The View From Here

Does History Really Repeat Itself?

2014-03-04T11:18:00.002-08:00

Well, of course, we know it does. Maybe not always in particular specifics, but certainly, even a cursory look at history proves that the same things do indeed happen again and again - the same scenarios keep playing themselves out over and over. As Solomon wrote: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecc.1:9)

This past November, Des and I saw a movie called “Saving Mr. Banks” it was a biography about the author of the Marry Poppins and how Walt Disney made her book into his famous movie. “Saving Mr. Banks” opens with the same exact same first line as the “Mary Poppins” film had, some fifty years earlier: “Wind’s in the east. Mist comin’ in – like somethin’s a-brewing, about to begin. Can’t put my finger on just what’s in store, but I feel what’s to happen ‘s all happened before!” Seems rather ironic, even humorous, considering the movie was somewhat of a sequel! But that line struck me like a ton of bricks with what felt like a heavy spiritual hand. I continue to think of it as I see the news unfolding every day. It all seems eerily like “What’s to happen ‘s all happened before!”

In the Bible we see God’s people, Israel, make the same mistakes again and again over the centuries as if spinning on a generational merry-go-round:

1.) The people enjoy God’s gracious favor – based solely on God’s faithful commitment to His covenant. They respond with thankful worship and obedience.

2.) The people take His blessings and protection for granted. They forget that God is the reason for their blessings. They stop being thankful. They reject God’s boundaries and, seeking to please their fleshly desires, they willingly embrace all kind of sin. They stop worshiping and obeying God, instead they worship and obey their flesh.

3.) God, not wanting His people to suffer, repeatedly sends warnings, calling His people back to Himself, promising forgiveness if they would repent and turn from their wickedness, and judgment if they would not. Because of His grace and mercy, this warning stage could encompass years, even generations.

4.) God allows the consequences of what the people have chosen to befall them. Usually, initially, in small measured doses but even then, God grants extended periods of grace to allow the people time to change their minds and return to Him. They do not, so God gives them what they have sought. The consequences come harder and faster.

5.) Finally, the culture reaches a point where only a tiny remnant remains faithful to God. It has become altogether so ungodly that the only thing that will restore the nation back to God is terrible judgment, chastisement and calamity. God, in His love, allows great suffering to come on His people to turn them back to Himself. Like the warnings, the suffering can last years, decades, generations. Sometimes God uses wicked nations to punish His people, allowing what seems like a victory for God’s enemies… for a season. But He is just. Eventually He punishes the punishers who harmed His people. And in the end, He saves Israel from ultimate destruction and a generation arises that returns to God.

Over and over, like the back of a shampoo bottle: wash, rinse, repeat. Why?

History repeats itself because men don’t change. We are who we are. Fallen. Depraved. Without God and without hope in the world with hearts that are exceedingly wicked seeking to do evil continually. Lust, greed, selfishness – these are our drivers. We are unwilling and unable to please God. Those who say otherwise are deceived deceiving deceivers. We cannot keep the rules. O wretched man that I am, who can rescue me from this body of death!

There is One. One, (and only one) who can recuse me! God did what we cannot do. He kept the rules! He died in my place and rose again. He offers me forgiveness…. AND a rescue from the old way of life! He offers a new life that, in Christ, does please Him. Thanks be to God! He rescues us through Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Rom. 7:24-25)

But culturally, nationally, the beat goes on. Wash rinse repeat. Where are we now? I’d say about two sentences into point #5 above. Where are we individually? I pray that I, and you, may always be numbered in that faithful remnant who God continually preserves for a witness- salt and light - holding out life in a crooked and depraved generation. Piqued? Read 2Kings 17:7-41

A Lament for America

2014-02-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Our society is rapidly deteriorating. We have gone from condemning sin... to condoning sin... to celebrating sin. Everywhere we look, in almost every facet of our culture, those who are called 'leaders” - those who are looked up to and followed, are in full-blown, overt rejection of God and active mockery of His Word. Truth is suppressed. History, experience and logic are discarded. Wisdom is not found in our schools, our courts or among our lawmakers. Why? Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… and there is no fear of the Lord.

Claiming to be wise we have become fools, exchanging the truth of God for a lie... knowing God's righteous decrees regarding sin and death, we continue in sin, even approving of it and encouraging it. Eager to justify our sin, we throw off God and His boundaries saying, “I have no need of God, he is archaic and outdated.” Shaking our fist in His face we declare, “I do not, and will not, accept His authority over me, I will not be bound by anyone’s rules!” … blinded to the fact that in so-doing we are rushing headlong into slavery, judgment and destruction. Still, God’s heart is to save us from His just wrath. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is not willing that any should perish but that all come to salvation! Yet, as it is written, “There is none that is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Jesus weeps over us as he did over Jerusalem, “You who kill the prophets and stone God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.”

God is patient, full of grace and mercy. But do not be deceived, God will not be mocked. Whatever we sow, so also shall we reap. Men who suppress the truth by their wickedness are sowing evil seed among us. They secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many are following their depraved conduct even bringing the church into disrepute. In their greed these teachers exploit us with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the fleshand despise authority. .. these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood … blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them” … Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Cross references:

A Snowy Day

2014-02-03T08:43:00.003-08:00

For some odd reason, I decided to write to you today about snow! I don’t know why, but it’s just been on my mind... somehow? Did you know that the Bible mentions snow about 25 times? Usually, snow is used as a standard to compare something else to. Ten times we read, “as white as snow,” twice, “as cold as snow,” and once, “as pure as snow.” Five times the word snow is used in a poetic sense to refer to the winter season, as in: “She is not afraid of the snows,” and once to indicate the mountains by calling them “the snows of Lebanon.” Three times God asks Job unanswerable question about snow to show Job that God sees the big picture while we humans see very little, and two times the Bible speaks of a specific snowy day in history. Do you know what day that was? (I’ll put the answer at the bottom of the post.) But I told you all that to tell you this - my favorite “snowy” verse in the Word. “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” Did you get that? Not “as white as snow,” but “whiter than snow!”

King David pens these words in Psalm 51. Do you know the context of that Psalm? After being confronted with his sins of adultery and murder, David confesses and repents of his sin. With a contrite heart and a broken spirit, he seeks God’s forgiveness in faith, believing that God will forgive him, restore him and purify him to the extent that he will be whiter than snow! Did you know that it is possible to be whiter than snow, even though snow is the very thing that is used as the standard of cleanness and purity that all others are measures against? Every snow flake is an ice crystal that forms in the upper atmosphere. Each crystal forms around something – a tiny microscopic speck of dust! At the heart of a clean pure snowflake is dirt! When God forgives us he takes away all sin, all guilt, all punishment, all fear, all condemnation, even the “stain” or “left-over” residue of sin! He removes our sin from us as far as the east is from the west! In other words, infinitely removed! The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, completely removing it so that, as Isaiah put it, “though our sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow!”

Does that excite you? Does that give you hope? Does that give you peace and joy and motivation to serve such a great and loving God? Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees we would not enter the kingdom of God! The Pharisees were a group of guys who spent all day every day trying to figure out how to be holy! Can we be better than that? YES! Because when we come to faith in Christ, we no longer have to “try to be good.” Instead we receive by grace through faith, His righteous record of perfect holiness…and without holiness no man shall see God! So Christian, don’t let the devil condemn you. “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!” Neither should we continue in our sin. For we have been set free, made holy, washed clean! Let us not go back to the pig pen of sin! Rather, let us live pure and holy lives. Would a bride wallow in the mud while wearing her clean white wedding dress? Would a man let vandals destroy his prize classic car that he just detailed? No, they would prize them and fight to keep them beautiful and clean. Let us do the same with our great salvation that cost him so dearly. “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light!” (Eph.4;1, 5:1-3,8)

P.S. You’ll find that particular snowy day in 2Samuel 23:20 and 1Chron. 11:22.

What’s up for 2014?

2013-12-31T13:46:00.000-08:00

A lot of what will happen in the next year will be a result of decisions we made in 2013 (and earlier) - a good reminder that actions have consequences, good or bad, intended …or not-so-much. That should give us pause and make us think about what we will do in 2014 that will have lasting impact into the future. Thankfully, even though God has given man free will, and much of what we do is in rebellion against God and His Word, (i.e. sin - which brings suffering and hardship), ultimately, God is sovereign and in control. He is bringing all things together, even humanity’s bad choices, to complete His purposes in the world. So, no matter what happens, trust in the Lord and do good, knowing that He is faithful! (What follows is purely my personal opinion and analysis based on my understanding of the facts as I see them. Not interested in arguing.)

Domestic Outlook:

Here at home, 40,000 (yes, forty-thousand!) new laws will go into effect across our land beginning tomorrow, counting all the federal, state and local legislation. The new laws give us a picture of where we are headed and are a consequence of who we elected.

In 2014 we will see:

1.) More taxes. 20 new taxes related to Obama Care alone, including a devastating tax on small business who provide insurance for their employees and the unconstitutional “personal mandate” – a $95 per person or 1% of your income fine/tax for those who can “afford” health insurance but choose not to buy it… with lots of other new taxes and 55 tax credits expiring at the same time.

2.) More loss of individual freedom / More govt. control and interference. Laws regulating what you can eat, drink and smoke, (In Oregon, no cigarettes in cars with kids, but in Colorado beginning tomorrow you can buy “recreational” marijuana)

Drones watching you from above. NSA listening to your calls and reading your phone bills, texts and e-mails. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech taking shots from the “politically correct” who want to ban the articulation anything they disagree with… or at the very least label it as “hate speech.”

3.) Greater acceptance and promotion of immoral, destructive and irresponsible behaviors. Legalization of marijuana, legalization of so-called “gay marriage” (16 states and DC now have given it the green light). Hollywood and network TV busy painting all manner of immorality as good and even preferable. The “bad guy” is always “wicked” capitalism, the “evil” US military or the “intolerant” Christian.

4.) Greater intolerance and persecution of anyone that points out that these behaviors are immoral, destructive and irresponsible. (esp. Christians, the church, anyone who believes the Bible. e.g. Phil Robertson)

5.) More Socialism. (e.g. Obama Care implementation; the swelling of welfare and food stamp rolls; the increase in Medicaid and other reliance on govt. assistance programs; the legal forcing of private business to pay employees what the govt. thinks they are worth instead of what their work dictates). Three states have upped the minimum wage above the federal level and one city (SeaTac, Washington) has ordered all business to pay a min. wage of $15, of course this caused many small businesses there to lay off half their employees or shut their doors… and all new and/or potential businesses to head for greener pastures.

6.) A resulting backlash creating a greater division. States and localities where conservatives are the majority are reacting to the above by enacting more and more conservative laws. Patriots seeking to stave the liberal tide are bubbling with “tea party” type activism and clamor for recall elections for those who, once elected, fail to accurately represent their constituents. Meanwhile those states and localities ruled by liberals, re-react with more liberal laws and activist judges legislating from the bench. Thus the Red / Blue division is getting deeper and more pronounced sowing seeds of discord, brewing talk of constitutional conventions and regional animosity.

7.) Economic dark days. The six-year “recovery” has not recovered anything. (Other than the artificially high stock market, propped up by the Fed’s constant buying of securities to the tune of (are you ready for this? 85 BILLION per month!) The on-going unsustainable govt. spending, high un-employment, increase in taxes, regulation and socialism will keep it in the doldrums. There is no “cushion” for disasters whether man-made or natural. If war hits in the Mid-East, oil skyrockets, dow crashes. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2013/05/02/can-fed-keep-propping-up-stocks/2129787/

8.) Political turn around? 35 senate seats will be in play in 2014 as well as all 435 congressional districts. I see little change. GOP may pick up a senate seat or two and should hold the house. But those who are red are deeper red and those who are blue are darker blue. (see point #6) Probably staus quo.

International Outlook

1.) Radical Islam grows and continues to be the greatest threat in the world. It will get uglier and uglier in the Middle East. Factions fighting infidels and each other now in Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, Central African Republic, Yemen… well, pretty much the entire Islamic world. (see Gen. 16:12) It was good that Putin pounced on Kerry’s slip of the lip and gave us a way out of getting sucked into the Syrian civil war this year –there is no “up” side for us there. The bad thing is that Obama said we would strike… then we didn’t. Really lost a lot of credibility with Arabs and Russians and came out looking like paper tigers. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/12/27/saudis-lament-have-been-stabbed-in-back-by-obama/

2.) Everybody hates Israel. Arabs, Muslims, Russians, Europeans, Liberals (think 2012 democratic convention) Even non-evangelical Christians. Anti Semitism gets worse under the cloak of anti-Zionism (which is the same thing after all.)

3.) Israel has to take out Iranian Nukes. When they do, everybody and their dog will hate Israel. Hezbollah will attack form the north, Hamas from the south and east. (see point domestic #7) Been saying this will happen for several years now, but I think it will be before Sept. 2015.

4.) Interesting stuff happening in Turkey. Erdogan consolidates power after crushing the opposition. He’s also feuding with Fetullah Gullen. (google it) Look for Turkey to rise in prominence as it opposes Iran re: Syria.

