Spiritual world 2

I am not sure how many Christians understand these things. Three hundred years ago, almost everyone understood their world in this way. Many people in Africa still think this way, although they focus to much on the dark side of the spiritual. Now, under the relentless pressure of education and the enlightenment, interest in the spiritual dimension of life is labelled old fashioned and superstitious.

I also wonder how many Christians understand these things, but do not live them. How many live as if the spiritual realms are irrelevant?

Many Christians are looking inward to establish connecting with the Holy Spirit. This is good, but if we ignore what is happening in the spiritual realms that surround us, we will misunderstand much of what happens in the world. Most Christians need a vastly expanded worldview.

The previous picture correctly shows how the spiritual and physical realms overlap each other. However, in the remainder of the article, I will place the spiritual realms just above the physical realms so that the interactions between them can be illustrated, but we must always remember that these two worlds overlap and exist in parallel to each other.

Multi-dimensional

The spiritual realms are not limited to three dimensions like our physical world. The Bible does not tell us how many more, but the fact that it is more complex than our three-dimension world means that it is hard for our minds to understand. The spiritual aspect of life can be thought of as additional dimensions beyond the three core dimensions of length, height and breadth. The spiritual world is not another world in another place, but additional dimensions to the physical world we observe.

An even better way might be to think of the physical world as three additional dimensions tacked on to a multi-dimension spiritual world. The spiritual world is more real than the physical world, so this latter view is most likely correct, but it is very hard for us to handle, because our eyes are calibrated for a physical world. Our eyes are so attuned to seeing a three-dimensional world, that we find anything grander difficult to conceive.

Paul visited the spiritual realms in a vision. He was dramatically affected by what he saw, but he could not describe it (2 Cor 12:2-4). His problem was that human language is designed for describing a physical world, so it cannot cope with spiritual reality. He explained that,

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, and no human mind has conceived (1 Cor 2:9).
We need spiritual insight to understand what is happening in the spiritual dimension. That is why Paul prayed that the "eyes our hearts may be enlightened' (Eph 1:18).

Seeing Changed

Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve could see into the spiritual world. They were able to walk with God in the cool of the evenings and speak directly to him. They were able to see the devil, when he came to tempt them. His activity in the spiritual dimensions, made him appear snakelike from a physical perspective.

This situation did not last longs. When Adam and Eve sinned, their sight was changed so that they could no longer see into the spiritual realms.

The Bible says their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked (Gen 3:7). This statement is a huge irony. Their eyes were actually closed to the spiritual realms. When they could see the brilliant glory of the heavenly realms, their observation of the physical world was dimmed, and they did not notice they were naked. Once the light of heavenly glory was turned off, their view of the physical world was greatly intensified, so they realised for the first time that they were naked.

After his death and resurrection, Jesus gained a spiritual body, which enabled him to interact more freely with the spiritual world. After death, those who believe in Jesus will be given new spiritual bodies.

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Spiritual world 1

Better World View1

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. This was not just earth and sky. "The heavens" is the biblical name for the spiritual world that exists in parallel to the physical world. God created a multi-dimensional universe. We can only see the three dimensions of physical space plus time, so we assume that is all that exists. The spiritual dimensions consist of many more dimensions of reality beyond what we can see.

We cannot see into the spiritual world due to the effects of sin, so we think that the physical world we see makes up most of the universe. This leads us to assume that the authority systems that we see on earth are important, but we miss the parallel authority systems that exist in the spiritual realms and frequently interact with the authority system on earth. To understand the full working of authority, we need a thorough understanding of the way that authority functions in the spiritual realms, and how it affects events on earth.

Growing up in the modern world, we are taught that the physical world is all that is important. If something cannot be scientifically observed, it is not real. We all imbibe this materialistic understanding of the world during our education and daily lives. We think that the physical world that we live in is all that exists.

The physical realms consist of the earth, the sea and the sky. It includes people and the things they have made. This realm of life can be partitioned into two parts. The people who live according to Gods will are part of the Kingdom of God. Those who reject God's will belong to "the world" (1 John 2:15-17). In reality, these two groups are mixed up together and interact with each other all the time. I have only portrayed them separately for the purpose of illustration.

Spiritual Realms

Christians need a new worldview, that that sees the spiritual realms operating over and alongside the physical realms. We need an awareness of authority in the spiritual realms, if we are to understand the functioning of authority here on earth.

Part of the problem is that we see God as "way up there" far away from our world. We think of heaven as a distant place that we go to where we die. This is short sighted.

Heaven is not a distant place where God lives. Nor is just a place that we go to when we die. The Bible refers to the "heavenlies" as a label for the spiritual realms that exist alongside the physical world. The spiritual realms are just as real as the physical world that we can see. These two realms overlap and interact with each other.

We live in a multi-dimensional universe in which the spiritual dimensions exist in parallel to our three-dimensional physical world. The spiritual realms operate in continuity with the physical/natural world that we observe. Most humans cannot see into the spiritual dimensions, so we can only observe the physical side of existence. However, events in our physical world are shaped by activities in the spiritual realm. When we look at the physical world in isolation, we miss much of what is happening in the universe.

God operates in the spiritual dimensions of reality, but he also created and sustains the physical world. After the creation, the Holy Spirit remained close to the earth.

The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Gen 1:2).
The Spirit was not in a distant place. The spiritual realms where he operates hover over the earth. The spiritual dimensions of reality are not way out at the edge of the universe, they exist in parallel to the physical world in which we live. These two realms of existence interact with each other in ways that we often cannot see, and fail to understand.

