of a post from 2012 but is very relevant today.

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. We are allowed to have and to express opinions on any subject. 

Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Here is the original post:

Last night at one-thirty AM my wife's smartphone received a text message.  We have someone in the hospital so we burst out of bed to read the message.  It was a text of an internet scam which has been active for over a year.  The text says that the receiver has won $1000 and to get the money one needs only go to a link provided in the text.  The link loads a virus which steals a person's private personal information (passwords, account numbers, social security number, etc.) from a computer or smartphone. This is a criminal activity.

The person who sent the text does not care why you might respond, whether it is out of greed or anger at the late-night text. Either way, they have you. If you send them any information, they have you.

And, they may have you even if you do not send them any information. Just opening the link may install MALWARE, malicious software that will run in the background without your knowledge. One of the things this might do is to give to the predator the names and contact information of everyone in your contact list. If you have stored sign-on information, the wolf can now sign on as you on any of your online accounts. The predator will also search your phone for banking and credit card numbers. 

Attacks on personal information are rampant. In just the same way, Christians are constantly under attack from The Evil One and his servants, especially when they are distracted by life's worries or worse, are spiritually asleep.  It is not currently popular to think of Satan as a person but the Bible clearly does.  Most people, including Christians, do not need his help in falling short of the mark.

Remember, if you resist the devil in the power of the Lord, the devil will run away! James 4:7.

Automated License Plate Reader Cameras

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. We are allowed to have and to express opinions on any subject. 

While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, the confidentiality of your personal information is a very important thing you do need to consider.

Governments and the legal systems of countries are usually about ten years behind the rapid developments of science and technology. This causes intense controversy over numerous subjects such as information data centers, artificial intelligence systems, the usage of aborted fetal remains in the treatment of diseases, establishing the age of viability of developing unborn children, and automated license plate reader cameras. 

Flock safety automated license plate reader cameras have sparked a nationwide, bipartisan debate over public safety versus mass surveillance and civil liberties.

Law enforcement agencies insist that the cameras are important in tracking criminal suspects and stolen vehicles, and in locating possibly kidnapped persons.

One argument is this: Automobile license plates and vehicle exteriors are exposed to the public and, so, are in the public domain. Because of this, drivers in public view cannot claim privacy rights about their automobiles or location.

Critics of this view claim that a surveillance state is being created and they present evidence of abuses such as police officers who are accused of inappropriately using the database to track personal movements of persons not involved in criminal investigations. A public backlash against use of the cameras has erupted, including the criminal act of vandalism against the cameras.

Lack of Privacy:

Does everyone carry around a cell phone in their pocket? Every cellphone in the world is locatable using a global positioning system. Why is everyone not concerned about that?

A suggestion:

I worked for almost 50 years in hospital clinical laboratories and we were constantly reminded about patient confidentiality. We had access to extremely personal information about criminal suspects, politicians, celebrities, regular people from our communities, and even our own family members. All of these people deserved to have their personal information securely protected. Those of us who failed in this responsibility were subject to instant dismissal from their jobs.

In 1996, the United States federal government stepped in with the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). After a short time-period which allowed the affected institutions the time necessary for them to put the standards into effect, full enforcement of the law began in April of 2003.

Enforcement against violations of the HIPAA law is totally inflexible. The penalties include total exclusion from any government contracts of any sort, massive monetary fines enacted for each violation, and very long prison terms for each violation. A Basic Metabolic Panel laboratory test usually is comprised of eight components. Release of these results could be seen as eight separate violations.

Access to the collected information should be legally restricted to police and governmental entities only.

If HIPAA level punishments were attached to the misuse of surveillance cameras, the problem might be quickly resolved. And they could still be used for legitimate purposes.

Modern Connections to Ancient Israel

 It has long been recognized that cultural legends very often have some type of real-life historical backgrounds no matter how distorted, exaggerated, embellished, or poorly-remembered they are. There may very well have been a man, or several men, named Hercules/Herakles or he may have originated as an amalgamation of the exploits of several strong-man rulers.

One tradition which was long thought to be merely or mostly legendary is the claim by the African Lemba tribe to have its origins from ancient Israel. The oral tradition of the tribe says that their distant ancestors were seven Jewish men who left Judea about 2,500 years ago and travelled through Yemen. These seven men settled in a place called Senna (possibly Sana/Sanaw, Yemen) before migrating into Africa where they married African women.

The Lemba have always been recognized as different by the local Bantu tribes.

According to modern-day historical theories, the Lemba began as Muslim/Jewish traders who assimilated into the local African Shona culture. It turns out that the story may be a little more complicated than that.

The Lemba tribe consists of about 70,000 to 80,000 persons who are concentrated in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi, and Mozambique. Traditionalist Lembe wear yarmulke skull caps, abide by kosher food restrictions, practice ritual animal sacrifices, observe a weekly holy day, practice male circumcision, and their gravestones feature the Star of David. In modern times, many Lembe have become Muslims or Christians. 

A South-African Protestant missionary named Henri-Alexandre Junod (1863-1934) recorded in 1908 what some Lemba elders told him:

“[We] have come from a very remote place, on the other side of the sea. We were on a big boat. A terrible storm nearly destroyed us all. The boat was broken into two pieces. One half of us reached the shores of this country; the others were taken away with the second half of the boat, and we do not know where they are now. We climbed the mountains and arrived among the Banyai. There we settled, and after a time we moved southwards to the Transvaal; but we are not the Banyai.”

The BaNyai (aka the Nyai) are a Shona-related people who live on or near the Zambezi River. Shona is one of the Bantu languages.

Where the Lemba story deepens: Y-chromosome DNA studies show that parts of the male Lemba gene pool are of Middle Eastern origin. The Buba, a Lemba priestly clan, test positive for the "Cohen modal haplotype," (CHM) a specific genetic signature found in Jewish priestly lineages (the Kohanim). Read about the CHM in a detailed and highly technical article here https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2771134/

The World Jewish Congress has an interesting article about this subject: https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/lemba-tribe-in-southern-africa-has-jewish-roots-genetic-tests-reveal