5.) They entire Islamic world in political instability. Lots of changes- rises and falls- like Egypt with Mubarak and Morsi; Libya and Kadaffi; Syria and Assad, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc. etc. When it shakes out - maybe after many years, maybe soon - what will emerge will be the ten-horned, Anti-Christ “beast” kingdom of Daniel 7:7-28)

6.) Elsewhere: crises and disasters. More earthquakes, Tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes, Typhoons, more countries fall into financial ruin. All setting up the need for a dynamic world leader to swoop in to the rescue. (Matt. 24:7-8)

Big Picture Stuff

1.) God’s calendar seems to indicate major developments in the next 21 months. In this time period Jerusalem will see four total lunar eclipses, a total solar eclipse and a partial solar eclipse. All of these will happen on Jewish Feast days beginning in the spring of 2014 on Passover and ending on Rosh Hashanah 2015. While not everything that happens in the sky is prophetic in nature (some of it is just the way the “clock” works – things happen in cycles every so often) I believe that this may be at least some of the fulfillment of the multiple prophecies in scripture that say that “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light before the great and terrible day of the LORD.” (Is. 13:10, Is. 34:4, Ez. 32:7-8, Joel 2;10, Joel 2:31, Zeph. 1:15, Rev. 6:12-13, and Rev.8:12) Jesus himself refers to and reiterates these prophecies in Matt. 24:29-30. A correlation of lunar eclipses and the feast days like this never happened at all in the 1800’s, 1700’s, 1600’s or 1500’s. You have to go all the way back to 1492 – 450 years before Israel became a nation again to see this phenomenon (the lunar eclipses on feast days) happen in this way. Multiple lunar eclipses on feast days have happened twice in the 1900’s. In 1948 – the year Israel became a nation, and in 1967 – the year Israel recaptured Jerusalem and the temple mount! So, coming up, in the next two years there will be, in Jerusalem, lunar eclipses on Passover and Rosh Hashanah in both 2014 and 2015 and solar eclipses on Nissan 1 (first day of Jewish religious calendar 2015) and Tishri 1 ( Feast of trumpets) 2015. In addition Sept. 15, 2015 will mark the start of next “Sabbath” year in the seven year cycle of years. (Lev. 25:1-7) The last two “sabbath” years began on Sept. 29, 2008, (the day the stock market crashed 777.7 points, wiping out 1.2 trillion dollars in market value) and Sept. 11, 2001.

To find out more about this watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e25L8YA9KX8

I’d also suggest reading the book “The Harbinger” by Johnathan Cahn

Eat the meat, spit out the bones.

Conclusions

Keep watch. Be ready. I can’t say it better than Jesus did in Matt. 24:1-25:46.

(A speech he gave, by the way, two days before he was crucified in Jerusalem, on Passover, while the sun was darkened.- just sayin’) If you want to know what to do – read His words. Love to ALL! Even so Lord Jesus….. Come!

Verses From Every Book in the New Testament Calling Christians to Holiness

2013-06-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some study for my next sermon series on "unholy" Christians ... put together this document for reference.... I challenge you to read it ... and respond ... not to me but to Jesus!

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:20

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matt. 5:13-16

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matt. 7:3-5

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matt. 7:18-20

But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

Matt. 12:36-37

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

Matt. 16:24-27

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matt. 24:45-51

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.“ Mark 8:34-38

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. ^[44] [^a^] ⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ^[46] [^b^] ⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸where ‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’ Mark 9:43-48

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be^[^a^] on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ²There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ³What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. Luke12:1-3

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” Luke 14:34

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. John 3:20-21

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” John 5:14

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared.

“Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:10-11

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” John 8:34

“If you love me, keep my commands.” John 14:15

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “ John 14:23-24

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? God forbid! Rom 6:1-2a

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Rom. 6:11-14

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. Rom 8:12

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Rom. 12:2

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with mennor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor. 6:9-11

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Cor. 6:18-20

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. 1 Cor. 15:33-34

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 2Cor. 7:1

If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Gal. 5:15

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal. 5:19-20

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Gal. 6:7-8

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Eph. 4:1

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. Eph. 4:17

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. Eph. 4:22

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. ⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.^[a] ⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷Therefore do not be partners with them. Eph. 5:3-7

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.

Eph. 5:8-15

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Phil 1:27

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. ¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! Phil 3:17-4:1

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because ofyour evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation! Col.1:21-22

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^[a] ⁷You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices. Col. 3:5-9

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control your own body^[^a^] in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; ⁶and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.^[^b^] The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. ⁷For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

1Thes. 4:3-8

You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

1Thes. 5:5-8

Reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Thes. 5:22-23

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings^[^a^] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. 2Thes. 2:15

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. ⁸For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1Tim. 4:7-8

Guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, ²¹which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. 1Tim. 6:20-21

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2Tim. 2:19-22

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Titus 3:3-9

Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Philemon 1:21

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Heb. 3:12

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Heb. 4:13

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[a] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^[^b^]Heb. 10:26-30

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. Heb. 12:14-17

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. James 1:21

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:26-27

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. James 2:12

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:9-12

You adulterous people,^[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:8-10

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”1Peter 1:13-16

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1Peter 2:1-3

For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ⁴They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. ⁵But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 1Peter 4:3-5

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 2Peter 1:5-9

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives! 2Peter 3:11

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2Peter 3:14

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1John 2:6

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[^a^] is not in them. 1John 2:15

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 1John 3:6

This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 1John 5:2

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 1John 5:18

Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 2John 1:9

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 3John 1:11

See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones ¹⁵to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”Jude 1:14-15

Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Rev.2:5

Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. ¹⁵Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Rev.2:14-16

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²²So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. Rev.2:20-23

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ²Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ³Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Rev. 3:1b-3

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Rev. 3:13-19

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Rev.3:20

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Rev. 3:22

The Morning After

2012-11-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

What last night was, was a revealing - a clarification. We now know things that we (I) didn’t see clearly enough before. Just like the disciples knew who Jesus was, yet they thought he was going to establish His kingdom on earth. They didn’t see it till later- till it was revealed. Of course, we know better - that His blessed kingdom on earth won’t happen till he returns and all the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our Lord and Christ - but in our hearts we hoped for America to be that godly nation -like they hoped it would be Israel then. At least we held out the naïve notion that it could be, it might be, because maybe, just maybe still, a majority of our fellow citizens loved the constitution, feared God, held to a biblical morality and weren’t blind to all the lies of the devil. Sadly, today we know different. Clearly, America has lost connection with her roots, she has cast aside God, His Word and His ways. Three more states legalized “gay marriage,” two states legalized recreational marijuana use, one state elected an openly gay senator, while another opened the door to tax-payer funded abortions. The national results show us ourselves. It is a mirror held up to our soul. We just did not want to see the America we so love like that, but sadly America is "the world" in all its rebellious sinfulness.

But this new clarity can serve His kingdom…If we will let it. The difficulty ahead might actually accomplish His purpose! It will purify us. Hopefully motivate us. Surely, we can no longer have one foot in His kingdom and one foot in the world, thinking that we can be non-offensive to both. While I hate the result, it might turn more people to Christ than might have happened if it went the other way. If so, then Praise be! In any case God reigns. Our job is still the same. Perhaps we see it clearer now. I know I do. I think darkness IS coming. What lies ahead looks dire. But did not the Lord tell us, “In this world we will have trouble.....” The world hates me, it will hate you too?” Has not this been the yoke that Christendom has born since its inception? Is this not the suffering that Christ calls us to? I can’t pretend that I like to either say or hear that…. but…. That’s not the end of the story. Yes, in this world we WILL have trouble… but TAKE COURAGE Jesus has overcome the world! I know whom I have believed, and am fully persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed, (i.e. all that I am, all that I have and all that I love) unto Him until THAT DAY!

Who Should I Vote For?

2012-09-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Who Should I vote for?

Well, I’m certainly not going to tell you! But I would like to suggest some things to think about before you make up your mind. First of all, God is sovereign and He determines the future of this nation and all nations. “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever! Wisdom and power belong to Him. He changes times and season; He sets up rulers and deposes them.” (Dan. 2:21) God has all authority. Earthly rulers, whether they are wicked or righteous, have authority only because God allows them to have it, in order that He might bring about His ultimate will. Jesus said to Pilate, (certainly not a God-honoring ruler!) “You would have no authority over me except that it was given to you from above.” (John 19:11) God put Pharaoh in a position of power so that he would refuse Moses’ requests for freedom and God could humble Egypt and deliver Israel. Later God brought judgment upon Judah through the wicked king Nebuchadnezzar whom God called “My servant.” (Jer. 27:6) Even though Nebuchadnezzar worshipped idols and false gods, God used him - and He will use our new leaders to fulfill His purposes on earth, whether those purposes are to bring judgment or to bring blessing.

So, am I telling you not to vote? Does God’s sovereignty over the election mean that we have no choice in the matter – that we are excluded from the process? NO! Just as God’s sovereignty in man’s salvation does not exclude us from evangelism, neither does God’s ultimate authority over rulers and leaders remove our need to participate in the electoral process. God desires to bring about His will through the obedience of His people. So get educated, ask God for direction and discernment, then vote…then pray some more! Here are some factors I will be considering and that I ask you to think through before you vote:

What will be the candidate’s attitudes and policies towards the nation of Israel? Why is this so important? Because God has made an everlasting covenant with the descendants of Jacob to give them the “Promised Land” of Israel. (That’s why it’s called the “promised” land - get it? God promised it to them!) Any nation or leader who supports Israel will be blessed and any nation or leader who opposes Israel will be cursed. (Gen. 12:3) God promises to prosper those who love Israel. (Ps. 122:6) So our government’s policies toward Israel have a direct impact on our national well-being. Does the candidate understand or underestimate the threat of radical Islam? Radical Islam poses the greatest threat to peace and security since Adolph Hitler and perhaps even greater, because now, not only are we facing an cruel enemy of ideology but one that is fueled by the spirit of anti-Christ. (1John 4:1-3) These next few years will be pivotal for American survival. If you think I’m overstating the matter, you aren’t paying attention! Great Britain is on the verge of falling from within because of the tremendous influx of Islamic influence there. Most of Europe no longer has the spiritual foundation to stand against it. America still has the spiritual strength and material wherewithal and backbone to resist it, but for how long? Our next President will face a nuclear-armed Iran headed by a radical Islamist leader. He must understand the threat.

Does the candidate want our laws to reflect God’s law? Will they therefore appoint judges who uphold the legal protection of human life, and the sanctity of marriage? One needs only to read through the books of 1st and 2nd Kings to see that when the national leader followed God’s standards the nation was blessed, but when the king turned away from God, the nation suffered. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!” (Ps. 33:12) Does the candidate’s personal integrity and moral character put them in a position to receive God’s blessing, guidance and direction; and do they even seek these things? Look at the reigns of King David and Solomon to see the effects of personal moral failure on a nation. God will not sustain a leader or a nation who disobeys Him.

What are the candidate’s core principles that drive their decisions? Are they trying to please men or God? Answer these questions and you’ll have an answer to the question at the top of the page.

Netanyahu’s Speech at Holocaust Remembrance Day

2012-04-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

April 19, 2012

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Speech at Holocaust Remembrance Day

Yesterday morning, I visited an old-age home for Holocaust survivors. There, I met Idit Yapo, an amazing woman of 104, clear and lucid. Idit fled Germany shortly after Hitler gained power, in 1934.

I met 89-year-old Esther Nadiv, one of Mendele’s twins. She was reading a book, Golda Meir’s biography, and she told me, with a glint in her eye, she said: “I am so proud, so very proud to be a part of the State of Israel which is in constant development.”

I met Hanoch Mandelbaum, an 89-year-old survivor of Bergen-Belsen. Shortly after he came to Israel, as a young carpenter, he helped construct the desk upon which Ben Gurion signed the Declaration of Independence. That is MiSho’a liTkuma – from holocaust to resurrection.

And I met Elisheva Lehman, an 88 year-old Holocaust survivor fromHolland, who was a music teacher.

I asked Elisheva if she would play something for us and she did. She enthusiastically played “Am Yisrael Chai” and we all sung together. It was quite emotional.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Am Yisrael Chai [The nation of Israel lives]

Our enemies tried to bury the Jewish future, but it was reborn in the land of our forefathers. Here, we built a foundation for a new beginning of freedom, hope, and creation. Year after year, decade after decade, we built the foundations of our country, and we will continue to yearly strengthen the pillars of our national life.

On this day, when our entire nation gathers together to remember the horrors of the Holocaust and the six million Jews who were murdered, we must fulfill our most sacred obligation.

This obligation is not merely an obligation to remember the past. It is an obligation to learn its lessons, and, most importantly, to apply them to the present in order to secure the future of our people. We must remember the past and secure the future by applying the lessons of the past.

This is especially true for this generation – a generation that once again is faced with calls to annihilate the Jewish State.

One day, I hope that the State of Israel will enjoy peace with all the countries and all the peoples in our region. One day, I hope that we will read about these calls to destroy the Jews only in history books and not in daily newspapers.

But that day has not yet come.

Today, the regime in Iran openly calls and determinedly works for our destruction. And it is feverishly working to develop atomic weapons to achieve that goal.

I know that there are those who do not like when I speak such uncomfortable truths. They prefer that we not speak of a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. They say that such language, even if true, only sows fear and panic.

I ask, have these people lost all faith in the people of Israel?

Do they think that this nation, which has overcome every danger, lacks the strength to confront this new threat?

Did the State of Israel not triumph over existential threats when it was far less powerful than it is today? Did its leaders have any qualms about saying the truth?

David Ben Gurion told the people of Israel the truth about the existential dangers they faced in 1948 when five Arab armies tried to snuff Israel out in its cradle.

Levi Eshkol told the people of Israel the truth in 1967 when a noose was being placed around Israel’s neck and we stood alone to face our fate.

And when they heard these truths, did the people of Israel panic or did they unite to thwart the dangers? Were we paralyzed with fear or did we do what was necessary to protect ourselves

I believe in the people of Israel – and this belief is based on our experiences. I believe that the people of Israel can handle the truth. And I believe that they we have the capability to defeat those who seek to harm us.

Those who dismiss Iran’s threats as exaggerated or as mere idle posturing have learned nothing from the Holocaust. But we should not be surprised.

There have always been those among us who prefer to mock those who tell uncomfortable truths than squarely face the truth themselves.

That is how Zev Jabotinsky was received when he warned the Jews of Poland of the looming Holocaust.

This is what he said in 1938, in Warsaw:

“It is already THREE years that I am calling upon you, Polish Jewry, who are the crown of World Jewry. I continue to warn you incessantly that a catastrophe is coming closer. I became grey and old in these years, my heart bleeds, that you, dear brother and sisters, do not see the volcano which will soon begin to spit its all-consuming lava… I see that you are not seeing this because you are immersed and sunk in your daily worries… Listen to me in this twelfth hour: In the name of G-d! Let anyone of you save himself, as long as there is still time, and time there is very little.”