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AAU SCREENING OF THE UTME/DIRECT ENTRY CANDIDATES FOR 2015/2016 SESSION ADMISSIONS

All 2015/2016 UTME candidates who applied to Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma as Institution of First Choice, with a UTME score of 180 and above are invited to attend a screening exercise in the University on the days stated below.

Screening Time-Table

The screening exercise for the various Faculties is scheduled to take place on the following dates at 9.00 a.m. each day:

DAY

DATE

FACULTIES

1.

Thursday, 13th August, 2015

Management Sciences, Arts, Agriculture, Education and Environmental Studies

2.

Friday, 14th  August, 2015

Social Sciences, Natural Sciences & Law

3.

Saturday, 15th August, 2015

College of Medicine and Engineering & Technology.

Note:  Candidates are to check their Examination venues on AAU c-portal on Tuesday, 10th of August, 2015.
Candidates are expected to report at the venues of screening at 7.30 a.m. prompt.

Subject for Screening:  Candidates will be screened in subjects relating to their First Choice course of study in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.

Method of Application:
Applicants are required to pay for the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma Post UTME on-line application form at a fee of #3,000.00 (Three thousand Naira) only using their ATM Debit Cards on Interswitch or purchase an e-Tranzact PIN Payment Voucher) from any of the under listed Banks Nation Wide.

All candidates are to come to the venues of the screening exercise with the following:

UTME e-Registration slip and UTME result slip.
HB pencil, eraser and biro.
A print-out of the duly completed Post UTME Online Application Form.
Direct Entry:

All Direct Entry candidates who applied to JAMB for admission and chose Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma as Institution of First Choice are also required to complete the Online Application Form for their screening exercise.  All such candidates mustupload scanned copies of all relevant certificates/documents to the c-Portal. 
*Screening Exercise for Direct Entry (DE) candidates is scheduled to take place from Monday, 24th August, 2015 to Friday, 28th August, 2015 from 9.00 a.m. each day.
Please, be informed that there shall be no Direct Entry into Medicine, Nursing, and Law.

NOTE:  All candidates (both UTME and Direct Entry) in addition to note the following:

Examination study guide: #2,000.00 (Two thousand Naira) only Technology fee: #1,000.00 (One thousand Naira) only; and Bank charges will be charged at the point of purchase of forms online via ATM Debit Cards on Interswitch or e-Tranzact PIN (Payment Voucher).
All names should be written in full when completing the online application form as no initials shall be entertained.
Mr. Fola Ojo-Maliki, MNIM, MANUPA
Acting Registrar

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World can end AIDS by 2030 – UN

The UN has said the world can end the AIDS epidemic within 15 years, but senior officials said that would only be possible by breaking the pharmaceutical industries “tight grip” on government policies.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said reaching the goal would be difficult but achievable in a report released in Ethiopia on Tuesday.

“Ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 is ambitious, but realistic, as the history of the past 15 years has shown,” Ban said in the report.

The UN Millennium Development Goal to halt and reverse the spread of the disease has been achieved, said UNAIDS, the global body’s agency focusing on the disease.

UNAIDS is driving efforts to end the epidemic by 2030 by enabling everyone to have access to prevention services, treatment and support.

“During the first decade of the epidemic, there was very little to offer someone dying from AIDS,” Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, said in the report.

The key to change, he said, was breaking the pharmaceutical industry’s “tight grip” on government policies and drug prices.

Some 15 million people are receiving antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS, a staggering increase from less than 700,000 in 2000.

At that time, patients had to take an average of eight pills per day, costing $10,000 a year. Today, medicines can be bought for $100 a year.

These medicines keep the virus from growing and multiplying helping people to live longer and reducing the chances that they will transmit HIV to others.

Legislation allowing developing countries to override patent rights was critical, allowing them to manufacture copies of the drugs and cut prices.

AIDS-related deaths have dropped more than 40 percent since 2004 to 1.2 million a year, the report said, adding new HIV infections have fallen by 35 percent since 2001 to 2 million a year in 2014.

Investment in HIV/AIDS surged to almost $22bn in 2015 from less than $5bn in 2001.

One of the biggest successes has been reducing new infections among children by 58 percent between 2000 and 2014, the agency said.

This has been achieved by ensuring women with HIV receive medicine to prevent them from passing on the infection when they give birth.

Last month, Cuba became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

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Did Birdman Really Throw a Drink at Lil Wayne?.... No

The drama never seems to end between Lil Wayne and Birdman.

The latest to unfold between the rappers took place over the weekend in the VIP section of Miami's nightclub LIV, where partygoers accused Birdman of throwing a drink at Wayne.

Video footage shows Wayne on stage with several pals giving a remix performance of "Coco" when all of a sudden, a drink is tossed at them from the crowd.

There's no evidence the drink came from Birdman, however, witnesses claim that people from Birdman's camp began throwing water bottles on stage at the same time.

Meanwhile, Wayne looked up in the VIP balcony to see Birdman, his very public nemesis, smiling and waving at fellow clubgoers.

And it should be noted that this isn't the first time that these two hip-hop heavyweights have battled it out in public, although it may be the first physical altercation we've seen these men get into with one another.

Birdman and Wayne have been in the middle of a lengthy court battle over millions of dollars and the release of Tha Carter V.

Last December, Wayne went on a Twitter rant over his next album and gave fans some insight on what hurdles he's facing with the release of the highly anticipated music.

"To all my fans, I want u to know that my album won't and hasn't been released bekuz Baby & Cash Money Rec. refuse to release it. This is not my fault. I am truly and deeply sorry to all my fans and most of all to myself and my family for putting us in this situation," he began.

"I want off this label and nothing to do with these people but unfortunately it ain't that easy. I am a prisoner and so is my creativity. Again, I am truly sorry and I don't blame ya if ya fed up with waiting 4 me & this album. But thk u."

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