But the leading Jewish intellectuals of the day ridiculed Jabotinsky, and rather than heed his warning, they attacked him.

This is what Sholem Asch, one of our nation’s greatest writers, said about him:

“What Jaotinsky is saying in Poland is going too far. His statement is detrimental to Zionism and to the vital interests of our people… It is disgraceful that these are leaders of a nation.”

I know there are also those who believe that the unique evil of the Holocaust should never be invoked in discussing other threats facing the Jewish people.

To do so, they argue, is to belittle the Holocaust and to offend its victims.

I totally disagree. On the contrary. To cower from speaking the uncomfortable truth – that today like then, there are those who want to destroy millions of Jewish people – that is to belittle the Holocaust, that is to offend its victims and that is to ignore the lessons.

Not only does the Prime Minister of Israel have the right, when speaking of these existential dangers, to invoke the memory of a third of our nation which was annihilated. It is his duty.

There is a memorable scene in Claude Lanzmann’s documentary Shoahthat explains this obligation more than anything.

In the harsh existence in the Warsaw Ghetto, Leon Feiner of the Bund and Menachem Kirschenbaum of the General Zionists met with Jan Karski from the Polish World War II Resistance Movement.

Jan Karski was a decent, sensitive man, and they begged him to appeal to the conscience of the world against the Nazi crimes. They described what was happening, they showed him, but to no avail.

They said: “Help us. We have no country of our own, we have no government, and we even have no voice among the nations”

They were right.

Seventy years ago the Jewish people did not have the national capacity to summon the nations, nor the military might to defend itself.

But today things are different.

Today we have an army.

We have the ability, the duty and the determination to defend ourselves.

As Prime Minister of Israel, I will never shy from speaking the truth before the world, no matter how uncomfortable it may seem to some.

I speak the truth at the United Nations; I speak the truth in Washington, D.C., the capital of our great friend, the United States, and in other important capitals; And I speak the truth here in Jerusalem, on the grounds of Yad VaShem which are saturated with remembrance.

I will continue to speak the truth to the world, but first and foremost I must speak it to my own people. I know that my people are strong enough to hear the truth.

The truth is that a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat of the State of Israel.

The truth is that a nuclear-armed Iran is a political threat to other countries throughout the region and a grave threat to the world peace.

The truth is that Iran must be stopped from obtaining nuclear weapons.

It is the duty of the whole world, but above and beyond, it is OUR duty.

The memory of the Holocaust goes beyond holding memorial services; it is not merely a historical recollection.

The memory of the Holocaust obligates us to apply the lessons of the past to ensure the basis of our future.

We will never bury our heads in the sand.

Am Yisrael Chai, veNetzach Yisrael Lo Yeshaker.

[The Nation of Israel Lives, and the Eternal one of Israel does not Lie.]

The Prince of Persia

2012-02-29T10:02:00.001-08:00

Given the mysterious title, most Americans might assume that this article is about: A.) a popular violent video game of the same name; or B.) A not-so popular action-adventure movie released a few years ago. It is neither. Both the game and the movie derive their name from a Biblical reference to a powerful shadowy presence. The real Prince of Persia is a demonic principality; an evil spiritual personage revealed to the prophet Daniel by God’s messenger angel Gabriel in Dan. Chapter10:12-14

“Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the prince of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

At that time, (and at this time!), the demon called “the Prince of Persia” was locked in battle with an two arch (chief) angels, Gabriel, the one who is speaking, and Michael, who is identified as the angel having protective authority and responsibility over Daniel and his people, Israel. When Daniel received this vision he was in Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire which had come rule over that part of the world after the fall of Babylon while Daniel and his countrymen were held captive there. This ancient land is now known by its modern name, Iran.

Note: What follows next is a brief (?!) thumb-nail history of Iran. You might be tempted to skip over this part so you can get to the “here-and-now” portion of the article, but humor me and read through it. Even if you just skim it, my guess is that you will be struck by one thing: just how intricately linked together the past, present, future, fortunes and destinies of Israel and Iran – Michael and the Prince of Persia- have been and continue to be.

The geographical region that we know today as the modern state of Iran has been dominated in history by many powers: Elamites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, Syrians, Parthians, Romans, Byzantines, and Islamic conquerors from Arabia. The first people group to dominate this region was the ancient Elamites, or the descendants of Elam. Elam was a son of Shem and a grandson of Noah. This ancient clan established the nation of Elam in what is now the southwestern portion of Iran.

Ur, (Abraham’s original home) was brought to an end about 2000 BC by the Elamites, who destroyed the city and took its king prisoner, thus enlarging Elam to the north. During its entire history, Shushan (Susa) served as the capital city of Elam, (and later Medio-Persia); a city that stood for 3000 years until it was totally sacked and raised to the ground by the Mongols in the 13th century AD.

In Genesis, the Bible records that an ancient Elamite King named Kedorlaomer led a group of eastern kings on military raids against several cities on the Jordan River plain, including Sodom. Abraham and his allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, with their personal armies, finally defeated Kedorlaomer and his fellow kings and rescued Lot, regaining the wealth the easterners had captured. (Gen.14)

From about 2000 to 1800BC, the Elamites expanded their kingdom at the expense of various Mesopotamian city-states, until Hammurabi (about 1728-1686BC) finally put an end to Elamite expansion. Elam became province of Babylon, and for the next few hundred years, was subjugated by various Babylonian, and alternately, Assyrian kings.

The Medes emerged as rulers over this land when they defeated the Assyrians in 610BC by destroying the Biblical city of Nineveh made famous by Jonah. By this time the Persians had already taken the southern part of Elam called Anshan. Both the Medes and the Persians had migrated southward into the area from the Caucasus region of what is now southern Russia. After the Assyrian Empire was destroyed, the Medes annexed almost all the rest of Elam. Then in 550BC the Persians led by Cyrus captured the Median capitol. Cyrus made peace with the Medes and consolidated the two kingdoms into what became known as the Medo-Persian Empire. Following the fall of Babylon, the entire empire was divided into administrative districts, or satraps, which established regional governors under the authority of the King. Daniel chapter six tells us that after Persia and Media, were combined, the King administered 120 satraps, over them were three ruling presidents, with Daniel being chief among them.

When Cyrus the Great (550-529BC) established the Medo-Persian Empire, he made Shushan its capital. Darius the Great (521-486BC) also built a magnificent royal palace in Shushan. This palace, later occupied by Artaxerxes II (404-359BC), was the scene of the dramatic events depicted in the biblical story of Esther where the wicked Haman plotted to annihilate the Jews. The prophet Daniel had his vision of the ram and the goat here, and Shushaa is also where Nehemiah lived in exile before returning to Jerusalem. According to tradition, the present-day village of Shush (ancient Shushan) is the site of the tomb of the Old Testament prophet Daniel.

It was the Persian king Cyrus who issued the decree restoring the Jews to their homeland, following their long period of captivity by the Babylonians, (II Chronicles 36:22-23; and Ezra 1:1-4) just as had been prophesized by Isaiah hundreds of years earlier, mentioning Cyrus by name! (Is.44:28-45:2) Cambyses II (530-522BC), the son of Cyrus, reigned after his father, and during his reign, Egypt was added to the list of nations conquered by Persia, followed by Darius I who, in his second year, ordered the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt after work on it had been discontinued for 14 years. (Ezra 4:24; and 6:1) Darius also gave a generous subsidy that made it possible to complete the Temple construction. The extent of the Persian Empire under Darius is reflected in the book of Esther as stretching from India to Ethiopia. (Esther 1:1; and 10:1) This vast territory was nearly 3,000 miles long and 1,500 miles wide, approximately the size of the United States!

Xerxes ruled Persia from 486 to 465BC. Xerxes, also known as Ahasuerus, is the Persian king ruling in the Book of Esther. Esther did not become queen until the seventh year of his reign, which would have been about 478BC. This was two years after Xerxes devastating defeat at Salamis (480BC) which ended Persia's last hope for conquering Greece, and laid the foundation for the rise of Alexander the Great.

The next Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus I (464-424BC), illustrates one of the ironies of history. This minor Persian king was of major importance because of his connection with the Hebrew people. Apparently two of the three returns of the Jewish people from captivity in Babylon occurred during his reign. The second return was apparently under Ezra. This was made possible because of the generosity of Artaxerxes. The third return occurred in 445BC and is recorded in Nehemiah, and this date is a landmark of Bible prophecy, especially as it relates to the birth of Jesus. (Daniel 9: 24-27) The specific purpose of this return to Jerusalem allowed by Artaxerxes was to rebuild the city walls, and it also laid the foundation for the circumstances surrounding the geo-political events in Jesus’ lifetime.

Darius III, the last Persian king was defeated in a series of battles starting at 333BC at Issus by Alexander the Great, who died shortly afterwards in 323BC. According to the provisions of the four-way partition of the Greek Empire, (prophesized in advance by Daniel 7:6 and 8:8) the Seleucids of Syria then took control of the Persian territory for about 100 years. At around 220BC the Parthian leader Arsaces declared Parthia's independence from Syria. Parthia included the area to the southwest of the Caspian Sea.

The Parthians ruled over the Persian plateau the next 400 years. They were militarily formidable and even challenged the Romans on numerous occasions for the control of the Near-East. Finally, a Persian prince from Fars (southern Iran from where their language Farsi gets its name) named Ardeshir I challenged and defeated the Parthian king Artabanus V in 224AD beginning a new dynasty in Iran known as the "Sassanian Dynasty" The Sassanians considered themselves the heirs of the Persian throne The Sassanian king Khosrow II came close to achieving the Sassanian dream of restoring the old Persian boundaries when Jerusalem fell to him and the Byzantine capitol of Constantinople was under his siege. Khosrow II, or Khosrow Parviz as he was better known, over-extended his army and over-taxed the people to the point that when the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-41AD) in a tactical move abandoned his besieged capital and sailed up the Black Sea to attack Iran from the rear, there was no resistance. Heraclius’s Byzantine army then marched through Mesopotamia and western Iran sacking the capitol and taking the palace. The Sassanians never recovered.

Internal dissension and a long brutal conflict with the Byzantines left Sassanian Persia prey for the Arabs. In 636AD the Arab Muslims swept into the Euphrates basin, and in a three day battle at Al-Qadissiyeh in present day Iraq, they defeated the last king of the Sassanians and soon the entire Iraq-Iran region fell to the Muslims. Since 636AD, the Mesopotamian near-east has been the strict domain of the Muslims. While various leaders have come and gone, the one thing that has been constant in Iran-Iraq has been the religious subjugation of the people to either the Shia or Sunni sect of Islam.

In 1501,. Shah Ismail Safavid established civil order in old Persia and together with the Shiite sect of Islam, which became the state religion, made Iran into a prosperous state, reaching its height of glory during the reign (1587–1629) of Shah Abbas (Abbas the Great). Abbas drove out the Portuguese colonialists who had established colonies on the Persian Gulf early in the 16th century. Shah Abbas also utilized trade relations with Great Britain to make Iran an economic success. However, the Safavid dynasty battled in continuous wars with neighboring Afghans which lasted until the advent of Aga Muhammad Khan.

Aga Muhammad Khan and his descendants ruled Iran from 1794 until 1925. This long period under the Khan dynasty saw Iran steadily lose territory to neighboring countries and falter under the increasing political pressure of European nations, in particular Czarist Russia. The discovery of oil in Iran in the early 1900s intensified the rivalry between Great Britain and Russia for control over the Iranian plateau region, and helped to make Iran a major factor in the world geo-political scheme. The British-Russian rivalry continued right through to World War I and resulted in an Anglo-Russian agreement that divided Iran into spheres of influence. In 1919, Iran made a trade agreement with Great Britain in which Britain formally affirmed Iran's independence. After Iranian recognition of the USSR in a treaty of 1921, the Soviet Union renounced Czarist imperialistic policies toward Iran, canceling all debts and concessions, and withdrawing its occupation forces from Iranian territory.

In 1921, Reza Khan, an Iranian army officer, effected a coup and established a military dictatorship. Reza Khan was subsequently elected hereditary Shah, thus founding the new Pahlevi dynasty of Iran, and establishing the Shah as Prime Minister of Persia. He implemented policies to create a westernized parliament in Iran, and finally in 1935, the government of Persia officially changed its name to Iran.

After the 1941 German invasion of the USSR, Iran quickly allied itself with the Allied forces, even welcoming British and American troops into Iran to handle the delivery of war supplies to the USSR to wage war against the German army. At the Tehran Conference of 1943, the United States, Great Britain, and the USSR, guaranteed the independence and territorial integrity of Iran. However, the USSR, dissatisfied with the refusal of the Iranian government to grant it oil concessions, fomented a revolt in the north which led to the 1945 establishment of the People's Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kurdish People's Republic, headed by Soviet-controlled leaders. When Soviet troops remained in Iran following WWII, Iran appealed to America and Great Britain for protection. The Soviets finally withdrew in 1946 and in 1947 Iran and the United States began a cooperation and development program to help Iran build its oil industry. Thus began the relationship between America and Iran.

In 1954, Iran allowed an international consortium of British, American, French, and Dutch oil companies to operate its oil facilities, with profits shared equally between Iran and the consortium. Iran established closer relations with the West and began receiving large amounts of military and economic aid from the United States until the late 1960s.

Starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, the Shah undertook a broad program designed to improve economic and social conditions. Land reform was a major priority. Although the voters of Iran overwhelmingly approved the Shah's extensive plan, it met grave resistance form the Muslim clergy. Although the Shah held close reins on the government as absolute monarch and moved toward some democratic reforms, a feud developed between the Shah and the Islamic Shiite clerics within Iran. Iran's pro-Western policies continued into the 1970s; however, opposition to such growing Westernization and secularization was strongly denounced by the Islamic clergy, headed by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had been exiled from Iran in 1964 . for instigating religious and political uprisings against the Shah. In 1979, he returned to Iran and led religious revolutionaries to the final overthrow of the Shah's government on Feb. 11, 1979. In March a nationwide referendum resulted in a massive vote in favor of the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed the next day, April 1, 1979, as the "first day of Allah's government" and assumed the title of "Imam" (highest religious rank in Shia Islam). The Ayatollah banned all western influences in the Iranian culture and mandated that a new Constitution be written to conform Iran into a Shiite Islamic Republic.

On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants under the Ayatollah’s direction seized the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 American hostages. Khomeini refused all appeals, and instigated an environment of hostility and agitation towards the United States, calling America “The Great Satan” The Carter Administration responded with an economic boycott and broke off all diplomatic relations with Iran, The hostage crisis lasted 444 days and was finally resolved on January 20, 1981. Nearly all the Khomeini conditions were met, including the unfreezing of nearly $8 billion in Iranian assets.

On September 22, 1980 Iraq invaded Iran commencing an eight-year war primarily fought over the disputed Shatt al Arab waterway that empties into the Persian Gulf. The Iraq-Iran war rapidly escalated producing an estimated 500,000 to one million casualties. Weapons of mass destruction (chemical and biological) were used by both countries. Khomeini rejected diplomatic initiatives and called for the overthrow of Iraq's President, Saddam Hussein. US government officials secretly visited Iran in 1986 to trade arms with the Iranians in the hopes of securing the release of American hostages being held in Lebanon. At that time, Iran was heavily involved in supporting, training and equipping the Shiite terrorists engaged against Israel in Lebanon. In fact, Hezbollah was the first terrorist cell to utilize the concept of suicide bombers, and with assistance from Iran, they plotted the murder of 283 American marines in a Beirut terrorist-suicide attack.

Iran, as the base of the Islamic Revolution, not only survived Khomeini's death in 1989 and the war with Iraq, but it has emerged to galvanize the Muslim world into forming its own block to both the eastern and western spheres of world dominance –a political block which now includes both Cuba and Venezuala. In 1997, Mohammed Khatami, a moderate liberal Muslim cleric, was elected President of Iran, which was widely seen as a reaction against the country's repressive religious and social policies and its lack of economic progress. Several European Union countries began renewing economic ties with Iran in the late 1990s. Tensions between Iran and the United States dramatically increased due to the rise to power in Iran of current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the current chief Muslim Imam, the Ayatollah Khamenei; men who bear much more resemblance to Hamaan than to Cyrus the great!

Born Mahmoud Saborjhian into a poor family in 1956, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the fourth of seven children. The family name Saborjhian means thread painter, which is a poor man's job, so the name was changed by his father to “Ahmadinejad,” which means “race of Muhammad.” Although often portrayed as “crazy” in the media, Ahmadinejad is highly intelligent, placing 130th out of 400,000 students when taking his university exams. He became politically active against the Shah in the 1970’s and may have actually been part of the American embassy overthrow in 1979. In 1986, Ahmadinejad became a senior member of Iran's elite Special Brigade of Revolutionary Guards after volunteering to fight in the war against Iraq. Seven years later, Ahmadinejad became the Adviser on Cultural Affairs to the Minister of Culture and Higher Education and was also named later that year, the Governor General of Ardabil Province where he remained as Governor until 1997 when he became the Mayor of Tehran, Iran’s capitol city. Ahmadinejad decided to run for president in 2005 against President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Using his youth and experience in the Iraq-Iran War to win over the newer Iranian generation, and he promised in his campaign to provide a monthly stipend to citizens. It was thought that the race was going to be a close one, but Ahmadinejad won with more than 61 percent of the vote. His popularity among the people increased even more when he began to take the expensive furniture out of the presidential palace to try to promote an image that he was one of the people. Soon, he began to put his conservative Islamic views into law by opposing free speech and arresting people for not dressing properly. Women who were not fully veiled were detained by police, and many men were arrested and executed without trial for both political and religious “crimes.” Soon internal opposition began against him. With the failing economy and on-going obvious human rights violations, the election in 2009 produced a record turnout and many predicted the end of his control. But Ahmadinejad was announced as the winner with 62 percent of the vote, a decision which sparked major protests. The protests eventually stopped after supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei supported the outcome and said the margin of victory was too large for it to be voter fraud. Since his re-election, Ahmadinejad has been bent on a quest to obtain nuclear weapons, a policy which has sparked international criticism as well as his many noted speeches which have called for the destruction of Israel, (although he never actually utters the word “Israel,” preferring rather to refer to the Jewish state as “the zionist entity” or “zionist regime.”

Ahmadinejad’s hatred of Israel and the US is no secret. Here it is on full display in his own words…

October 26, 2005 "Israel must be wiped off the map … The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world . . . The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of the war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land." (In an address to 4,000 students at a program titled, 'The World Without Zionists)

December 12, 2006 "Thanks to people's wishes and God's will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want…Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out" (Comments to Iran's Holocaust Conference)

November 13, 2006 "Israel is destined for destruction and will soon disappear"

Israel is "a contradiction to nature, we foresee its rapid disappearance and destruction."

October 19, 2006 "The Zionist regime is counterfeit and illegitimate and cannot survive"

(as quoted by Iranian state television)

August 6, 2006 "They (Israel) kill women and children, young and old. And, behind closed doors, they make plans for the advancement of their evil goals."

(as quoted by Khorasan Provincial TV)

August 4, 2006 "A new Middle East will prevail without the existence of Israel.

August 2, 2006 "Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented."

(as quoted by Iranian TV)

"Are they human beings?... They (Zionists) are a group of blood-thirsty savages putting all other criminals to shame."

(as quoted by Iranian TV)

July 16, 2006 “The Zionists think that they are victims of Hitler, but they act like Hitler and behave worse than Genghis Khan."

(as quoted by the Iranian News Agency)

July 13, 2006 "The Zionists and their protectors are the most detested people in all of humanity, and the hatred is increasing every day."

"The worse their crimes, the quicker they will fall."

"[Israel] has blackened the pages of history".

(as quoted by Iranian state television)

May 11, 2006 Israel is "a regime based on evil that cannot continue and one day will vanish."

(to a student rally in Jakarta, Indonesia)

April 24, 2006 ''We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live. Open the doors (of Europe) and let the Jews go back to their own countries."

(In a news conference held on April 24, 2006)

April 14, 2006 "The Zionist regime is an injustice and by its very nature a permanent threat. Whether you like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation. The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."

February 23, 2006 “These heinous acts are committed by a group of Zionists and occupiers that have failed. They have failed in the face of Islam's logic and justice . . . They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice . . . But be sure, you will not be saved from the wrath and power of the justice-seeking nations by resorting to such acts."

(In a speech broadcast on state television, where Ahmadinejad suggested that the bombing of a major Shiite shrine in Iraq by Sunni insurgents was plotted by Israel and the U.S. to divide Muslims.)

November 27, 2007 "It is impossible that the Zionist regime will survive. Collapse is in the nature of this regime because it has been created on aggression, lying, oppression and crime."

(As quoted by IRNA)

October 5, 2007 On Zionist control of the West:

"I would now like to ask Western governments to explain which one is right. Are they held captive [by the Zionists] or are they the puppet masters of the Zionists?"

"In both cases, they are accomplice to the crimes of the Zionist regime and they should know that they should be accountable for what they have done."

"They should know that if they are held captive by the Zionists and they do not dissociate themselves from them, they would soon be tried and punished in courts of justice by the powerful hands of nations."

On the Holocaust:

"After the Second World War, they created a scenario called 'pogrom against Jews.' All over Europe and the countries under Western rule, an anti-Jewish movement has been concocted. The climate of propaganda and psychological warfare on the one hand and on the other hand using the issue of ovens burning human beings, they have concocted a myth of deprivation and innocence for the Jews of Europe. They use this pretext of the innocence of Jews and the suffering of some Jews during the Second World War. Riding on the crest of a wave of anti-Jewish sentiments, they have laid the foundations for the Zionist regime.”

August 28, 2007 "Zionists are people without any religion. They are lying about being Jewish because religion means brotherhood, friendship and respecting other divine religions…

They are an organized minority who have infiltrated the world. They are not even a 10,000-strong organization."

(At a news conference in Tehran)

August 18, 2007 "The Zionist regime is the flag bearer of violation and occupation and this regime is the flag of Satan. …It is not unlikely that this regime be on the path to dissolution and deterioration when the philosophy behind its creation and survival is invalid." (Address to an international religious conference in Tehran)

June 3, 2007 "With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine . . . By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future."

(Speech, as quoted by the Fars News Agency)

March 21, 2007 "It is quite clear that a bunch of Zionist racists are the problem the modern world is facing today. They have access to global power and media centers and seek to use this access to keep the world in a state of hardship, poverty and grudge and strengthen their rule. The great nation of Iran is opposed to this inhuman trend. Of course, the Iranian nation will stick to its rightful stance. The Zionists and their supporters do not know that they are using failed approaches to take on human values, human civilization, nations and the great nation of Iran. Admitting the right of the dear Iranian nation and submitting to justice and the rule of law are the best way to salvation and the best way out of the deadlocks they have created for themselves."

(from a recorded New Year's message aired on Iranian television)

February 28, 2007 "The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan . . . Many Western governments that claim to be pioneers of democracy and standard bearers of human rights close their eyes over crimes committed by the Zionists and by remaining silent support the Zionists due to their hedonistic and materialistic tendencies."

(to a meeting of Sudanese Islamic scholars in Khartoum)

September 23, 2008 "The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gathers, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support"

"Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters….American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit." (Address to the United Nations General Assembly)

September 18, 2008 "I have heard some say the idea of Greater Israel has expired….I say that the idea of lesser Israel has expired, too."

"We have no problems with these people (Israelis) but they should leave the occupied territories, leave them to their genuine owners and get back to their countries and homes where they originally came from."

"The Holocaust is a lie and the real Holocaust is happening to the Palestinians."

"The Zionist regime (Israel) is going towards its final collapse after 60 years of aggression. The final solution would be a referendum on Palestine's future fate with the participation of all Palestinians, regardless of whether Muslims, Jews or Christians."

"Our nation has no problem with other nations, but as far the Zionist regime is concerned, we do not believe in an Israeli government or an Israeli nation."(Selected remarks at a press conference in Tehran, as quoted by news services)

August 23, 2008 "We will witness the dismantling of the corrupt regime (Israel) in the very near future." (Speech marking "World Mosque Week in Tehran, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency)

May 13, 2008 "This terrorist and criminal state (Israel) is backed by foreign powers, but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians." (Remarks at press conference in Tehran, as quoted by dpa)

May 8, 2008 "Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken."

"Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation.… (Israel) has reached the end like a dead rat after being slapped by the Lebanese." (Remarks on Israel's Independence Day, as quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency)

March 10, 2008 "Resistance is the only way to defeat the Zionists and their masters." (as quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency)

February 20, 2008 "The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast. … "[Israel] won support [from the other nations] which created it as a scarecrow, so as to keep the people of this area under control."

January 30, 2008 "I warn you to abandon the filthy Zionist entity, which has reached the end of the line. It has lost its reason to be and will sooner or later fall. The ones who still support the criminal Zionists should know that the occupiers' days are numbered. … Accept that the life of Zionists will sooner or later come to an end."

October 10, 2009 "The Zionist regime wants to establish its base upon the ruins of the civilizations of the region...The uniform shout of the Iranian nation is forever 'Death to Israel.'..." (As quoted by Fars News Agency)

September 18, 2009 "They (the Western powers) launched the myth of the Holocaust. They lied, they put on a show and then they support the Jews…. If as you claim the Holocaust is true, why can a study not be allowed? ... The pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie... a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim, and the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust…This claim is corrupt and the pretext is corrupt. This (the Israeli) regime's days are numbered and it is on its way to collapse. This regime is dying." (at the annual Al Quds Day rally in Tehran)

April 22, 2009 "Don't be afraid of those Zionists. They are on the verge of death. Their time has passed. Do not surrender your people to them…

"Don't you know the nature of the Zionists? Don't you know who the Zionists are? They came in order to take over our region in its entirety. At first, they said that they wanted [a country] from the Nile to the Euphrates. Once they got settled, they said that there had been a mistake, and that they wanted all the Islamic lands…

"Unless they are put in their place at the very beginning of their conspiracy and fitna, they will jeopardize the security of the whole world, they will jeopardize the security of the whole region… They want the entire world. At their very first step, you must crush their step, crush their leg, so that they do not dare to invade the Islamic lands" (Speech, carried by Iranian News Channel, IRINN. Source: MEMRI)

April 20, 2009 "After the Second World War, by exploiting the holocaust and under the pretext of protecting the Jews they [the West] made a nation homeless with military expeditions and invasion…they established the most aggressive, racist country in another territory, i.e. Palestine.

"The global Zionism is the complete symbol of racism, which with unreal reliance on religion has tried to misuse the religious beliefs of some unaware people and hide its ugly face… we should try to put an end to the misuse of international means by the Zionists and their supporters." (Remarks to the United Nations Durban Review Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, April 20, 2009).

January 28, 2009 "A brief review of the events after World War II shows that the Holocaust issue - with the dimensions they define for it - is an excuse to continue dominance and expansion of influence of the victors, especially America and Britain in the international arena."

"The illegal Zionist regime… has demanded blood money of some victims...and have used some of this money to establish a Zionist regime in the land of Palestine, and have used this excuse to attack Palestine and by killing and displacing the people from their motherland they have occupied their mother land and established a Zionist regime, which is tasked with the job of denying an Islamic power emerging to counter the West.

"The Holocaust is knitted together with liberal democracy. It is the claimants of liberal democracy who support the Holocaust logic and have sanctified it to the degree that no one dares questioning its sanctity.

"Today the Zionists command many centers of power, wealth and the world media and unfortunately they have enthralled many politicians and political parties….

"Also, do not forget that the Zionist network which has created the Holocaust discourse must be made known to the nations..." (Excerpts from a speech titled, "Holocaust, the Holy Lie of the West" at Sharif University in Tehran)

September 23, 2010 "This regime (Israel) which enjoys the absolute support of some western countries regularly threatens the countries in the region and continues publicly announced assassination of Palestinian figures and others, while Palestinian defenders and those opposing this regime are pressured, labeled as terrorists and anti Semites. All values, even the freedom of expression, in Europe and in the United States are being sacrificed at the altar of Zionism."

(Address to United Nations General Assembly) September 2, 2010 "The Zionists are groups of hypocrite racists who have been operating under the pretext of following Jewish religion principles." (Address at a rally marking International Quds Day).

August 7, 2010 No "Zionists" were killed in the World Trade Center, because "one day earlier they were told not to go to their workplace."

"They announced that 3,000 people were killed in this incident, but there were no reports that reveal their names. Maybe you saw that, but I did not."

"What was the story of September 11? During five to six days, and with the aid of the media, they created and prepared public opinion so that everyone considered an attack on Afghanistan and Iraq as (their) right." (At a televised conference in Tehran)

March 11, 2011 "See what has become of Israel. They [the West] gathered the most criminal people in the world and stationed them in our region with lies and fabricated scenarios. They waged wars, committed massive aggression… and made millions of people homeless…Today, it is clear that Israel is the most hated regime in the world… It is not useful for its masters [the West] anymore. They are in doubt now. They wonder whether to continue spending money on this regime or not…But whether they want it or not, with God's grace, this regime will be annihilated and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen."

February 25, 2010 "If the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation…With Allah's help the new Middle East will be a Middle East without Zionists and Imperialists." (At a news conference in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.)

December 13, 2011 "[The US administration is under control of] Zionists whose survivals are tied to war and bloodshed and plundering the wealth of other nations. Foreigners are trying to promote their dominance over the region and save the Zionist regime. They intend to break down the resistance frontiers of the nations of the region against the Zionist regime. Therefore, through foreign pressure and increasing conflicts, they try not to let the Syrian government and Syrian nation cooperate in solving their problems … Those who accuse Iran of producing an atomic bomb are the same people who ruled the United States in the dark days of colonialism, and they exploited the indigenous Americans and are currently systematically plundering the wealth of other nations … The US and its allies do not believe in democracy and prefer their own benefit to human rights. The dominant powers want to block Iran's oil flow or take control of it, but they will never achieve this." (Interview with Venezuelan TV)

September 22, 2011 "Who used the mysterious September 11 incident as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq, killing, injuring, and displacing millions in two countries with the ultimate goal of bringing into its domination the Middle East and its oil resources? ... If some European countries still use the Holocaust, after six decades, as the excuse to pay fine or ransom to the Zionists, should it not be an obligation upon the slave masters or colonial powers to pay reparations to the affected nations? ... By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military action … Last year, when the need to form a fact-finding team to undertake a thorough investigation concerning the hidden elements involved in September 11 incident was brought up; an idea also endorsed by all independent governments and nations as well as by the majority in the United States, my country and myself came under pressure and threat by the government of the United States. Instead of assigning a fact-finding team, they killed the main perpetrator and threw his body into the sea. Would it not have been reasonable to bring to justice and openly bring to trial the main perpetrator of the incident in order to identify the elements behind the safe space provided for the invading aircraft to attack the twin world trade towers? Why should it not have been allowed to bring him to trial to help recognize those who launched terrorist groups and brought wars and other miseries into the region? ... They view Zionism as a sacred notion and ideology. Any question concerning its very foundation and history is condemned by them as an unforgivable sin. However they endorse and allow sacrileges and insult against beliefs of other divine religions." (Address to U.N. General Assembly)

August 26, 2011 "The Zionist regime's establishment was based on numerous deceptions and lies and one of the biggest lies was the Holocaust. "On the one hand we have the Zionist regime as the global axis of thieves and murderers, and on the other hand we have the Quds Day which is the axis of those seeking freedom, justice and end of suppression." (Address at Tehran University on Quds Day)

April 20, 2011 "They say they want to create a new and greater Middle East under the U.S. and the Zionist regime's (Israel) dominance. I am telling you that a new and greater Middle East will be established without the existence of the U.S. and the Zionist regime…. In recent years, regional nations have realized that the United States and the Zionist regime are their main enemies…. Arrogant powers try to deceive nations. They have put the Iranian nation under pressure to oblige it to retreat but the resistance of Iranians and their steadfastness has led to their (the West's) defeat...." (Address to a large crowd in the Iranian city of Sanandaj)

January 3, 2012 "Zionists, who have no faith in religion or even God, now claim piety and intend to take away the Islamic identity of the Holy Quds. This ridiculous move is in fact the continuation of the colonialist polices of oppressors, which will not save the Zionist regime, but take the regime closer to the endpoint of its existence."

(Speech to a delegation from the Turkish-Palestinian Parliamentary Friendship Group)

This is the man who now controls Iran. He is clearly under the control of the “Prince of Persia!” There are those who say, “Why not let Iran obtain nuclear weapons?” The above statements answer that question with startling clarity! What you don’t know is this looooong list above constitutes only about half of the published statements in which Ahmadinejad openly tells us what is on his heart. Those who remember their history know that when a genocidal dictator tells us what he is going to do, the world should take it very seriously. Unfortunately Americans tend to forget their history. Israel, on the other hand, does not. (Just a little trivia: the word “Iran” literally means “the land of the Aryans” or “the Aryan nation”) Ahmadinejad sees himself as the leader of the “master race” and pious adherent the master religion that will “dominate and destroy all other religions though Jihad.” (Islamic prophecy) He see Jews through the lens of Islamic written traditions (the recorded words, sayings and actions of Mohammed and his descendants) which de-humanize Jews to the extent that they are portrayed literally “the cursed offspring of apes and pigs” who need to be destroyed. As Jesus said in John 16:2, “Atime is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God!”

So, what will Iran, and Israel do next?

Recently I read a report written just last month by retired US Army four-star General Barry McCaffrey in his present role as military analyst for NBC detailing Iran’s current capabilities and speculating on their next moves. You can read it here:

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/images/pdf/mccaffrey-nbc-iran-nukes-and-oil-january-122012.pdf

In this report Gen. McCaffrey states his belief that Iran will very soon have nuclear capability and that nothing will deter them from moving forward to that end. He also states that the Iranian military has the capability today to attack and sink a US carrier in the gulf and shut down the strait of Hormuz, effectively bottling up 17% of the worlds oil, and (interestingly) the majority of that 17% flows to China who buys fully half of its oil from Iran. He believes Israel will have to strike Iran soon (next 3months) to keep Ahmadinejad from getting and using atomic weapons against them. I encourage you to read this report in its entirety.

Finally, (did you think I was never going to wrap up!!) let me return to where I began… the Prince of Persia. In Rev. 12, the commander over this prince, Satan himself, reveals his intentions: enraged, he “spews out water from his mouth” to take her (Israel) away with the torrent, thwarted, he goes off “to make war against her.” (Rev. 12:13-17) The “Prince” (the demonic spiritual principality) and the president (Ahmadinejad) are reading from the same sheet of music and the devil is the conductor! When Ahmadinejad says that god (allah) has given him a divine calling to destroy Israel, he is not deranged, or schizophrenic, he is being truthful! The god of Islam, (i.e. Satan, the “dragon” of Rev. 12), really has called for that very action, through the Koran, and the Hadiths, which Ahmadinejad considers to be the holy words of his god.

Therefore when Gen. McCaffery says that “nothing will deter Iran from pursuing and using nuclear weapons” he means nothing! In the old days of the cold-war when the US and the USSR possessed thousands of nuclear warheads, what kept both sides from using them was a policy called “mutually assured destruction”. That is to say, if one side used their nukes they could be assured that the other side would respond in kind and both sides would be destroyed. This was a powerful and effective deterrent, and still is…. to anyone who wants to live! But it holds no power whatsoever over those who are willing, and even prefer, to die - like the 9-11 high-jackers and all other jihadist suicide bombers. For them, “destruction” is martyrdom – the fast track to glory and paradise! Ahmadinejad is one such bomber, he is only waiting to make a bigger bang. And if death and destruction won’t deter you, so-called “sanctions” certainly won’t!

Let me be clear, Iran wants war with Israel. They do not have the ground force capability to invade, nor to launch an aerial or sea-borne conventional attack which could achieve their stated goal of “wiping Israel off the map.” Even though Israel has an estimated 100-400 tactical nuclear weapons, (a fact which has never been officially acknowledged, but is widely known in intelligence circles), Iran knows that, due to Israel’s small geographic size, two or three strategically placed initial atomic explosions would accomplish their goal: killing the vast majority of Jews and destroying Israel. Even if Israel responds with nukes and kills millions of Iranian citizens, the current Iranian leadership views this as an acceptable price to pay. In the famous words of Golda Maier, “There will be no peace in the Middle east until our enemies love their children more than they hate the Jews.” And that is not the case. As Osama bin Laden put it when asked to describe the differences between the two sides in the war, “They love life, we love death!” These words also reveal the controlling spirits behind the scenes!

Of course we know from the Bible that Israel is still there at the end, so this plan of Iran’s will fail…but how?

Here’s my list of possible senarios:

(First let me say emphatically that I DON”T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!) But having said that, here’s what I think might happen, listed in my order of probability)

1. Israel takes military action against Iran to cripple its nuclear capability. What results is a devastating regional war in the middle-east having tremendous word-wide economic impact, at the least. At the worst, the war draws in may others and becomes a global conflict. Either way, it will end when the Anti-Christ arises and forms the “covenant with many” spoken of by Daniel.

2. The current leadership (Ahmadinejad and Khameni) in Iran are deposed through internal division or opposition which could be ginned-up from foreign sources - either western or Saudi. This will delay things – but we know that in the end, Persia will be there to join the Anti-Christ in the Ez. 38 coalition of nations that come against Israel.

2b. Interestingly, Syria is not mentioned in the Ezekiel 38 group. Isaiah 17:1 predicts the end of Syria and the destruction of Damascus, leaving it an uninhabitable ruin in one day!. Since Damascus has never yet been destroyed and is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, that prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. So what will happen to Syria / Damascus? Current events in Syria may render them a non-player in the future. And, perhaps (wild-guess?) an errant Iranian nuke falls on Syria en-route to Israel?

3. Russia, China and other non-western world players intervene to pressure Iran to back off their nuclear ambitions. This could only happen if Ahmadinejad and Khameni are not in the picture.

4. Some supernatural / natural event destroys Iran’s nuclear capability. Most likely: a massive earthquake.

5. Iran attacks Israel with nukes but they fail to hit their targets, fail to explode, or otherwise fail to destroy Israel.

6. Other unforeseen events that are game changers.

So there you have it! Congratulations to anyone who managed to read all the way through!

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

OCCUPY…. God-street

2012-02-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I preached through a sermon series entitled “Why Israel Matters… to You!” in which we looked at the scriptural basis for “Christian zionism” and the everlasting covenants made by God with His chosen people, topics which are very important in our understanding of not only current events, but also for gaining insight into and understanding of our own blood-covenant relationship with God through Jesus. From time to time, most Christians (including me) wrestle with some deep theological question about their salvation and their covenant standing with God. Some of these questions are doubts raised by the “accuser of the brethren” like: “Am I really saved?” while other questions arise from faith-filled study of scripture as we desire to plumb the depth of grace and gain the peace an assurance that comes from His Spirit witnessing with our spirit that we are truly His child! Perhaps most troubling are the questions that arise from our experiences and observations of other people we know and love that we once identified as being members of God’s family but who no longer serve Him. When we see people who seemed to be very sincere in their faith and very secure in their salvation fall away from God into continuing sinful lifestyles or false teachings, we are forced to ask hard questions like “Were they really saved?” or “Can a truly saved person lose their salvation?” Throughout the ages, people have formulated doctrines to answer these serious questions, and many are very satisfied with their “positions” regarding them. I will not try and debate any of them here today. What I do want to do is perhaps add some insight gained from the “Israel” study that helped me with my individual theological wrestling match.

While studying a book on Israel, I came across this line ..."The ownership of the land is unconditional, but the occupancy of the land is conditional." In other words, ever since the day God gave His word to Abraham (Gen 12:7) the land has been, and will always be, "owned" by the Jews, Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob (Israel). They didn’t do anything to get it! Their “ownership” is totally a result of God's unconditional promise to them as heirs of the covenant. However, their occupancy was conditional: they had to obey God and stay in faith, not worshipping false gods, etc. When they failed to “keep the faith” they were "put out" for a while, sometimes centuries! But God always brings them back since the land is really theirs. (Of course, the individual people who were “put out” often died in exile, and it was only their descendants who actually returned to claim the promise.)

I began to think about how that principle applies to our salvation, inheritance as saints, our identity - our “son-ship” as heirs of the new covenant. We didn’t (and can’t) do anything to get it or earn it or keep it. Our son-ship is unconditional based God’s grace expressed in the new covenant and received by faith. But the occupancy of our son-ship is up to us. Think about the prodigal son - he never stopped being a son, but he did choose to be out of his fathers' blessing, protection, and benefits; in effect he was not occupying his "son-ship." Instead of using his position in positive pursuits he squandered his inheritance on activities that brought disgrace to his father’s house and eventually almost destroyed him. Finally, he comes to his senses and returns home with a plan to be a servant, only to be royally welcomed and completely restored as a son! This may be why Paul writes that an unrepentant Christian in the church should "handed over to Satan for a time," (i.e. lose occupancy) so that perhaps he might gain the same revelation that the prodigal son got while in the pig-pen and return to his rightful position in God’s household.

Now the "hypothetical" question that everyone wants to ask is: What would happen to that fellow if during the time he was unrepentant, living in sin and "handed over to Satan" - if during that time of “non-occupancy”- he died? What would be his eternal outcome? I can not answer that question with surety. (Although people from both sides of this doctrinal debate will say without hesitation that they absolutely know the right answer!) What I do know is this: the Judge of the whole earth will judge righteously! Can I say this? It might not be important for me to know the answer to that question. Instead, what is important for me (us?) to know is this. God is faithful. He is faithful to His covenants. In Christ I am an heir. Through Him, I own all the benefits of son-ship. As a human being created in God’s image, I have been given freewill. I exercised that will when I chose to agree with God about my sinfulness and my need for salvation. Long before I made that choice, in His sovereignty, God chose me and paid for my sins on the cross and then drew me to Himself by grace and enabled me to hear and receive the gospel. I then chose to believe in Jesus’ sacrificial death and victorious resurrection and rely solely on His grace to save me. In that moment I became a son. Since becoming a son, I have not lost my freewill. I, like the prodigal son and the Israelites of old, can choose to reject God’s ways and spurn the occupancy of the covenant promise and thus live outside of it even though it is mine. I do not know the full eternal ramifications of what that choice would bring, but I do know I do not want to live outside my son-ship… permanently or temporarily. I want to both own and occupy my position as a son continually! So I choose to live by faith and walk by faith, which is expressed and revealed by trust in, and obedience to, God.

Perhaps thinking through this with me will help someone. On the other hand, maybe I just muddied up the waters for you. I hope not. I hope you, like me, have decided that what is important is not a doctrinal “side” but a positional reality; not a hypothetical discussion but a real relationship. So whatever background you came from, or wherever you find yourself today, anchor into the unchanging faithfulness of God. If you are son at home… stay home and enjoy your son-ship! If you are a son starving in a far-country pig pen… come home! If you have never been a son, all you need to do to become one is believe and receive!

Occupy ….what you own!

Wake Up and Smell the Rat

2011-09-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Two big things in NY at the UN this week affecting Israel and thereby the whole world:
A. the "Durban 2 Conference on Racism," where Israel will be villified and branded as the root of all evil. and
B. a vote in UN Security Council to grant the Palestinian Authority a new status in the UN as an "observer state" (which is the same status that the vatican has) which is a big step towards the UN granting the PA full statehood, a vote on which is being pushed for 2012. (This just in... The Palestinian Authority this week announced that on Friday, September 23rd it will formally submit its bid for full membership in the United Nations. A General Assembly vote would likely go overwhelmingly in favor of the Palestinians.)
All this to pressure Isael to give over more land, (e.g. the West bank, Golan Hts., Gaza, and East Jerusalem... they already gave up the Sinai), in exchange for "peace."
Some notes on these so-called "land for peace deals"
1.Where was Abraham when God said , “To your offspring I will give this land?”
Shechem/Nablus (Gen. 12:6)

2. Where are Abraham and Sarah buried?
Kiriath Arba/Hebron (Gen 23:1,17)

3. Where are Isaac and Rebekah buried?
Kiriath Arba/Hebron (Gen. 49:29-33)

4. Where are Jacob and Leah buried?
Kiriath Arba/Hebron (Gen. 49:29-33)

5.Where is Rachel buried?
Bethlehem (Gen. 35:19)

6. Where was Jacob when he had the dream of angels climbing and descending on a ladder and heard God say "I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying?'
Luz/Bethel/Beitin (Gen. 28:19) Jacob also heard God re-affirm his promise “I will give this land to your descendants “ at this same location many years later. (Gen. 35:12-14)

7. Where is Joseph’s tomb?
Nablus (Joshua 44:32) He died and was embalmed in Egypt (Gen. 50:26) 400 years later, Israel comes out of Egypt with Joseph’s bones (Ex.13:19) and they bury him here 50 years later!

8. On which two mountains did the returning descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob make the covenant of Blessings and Curses after the Exodus?
Mt. Gerazim & Ebal (Dt. 29-30)

9. What modern city is located between these two mountains?
Shechem/Nablus

10. Where is the Covenant confirmed to Joshua with the words “So, I give you this land?”
Shechem/ Nablus (Josh. 24:13)

Now, Which of these locations were granted by the U.N. as part of the 1948 establishment of Israel? Answer: NONE! All were gained by Israel in the 6-day war and all are in the land that they are now being pressured to relinquish - the land that God explicitly says is theirs.

The prophet Joel speaks of a time of coming judgment on the nations of the world sue to their treatment of Israel in accordance with His everlasting covenant with Abraham to "bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" (Gen . 12:3) "I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land." (Joel 3:2)

Note the final phrase ....judgment is coming due the "nations" ... "dividing God's land !"

...wakey wakey

.

What Do I Really Know?

2011-08-10T11:11:00.001-07:00

Life gets complicated, doesn’t it? From time to time, (in fact very often!) things get so….

a.) Hectic; b.) Overwhelming; c.) Hopeless; d.) All of the above… that you just want to scream and pull your hair out! Well, maybe that’s a little over-dramatic, but you know what I mean. Everyday life can grind you down: babies crying, bills to be paid, kids going off to college, even 40 days of 100 degree temps can get pretty overwhelming. Then there are those “crisis” moments when it truly seems the world is collapsing all around you – to use the words of the psalmist, when “the mountains tremble and the oceans roar” or when I feel as though “I am sinking into the depths of hell, the cords of death are wrapped around me dragging me down!” The world around us is constantly in a state of panic, and not without good reason: wars, financial meltdowns, political turmoil, strikes, lock-outs, etc. etc. etc. Sometimes terrible feelings of fear, doom and panic can engulf us too. When a loved one dies; when a diagnosis of cancer comes; when a spouse announces that they are leaving; when a false accusation threatens to destroy your family; when a bleak reality stares you in the face that seems to leave no acceptable options – in times like these, what we need to ask ourselves is this: What do I really know? What are the BIG truths that never change that can sustain me now? The answers to these questions are what give the believer hope when the world has none. So what do you really know, not just think, or wish for, or agree with, but really, really, in the marrow of your bones know?

Do you know that…

God is in control; that He loves you and will never leave you and that His plan is best?

Jesus proved His love by dying on the cross for you and paying the price for your sins?

Because of what he did, you are God’s child, chosen, dearly loved and fully forgiven?

You died with Him and have been raised to new life in Him?

You are a new creation - God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works?

He is more than able to do far above anything we could ever ask, think or imagine?

We have peace with God and are seated with him in the Heavenly realms?

He has given us authority over all the power of the evil one?

We will live forever with Him and when we see Him we shall be like Him?

He is coming soon to redeem all things, establish His kingdom and make all things new?

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:4-7)

David, version 5.0

2011-04-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

This month is my birthday and I am turning 50 or as I prefer to say, Five-Oh! (You know, like “Book ‘em Dano”) I guess that makes me “middle aged.” (Especially since I prefer the old McGarrett to the new one!) At least it used to. I am quite certain that “middle age” starts much later now than a generation ago! According to popular culture, I’m ripe for what is known as a “mid-life” crisis. That’s when you start wearing open-collared disco shirts that reveal large gold medallions, (that certainly sounds like a crisis to me!), trade in your SUV for a convertible coupe and begin trying in every way possible to re-capture your youth by re-living your glory days, (even if you really never had any!) A mid-life crisis is the result of a violent fellow named “Self Evaluation” who inevitably comes around during this stage of life to kick you in the stomach with the cold hard fact that you haven’t accomplished the things you always thought you would and hit you over the head with the thought that now, it may just be too late.

But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. Moses was 80 when God called him to lead Israel to the promised land and Joshua was probably about the same age when he kicked the Canaanites out of it. Caleb was the oldest guy in Canaan and he asked for and got the toughest assignment. With God, every day is an adventure! And with Him, all things are possible! So I probably don’t need to get a gold chain or trade in anything, (although I did get a different truck last month …and it was gold….hmmmm,) I just need to trade in worldly thinking (caterpillar identity) for godly thinking (butterfly identity.) Instead of listening to Mr. Evaluation, who I have a sneaking suspicion is really a clever disguise for the devil, why not listen to God? He says about me, (and you) that He has made us “competent” as ministers of the new covenant; He encourages us not to throw away our confidence and He promises us that we can do all things in His strength. When you serve the Lord, you never come to the point when you are useless. You can always pray, always sing, (even if only in your heart!) always smile, and always encourage someone else with your story. I may have more days already in the book than I have left, but so what! I am connected to the timeless One who is more than able to do exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond, all I can ask, think or imagine according to His power that is at work…. in me.

What’s Going On Over There?

2011-03-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

As most of you are aware, there is a big shake-up taking place within the Muslim world right now, with armed insurrections having taken place or currently happening in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, and Bahrain. Smaller protests which have not yet exploded into major violence have happened in almost every Middle-Eastern Islamic nation including Lebanon, the U.A.E., Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Many are wondering just what is happening “over there?”

Unfortunately, those in power in Washington, Moscow and other more “civilized” power-centers of the world are struggling to understand what is happening too! That is because they are looking at these events, as they do all world events, with a non-Biblical, non-Christian, irreligious world view. They do not believe in God, the devil, or demonic forces, nor do they understand the power of religious fervor and the certainly do not understand the true nature of Islam. They do not acknowledge the divided factions within these various Islamic countries or the driving spiritual forces behind them. They prefer to look at conflicts through the outdated cold-war lens of capitalism vs. communism. They size up Islamic regimes as either being pro-U.S. or pro-Russia, as though these were the two sides of the larger battle. Some, like George W. Bush did, see the conflict as good vs. evil, a stance for which he was roundly mocked. While his understanding was a step closer to the truth, he miss-identified “good” as freedom and democracy, and “evil” as brutal totalitarian dictatorships. Granted, brutal dictatorships are in fact evil, but freedom is not necessarily good.

Think back to the founding of the United States. Our fathers came here looking for freedom, but when it was achieved it was a societal freedom framed by a constitutional rule of law and hemmed with the individually-imposed boundaries that come from a citizenry devoted to Jesus Christ and Biblical morality. Without true Biblical morality guiding the people, freedom is only a freeway to anarchy. Picture a soda pop bottle, capped and full, but shaken until the pressure inside is about to burst. When the bottle opener comes to provide “freedom,” what happens next is neither beneficial to the contents of the bottle nor anyone standing nearby!

Oppressed peoples suffering from lifetimes of suppressed freedoms are the pressurized soda pop in my metaphor and whether it be the pressurized people themselves or the U.S., the U.N., or N.A.T.O., acting as a bottle opener, once it starts to spew, it becomes apparent that there it can not be bottled up again. In reality, freedom is the unrestricted ability to follow the underlying morality. In his case, it is not based on the teachings of Christ, but of Mohammed, bringing a freedom to kill, steal and destroy one’s enemies, a freedom to take vengeance, a freedom to lie and deceive in order to gain an advantage - a freedom that will lead to an evil greater that the one it replaced.

Earlier this year, before the fall of Mubarak, I wrote an article called “The Jasmine Revolt.” (http://davidacrisp.blogspot.com / Jan. 26th) In it, I described what I thought would happen next based on recent past history. What I saw happening then in Tunisia reminded me of the events just prior to the fall of the Soviet Union and the break-up of the communist bloc in Eastern Europe. I predicted that the so-called “Jasmine revolt” would spread, just like the Romanian overthrow of communism in 1989 led to the fall of the Berlin wall, and engulf places like Egypt and Libya, and so it has. Using that same model, one can also understand what is happening now and predict what will happen next. Let’s look back just 20 years. When the iron boot of Soviet domination was taken from the neck of Yugoslavia, that country devolved into tribal, racial, and religious warfare. Yugoslavia became Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia. Centuries old factional hatreds suppressed by the Russian Bear remained smoldering just under the surface for decades. Then, when the fresh wind of “freedom” blew through and the yoke of Soviet domination was taken away, those embers sprang into a raging fire of killing, maiming, raping and savagery that shocked the world. The only thing that stopped it was military intervention by the UN, led primarily by the U .S. That same lesson was re-taught to us in the 2nd Persian Gulf War with Iraq and in Afghanistan. Getting rid of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein was the easy part, trying to keep the unleashed factions from killing each other after the rulers were gone was the hard part and only somewhat successfully accomplished because of our ten-year long commitment to nation building there -a strategy which the U.S. is no longer willing or able to employ elsewhere. What happened in Bosnia in the 90’s and Iraq in this decade is about to happen again, this time on a much, much larger scale across the Middle East. The removal of Ben-Ali from Tunisia, Mubarak from Egypt, and Kaddafi from Libya, may bring freedom, but it will not be a “good” freedom - and this time the U.S. will not be able to stop the wild-fire of violence. Now multiply this scenario by several more nations across the region and you will begin to see the ominous dark clouds gathering there.

What everyone seems to be missing is that within these Middle Eastern nations are the same smoldering factional hatreds that erupted in Bosnia, and Iraq. The bottle cap is being pried off by NATO airstrikes and the mess is about to start. The factions are tribal, sectarian, racial, and religious. The only thing that temporarily unites them from time to time is hatred for the “the little Satan,” Israel, and “the great Satan,” the Untied States. But beneath all that is this: “You shall name him Ishmael, for he will be a wild-donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility and hatred towards all his brothers.” (Gen. 16:11b-12) These are the words of the Angel of the LORD to Hagar regarding her son Ishmael. Not a curse, but a revelation, a revealing of the future. That future is now present to us.

Within each of the Muslim nations now in turmoil are two major factions: the two major branches of Islam, Sunni and Shia. Within these are smaller sects, like the Allawite sect of Shia Islam adhered to by Syrian President Bashar Assad. Most Sunnis consider Shias to be heretics! The Allawites are sometimes thought by Sunnis to be further away from the true teaching of Mohammed than Christians and Jews! Within Syria, 74 % or the people are Sunni but the rulers are Allawite Shia, as well as about 15% of the population. Over the centuries these groups have fought and killed and slaughtered and oppressed each other. Then there is the racial division within Middle Eastern Islam: the Persians, led by Iran, and the Arabs, led by the Saudi Arabia, as well as many other various racial and tribal sub-groups which have been persecuted and subjugated by one another over the years. The hatred of these groups for one another is only outdistanced by their hatred of Christians and Jews. What will “freedom” give these groups? An opportunity to kill each other, and the rest of the world will not be unscathed. Fifty percent of all the world’s oil-reserves lie within these nations- and all that oil traverses through the Persian Gulf, the body of water that geographically separates these future combatants. What is shaping up is a battle royal between a host of people-groups falling mainly into two camps: Shia and Sunni, led respectively by Iran and Saudi Arabia. What is at stake is nothing less than control over the world’s oil reserves, and Islam itself.

Let’s look at some specific situations within some of these nations.

Just off shore, a few miles south of Kuwait, lies the tiny island nation of Bahrain. Bahrain is about ¼ the size of Rhode Island, 28 miles long and 10 miles wide .But this tiny country may play a big role in what happens next. It is as a nation of 80% Shia ruled by a Sunni king, who happens to be best friends with the rulers of Saudi Arabia. Bahrain is also the home to the U.S. navy’s 5th fleet and 30,000 American service personnel. While Bahrain is majority Shia ruled by a Sunni king, (a recipe for trouble both here, and in reverse, in Syria), Saudi Arabia is, by contrast, majority Sunni and ruled by Sunni King. In Saudi Arabia though, Sunnis are a majority only in the western regions. In the oil-rich east, across the gulf from Iran, Shia are the majority. In addition to these potentially troubling issues, Saudi King Abdullah is considered to be a “liberal” Sunni while most of his Sunni subjects are of the very conservative “Wahhabi” variety.

The Royal House of Saud, long a U.S. ally, (a relationship that makes them even more vulnerable to revolution right now), are very worried about the “Jasmine Revolution” sweeping across the Islamic world. When protests began in their back yard in Bahrain, King Abdullah saw what could happen to him. Last week he sent 2000 Arabian troops to Bahrain to bolster the monarchy there. This move has angered many; especially President Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollahs in Iran who are jumping up and down to see Sunni monarchs deposed and be replaced by “democracies” in Shia majority lands. Iran even claims Bahrain as its rightful territory. Again appealing to recent history, we can find similar rhetoric employed by Saddam before invading Kuwait, and Hitler before invading Austria. If Bahrain falls into rebel hands it will undoubtedly have a negative impact on U.S. ability to affect matters in the region. But with the U.S. fleet there and King Abdullah’s soldiers in place, I think the King of Bahrain is safe…. for now. I do not think Iran will invade Bahrain. Instead, Iran will continue to bide its time, letting the Jasmine Revolution do its bidding until the Iranian nuclear weapons programs have succeeded in building a bomb.

Meanwhile, Iran has an interesting choice to make in Syria. Just after the fall of Mubarak, Egypt gave permission for two Iranian warships to pass through the Suez Canal. (This gives us an interesting glimpse into the minds of those now in power in Egypt.) Those Iranian ships were headed to Syria loaded with men and supplies to build a deep water port. On March 1,st Iran announced plans to build and man a permanent naval base in Syria, about which one Iranian Admiral predicted, “This will be a development that cripples Israel.” Ahmadinejad has been a supporter of Assad, (both of them are Shia, even though Assad’s brand of Allawite Shia Islam, is thought by Ahmadinejad to be a cult), but now that Assad’s government may be in danger of falling, Ahmadinejad must make a decision. He could ride to Assad’s rescue and firm up that alliance or leave him hanging out to dry and support the rebels, giving Ahmadinejad greater influence with the Syrian majority and keeping his supply chain open to Hezbollah, the dominant political and military force in Lebanon to the south (another country split by factions.) My guess is that Ahmadinejad will wait to see how it is going to turn out in Syria, then throw Iranian support to the side that seems to have the upper hand, Assad or the rebels. Either way he will strengthen his position.

What will be the end result of these revolutions and how far off is it? Good questions. It appears to me that conditions are ripe for a mass chaos to engulf the Middle East and even perhaps a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, or even a full-blown war between the two. A war, which if it comes, will find America on the wrong side- especially if Iran has the bomb. Not that we should support the Iranians! God forbid! But neither should we support Saudi Arabia. The House of Saud is destined for a fall. I believe the King of Saudi Arabia may be the harlot of Rev. 17 riding on the back of the Beast (Islam); the beast eventually hating and devouring her. (v.16)

The ten-horned beast-kingdom ridden by the harlot in Rev. 17 is none other than the ten-toed kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2, the final earthly kingdom before Christ’s millennial reign; the kingdom ruled by the Anti-Christ. This kingdom is described as a “mixed” or “divided” kingdom of partly iron and partly clay. This passage was originally written in Aramaic. What is the Aramaic word for “mixed?”....the word is “arab!” Listen to how Daniel describes this final kingdom in Daniel 2:41-43: “Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.” Sounds like a kingdom made from Shia and Sunni to me! When it comes to be, it will turn its eyes and its claws towards Jerusalem. (Ez. 38-39)

What is happening right now with the “Jasmine Revolution” is the fore-runner of this final kingdom. The dissolution of the current geo-political national structures in the Middle East is going to bring about a Shia vs. Sunni, Persian vs. Arabian, inter-Islamic war. This structural change will also nullify peace treaties that had been previously made with Israel, for example: the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, since the countries which made those treaties will have substantively changed. In the end, there will arise a leader to unite Islam (Shia and Sunni - iron and clay) and make a “covenant with many” to stop the fighting and enter into peace with Israel. This man is who both Ahmadinejad, and interestingly enough this week, Louis Farrakhan have announced is now on earth: the Mahdi, the 12th Imam. This man is the Anti-Christ. Where will he come from? Look to Turkey, the only Middle-Eastern Islamic nation which will not be caught up in the aforementioned inter-Islamic war. Turkey fits all the scriptural prophecies about his origins, and is being touted by western governments as the only “stable” Islamic nation that can bring peace in the region.

When ? I do not know, but I believe the events we are now witnessing in the Muslim world are ushering in the conditions for his arrival.

Source articles:

http://www.islamimehfil.com/topic/7294-saudi-arabia-fears-of-a-shiite-uprising/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/unitedarabemirates/7521219/Naval-battle-between-UAE-and-Saudi-Arabia-raises-fears-for-Gulf-security.html

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/bahrain-u-s-backs-saudi-military-intervention-conflict-with-iran/

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=213175

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703784004576220690229874246.html

http://debka.com/article/20718/

http://debka.com/article/20803/

http://debka.com/article/20770/

http://debka.com/article/20782/

http://weaselzippers.us/2011/03/27/syria-muslim-brotherhood-playing-crucial-role-in-sunni-uprising-against-allawite-dominated-assad-regime/?amp

Daddy!

2011-03-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a couple of my friends (yes, I mean Facebook) shared a link to a video which I almost didn’t watch. I thought I knew what it was about and I have seen stuff like that before and I didn’t really have time, etc. etc. (I’ll post the link at the end of my blog but I want to talk about it before you see it.) I did watch it. And it was good. But what happened later was better. The Lord began to teach me some things using those touching scenes that has my spirit all stirred up.

The video is a montage of clips featuring soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to surprise their families. It gets to you on a lot of levels and tugs at all your heart strings! It combines elements of all the things that make us emotional, so don’t expect to watch it without a tear or two. It’s a great video, even if you just take it at face value. It makes us thankful for family and for our soldiers and for the sacrifices they all make…but there is something more to see here; something spiritual and eternally significant.

I was struck by the reactions of the kids when they saw their Dad. First, shock and awe, disbelief and dumbfoundedness. Then, when the reality sinks in that this guy standing there in front of them really is their Daddy, everything - and I mean everything and everybody around them - shrinks to utter insignificance. They drop and immediately forget everything that they were doing, things that just one second ago seemed very important: baseball, volleyball, school, their friends. The things of earth grow strangely dim, as it were, in the light of his face. Nothing is even close to remotely being in the same zip-code as one overriding thought and emotion: “That’s my Daddy! My Daddy is home! My Daddy is here to get me! Then, what comes next is a run-as-fast-as-I-can-to-get-to-you-jump-in-your-arms-and-hug-so-tight-around-the-neck–and-bury-my-face-in-your-chest-with-tears-of-joy reaction that is apparently, universal.

What we see in the eyes, faces and reactions of these children is probably the best earthly expression I have ever seen to illustrate what we will experience when we close our eyes in death over here, only to immediately open them up in eternal life over there and see HIS face! To me, it gives a whole new understanding to this verse: “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ""Abba," (Daddy) “Father." (Rom. 8:15)

One of the clips is of a wife who is engrossed in her computer, probably answering e-mail or chatting on a social network, but when her bridegroom comes “like a thief in the night” she is immediately caught up in the ecstasy of being with him. Her thoughts are evident in her face and in her immediate response to his presence. It’s as though she says with her hug, “I’ll never let you go, and we will never be apart again!” In an instant, whatever she was looking at and thinking about before he appeared immediately becomes a faint, distant, trivial memory- perhaps never to be brought to mind again.

So, as I was pondering and chewing on all this, amazed that my Heavenly Father wanted to share these things with me and overwhelmed by my emotions as I thought of what it might be like to be in heaven, seeing Jesus and experiencing all the glorious re-unions with loved ones there…(if you want to mentally play “I Can Only Imagine” in your mind right now it would be helpful)… the Lord quietly dropped this bombshell of an idea on me: “Son, this is what true worship looks like.”

When we become aware of the presence of our Father - I mean truly aware – everything else disappears. We run to Him, reach for Him and express our love for Him in every way that our heart has available. We are not concerned about what others think, in fact, we don’t even consider it! Our entire being is given over to one pursuit: connecting with Him… and that connection brings us the greatest joy, peace and love that we will ever know. And while it is true that we can not experience the complete fullness of that connectedness till we actually see Him face-to-face, it is also just as true that we often miss out on connecting with our Father, our bridegroom. It is possible right now. It is available each time we enter into worship.

Now… How does that impact your thinking about church this week? Yeah, me too.

Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150394422860707&comments

Crescent Dawn

2011-02-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

It is three hours before the early morning call to prayer rings from minaret towers across the Islamic world. In Cairo, Egypt, a passionate Imam steps to the podium at the center of the revolutionary square and announces. “Mubarak is against Islam! This revolution is jihad – a holy war. Mubarak has given water from the Nile to the hated Zionists! March to the palace – overthrow the President… Allah Akbar!”
The opening line from a Joel Rosenberg fiction novel? No, this is really happening right now. I am watching it on live TV as I write! As we close out Thursday here in the west, Friday dawns in the Middle East; Friday- the Islamic day of prayers and sermons. On Thursday, it was reported that embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would step down, but later it was told that he would not step down but instead transfer his presidential power to former Egyptian security head, now Vice President, Omar Suliman. These news reports first thrilled… then enraged the crowds. Suliman has issued a warning to the protestors, that they not do exactly what the Imam is calling for – march against the palace. Will the military fire on its own people? Will the soldiers join the protestors and attack the palace? That remains to be seen. But this is obvious: the struggle has shifted, at least in rhetoric from a political struggle to a religious one. The Muslim Brotherhood is smiling. If they are successful in re-defining the conflict in these terms they will win a huge victory.

Meanwhile, today on Capitol Hill, the directors of the CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security, were called to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee where they were asked questions about the uprising in Egypt. Specifically, they were asked about the Muslim Brotherhood. CIA Director Clapper stated that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is basically a secular organization that has eschewed violence. Excuse me? Apparently our CIA director is very naïve and completely uninformed, or worse, he knows the truth about the Brotherhood but won’t say it! The head of the FBI later characterized the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group fermenting violence! One thing is clear: the U.S. intelligence community is at the very least, confused. In addition these men were asked about the spread of this uprising to Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. The answers were few, but the tone was grave.

Yesterday the King of Saudi Arabia spoke to President Obama on the phone and gave our President a stern warning: if the Obama administration “humiliates” Mubarak by calling for his immediate departure, the Saudis will step in with billions of dollars to bolster Mubarak and keep him in power. Perhaps the “ghost of revolutions future” has visited the King in his bed-chamber with a nightmare of things to come for him! Remember when Obama bowed to the Saudi king? http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/obama-bows-to-saudi-king/7bf3977d58797b80a4b47bf3977d58797b80a4b4-605252616399?q=obama%20bows%20to%20saudi%20king

Wonder if he regrets that now? In the president’s defense, he really has no good play right now. He, and by extension we, are going to be blamed no matter what we do.

All of this is going somewhere. Myriads of the best diplomatic minds proficient in foreign affairs are scrambling to figure out just where. I certainly don’t know where it will lead or how it will all pan out. I do know this much: what is happening in Egypt is very significant and important. Why? Look at the map. It all centers around Israel. All of Israel’s ancient and historic enemies are in turmoil: literal unrest on every side. Eventually all this anger and hatred will boil over and turn towards God’s covenant people.

When you pull back the curtain, you can see where this conflict really is. The events on earth mirror those in the heavenly realm. (Rev.12) There are two sides, good and evil, light and dark, God and Satan. It may take years, or only hours… but these events will move the world closer to its Biblically prophesied end.

Tomorrow, Feb. 11, 2011 may well write the next chapter. I think it will. Watch and pray.

The Jasmine Revolt

2011-01-26T10:59:00.001-08:00

Ever hear of that before? Most of the western media is not giving it much airplay and most Americans are not paying much attention to it. The “Jasmine revolt” is not a long-ago historical event that has little impact on us today… (e.g. the “Whiskey rebellion of 1790” - Google it)… rather, the Jasmine revolt is a current event happening right now in the North African country of Tunisia, (ancient Carthage) that may, in fact, have a great impact on all of us in the near future! This month, the long-oppressed Tunisian people rose up and ousted their president, Ben-Ali, a corrupt power monger who had remained in office for decades on the backs of his people. (Not unlike many before him!) Something woke-up in me and I began to think back to 1989. .... Remember before the Berlin wall came down and the breakup of the Soviet Union? It all started with the Romanians overthrowing dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu in a week long riot. The resulting domino effect rippled across all the eastern-European Soviet satellites. Within weeks, the wall came down and over a period of months things happened that most of us thought were flat-out impossible: the fall of the iron curtain and the dissolving of the Soviet empire. What if this Tunisian revolt is the beginning of a similar shake-up in the Muslim political world?

Remember the Iranian revolution of 1979? The Islamic hardliners overthrew the corrupt (and staunch American ally) Shah of Iran resulting in the Islamic Republic of Iran ruled by the Ayatollahs and bringing us to the present apocalyptic death-cult leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad! Could what started then be expanding now? Well, it appears that the dominoes may be starting to fall across the 10-40 window. Since Tunisia, surprising demonstrations and revolts have erupted in Yemen, Algeria, and Egypt. (Although none have produced a Tunisian-like overthrow of their seemingly securely entrenched tribal / royal / aristocratic potentates ….. yet.)

History teaches us that when any oppressed people begins to imagine that they might actually be able to throw off the yoke of their oppressors…it is only a mater of time till they do! One might think that overthrowing oppressive dictators would be a good thing. It would be, if what followed was freedom. But what is waiting in the wings for these poor people is not freedom but an even harsher taskmaster: a Sharia law-driven Islamic Caliphate. If Ahmadinejad gets his way, all the Muslim nations of the world will throw off their secular governors to prepare the way for the Caliphate and the Mahdi. In the mean time, what will result will be anarchy and chaos, like what now reigns in places like Somalia, and Darfur. After a while people will be so sick of it they will flock to a charismatic leader who promises peace. Does that ring a bell?

If I am right these revolts and demonstrations will spread both in scope depth of violence. Right now, these relatively small demonstrations have some very well known people shaking in their boots - some who are enemies of America like Libya’s Khadafy, and some who are our “friends” like the King of Saudi Arabia. In the end, the 10-horned beast will utterly destroy the prostitute who rides it. (Rev. 1715-18) Consider the possibility that the “beast” is the religion of Islam, who in the final days will be led by the Mahdi Anti-Christ, and that the woman who rides it, ripe for a fall, is none other that the House of Saud. These kings have been riding on the backs of Islam for generations and certainly fit the descriptions of corruption given in Rev. 17-18.

There once was a woman from Niger, who smiled while riding a tiger…she went for a ride… and came back inside… with the smile on the face of the tiger!

The View From ……. THERE?

2011-01-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

Since my last posted “View,” we have had a geographic change. Over the first four days of this new year, we traveled almost 1400 miles westward over mountains and plains and have now arrived at our very own “little house on the prairie” Honestly, along the way, we felt a real kinship with our pioneer ancestors who made the same journey generations ago in Quaker bonnets and covered wagons. Our sturdy Conestoga was of the U-haul variety, and it only took us 3 ½ days instead of 3 ½ months, but we felt like wagon-train settlers just the same!

The title of my column/blog has always been, “The View From Here.” Several of my Virginia friends have teased that I will now have to change it to “The View From There!” But another good friend of mine taught me a saying over the years that certainly applies now: “Wherever you are… be there!” That seems kinda obvious, right? But obvious or not, many people live in the past, dwelling in the regretful land of coulda- shoulda-woulda, while others are constantly worried about what’s coming up next. Many of us flip-flop between the two, never landing on “today.” Often I find I am not really enjoying the experience of the “right now” because I am not “being where I am? Does that make sense? Have you ever heard a coach being interviewed after a big win? Usually the coach fails to celebrate the team’s great victory even for a moment. Instead he immediately begins to talk about his next game; all the future problems and obstacles to be overcome, and all the past mistakes they made during the last game. It’s hard to live in the present – to be where you are!

God proclaimed His name to Moses as “I AM”. Not “I was” or “I will be,” although both those things are true…. as we perceive time anyway. God is outside of time, He lives as the constant “I Am” - the forever present. He is always “being where He is” and He is omnipresent! (Ever-and-everywhere-present) So what’s the application? Well, it would be easy for me to try to hang on to the past right now and perhaps just as tempting to fret about the future. God calls us to neither. He asks us to give Him the past and trust him for the future. He wants us to just be where we are, and where we are is …. in Him. So whether from my new office overlooking the grasslands of central Kansas or from wherever my “View” originates, it will always be from “here.” My goal for now is to work on simply “being where I am”…. want to join me in that?

PS. This will be the last “View” posted on the Hanover Friends website. “Being where you are” means embracing the present and you can’t wholeheartedly do that until you let go of the past. So to that end, no more “View” at friendlychurch.org. You can however, keep following my musings at www.davidacrisp.blogspot.com. If you’d like to continue receiving the “view” via e-mail, send me an e-mail at davidndes@gmail.com with that request and…. eventually…. I’ll make it happen. Blessings!

Thanks for the Memories

2010-12-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

Almost eleven years ago, you and I began meeting here in this space craftily hidden somewhere inside the Mechanicsville Local. Now, over a decade (and 502 columns) later, we come to our final visit together via this medium. A lot has happened over those years! When we started this column, the world was different place. It was January of 2000, twenty-one months before the terrible attacks of 9-11, Bill Clinton was finishing his final days as our President and I was just 39 years old! A lot has changed! Together we have looked at current events, natural disasters, Biblical prophecies, “off-the-wall” thoughts that came to my mind and various funny scenarios that I got myself into, but each time I wrote with a “view” towards allowing the Holy Spirit to bring conviction, comfort, insight and motivation from His Word through it all. In my very first column I stated my goal: “My pledge to you is to endeavor to always come back to the central truth that will set you free – the gospel of Jesus Christ!” I hope that I have been able to do just that, and if I have, then it’s been worth every minute of my time and every dime that Hanover Friends Church has spent over these years to give me this sacred privilege. Thanks for allowing me to share my view with you!

So what’s next? Well, Des and I will be moving to a new pastorate at Rose Hill Friends Church. It’s a smaller congregation, in a country church just a mile or so outside Rose Hill, Kansas. If you’re so inclined, you can see the church here: www.rhfc.org . I will try to keep up with my writing of the “View” and I’d like to say I am firmly committed to it, but without a newspaper “deadline,” I know I will find it hard to be as regular with my in-print musings! However, if you still want to read along, there are a couple of ways you can make that happen. You can follow “The View From Here” on my blog, www.davidacrisp.blogspot.com. On my blog site, you can become a “follower” and receive notification of new posts on your Google or Yahoo e-mail accounts or on Twitter, or subscribe to receive it through a “reader.” Believe me, I don’t understand all that lingo either! For the next few months at least you will be able to view and print any “View From Here” articles I have written over the past few years by going to: www.friendlychurch.org and clicking on the button titled: “The View From Here,” and then accessing the archive on the left hand side of the page. Hanover Friends Church will be suspending their contract with the Local for the time being until they get a new full-time Sr. Pastor, and the new pastor may or may not decide to continue this avenue of outreach. Please be praying for our church as they go through this transition. Make it a habit to pray for all our Mechanicsville churches! (Every time you drive by this or any church, shoot up a quick prayer for that house of worship and their pastor!)

I‘d like to thank the wonderful staff at the Mechanicsville Local who have been so cooperative, especially Sarah Oswald and Cindy Grant. It has truly been a joy to serve this community for our nearly 18 year tenure here. I love the fact that a whole generation of Mechanicsville kids grew up with me at Friendly Care Day School and I still get greeted all around town with hugs and “Hey, Pastor David!” from kids 3 to 21. This is a great place to be. It was a wonderful place to raise our family and we have loved our church, this town and its people.

I suppose the thing that God keeps speaking to my heart through this big life-change is this: “This world is not out home! We are just passing through on our way to our real home: heaven!” There, we will never say good-bye again! What wonderful reunions there! Let me leave you with a few final exhortations, one from God’s Word and one from me: “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever!” (1 Peter 4:7-11) “You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy, if you've a mind to!”

David A. Crisp, Pastor, Hanover Friends Church, Dec. 22, 2010

Wednesday Evening Bible Study 12-08-10

2010-12-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

A continued look at some of the more “obscure” parts of the “Christmas” narratives:
Last week- thoughts on the two genealogies form Matt. and Luke and how they related to a “curse” in Jer. 22:30!

Tonight, let’s do a little thinking about the Magi …(wise men).

According to the Bible, how many were there that came to Judea?       (trick question!)
How many gifts?      What were they?              What special purpose(s) did they have?
(side-note about swaddling clothes)

Did the Magi come to the stable in Bethlehem?     How do we know? Matt. 2:11, 16
Conflict! (again with the conflict?!) Okay, this time it’s not in the Bible… but dueling Christmas carols:
The First Noel: “They look-ed up and saa-aw a star shining in the ________ beyond them far…
We Three Kings: “Star of wonder , star of light, star of royal beauty bright, _____-ward leading, still proceeding…..”     SO… which is it?     Clue : (or maybe not?) Matt. 2:2,     then    2:9

Question: Where did they come from? How did they know when to look for a star and how did they know what the star meant? No prophecy in Hebrew scripture instructs about a coming star...
But a “wise” man could know from scripture when to look up! Daniel 9:25 is an amazing prophecy which predicts exactly when Jesus would be born! How does this relate to 9:24?   So 483 years (7 x 69) after the decree was issued by Cyrus the Mede to re-build Jerusalem the Messiah (King of the Jews) was to come.
How did Daniel know this decree would come? Dan. 9:1-2 What was he reading? Jer. 25:12,
Isa. 44:24-45:7 (application?)

So Daniel understands the "when" from Jeremiah and the "who" from Isa.

Now what do you know about the position that Daniel held in the kingdoms of Babylon, and Medo-Persia?

In Daniel 1, Daniel and his three buddies write the first veggie-tale: Then what happened? 1:18-21

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream…then what? 2;2, 10-13, 17, 24, 27-28, 48

So. putting this all together….How did Persian Gentile Magi “wise men” know what it meant when a “new” star, or some sort of heavenly sign appeared in the constellations?
They knew because a Hebrew prophet named Daniel who was in charge of all the “wise men” of Persia 500 years earlier had written that the Jewish Messiah would appear that year. (Which he got from and angel and from other prophecies written generations before him!) So when the star appeared the wise headed out to Jerusalem since they were looking for the “king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2) They did not “follow” the star until after they left Jerusalem and it “led” them to (probably) north Nazareth in Galilee, not Bethlehem. (Even though Herod's scholars had told them Bethleham.) Makes sense huh! Why would they need the star to "lead" them if they were going to Bethlehem when they already had directions from Herod!
So what does this do for you?

Predictions for 2011

2010-12-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

Once again I take pen in hand, or at least mouse under hand, to make my prognostications for the coming year. I do not purport these as prophetic, they are just my opinions based on my “view from here!” We’ll see how many come true, but either way it’s interesting and hopefully motivational for us to, as the Boy Scouts say, “Be Prepared” and as Jesus put it, “Watch and pray! Look up for your redemption draws near!” Someone asked me last week about my predictions for 2011 and I answered with three ominous letters… W… A… R.

• I have been predicting for 2 years now that Israel will strike Iran to prevent the Iranians from making their nuclear arsenal operational. While I was a little “off” on my timing, I still see this as the next “big thing” to happen in the Middle East. Look for a strike in the first 90 days of 2011 followed by global condemnation of Israel, chaos, and a regional war. This war could turn out to be the “hook in the jaw” that pulls the “Chief Prince” from the far north to attempt an invasion Israel expanding the regional war to where it will engulf many nations. (Ez. 38:4-13)

• The US will stay out of direct military involvement in this regional war but will offer weapons, aid and logistical support to Israel. Iran will call for suicide bombers to attack the US in retaliation and we will see some terrorist attacks on US soil.

• As a result of this war, global fuel prices will rise dramatically deepening the economic crisis here and around the world.

• North Korea will provoke a real “shootin’ war” on the Korean peninsula, dragging the U.S. into this decade’s old conflict, and proving once again the old axiom that any “unfinished” war has to be fought again. The only way wars are ended is with the complete victory or defeat of one side or the other. Read your history books. Any war that ever ended temporarily (even for decades) in a truce or cease-fire, eventually flared up again. The reason for that is that the underlying cause for the war was not dealt with. This holds true for spiritual warfare too! (Chew on that for a while.)

• Pakistan and India will move closer to war as Pakistan becomes very unstable.

• Vladimir Putin will strengthen his grip on a resurgent Russia.

• In Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will go through several attempts at his removal both violent and political but he will emerge stronger and more "Hitleresque" than ever.

• Here at home, look for Hillary Clinton to resign as Sec. of State sometime this fall in preparation for a primary run against Barrack Obama for the 2012 Democratic nomination.

• Palin, Huckabee and Romney will fade. Chris Christie of N.J. and Rick Santorum of PA will be the front runners for the Republicans going into 2012.

• “True Grit” will win “Best Picture” at the Oscars, and a “surprise” team will win the Super Bowl!

Some of these things MIGHT come true…. But here’s what we KNOW FOR SURE: “Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

A Son of Issachar

2010-11-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

For several months now I have been expecting Israel to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear sites to keep the apocalyptic death-cult followers who run that country from perpetrating a second holocaust – not millions of Jews dying in Nazi death camps over torturous years but millions perishing in an instant from a death-rain of Iranian warheads. A few weeks ago I shared my view as to why it had not yet happened: covert operations over the summer involving a computer worm known as “Stuxtnet” had slowed the Iranian march towards the bomb giving Israel more time before a strike was necessary. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no shrinking violet when it comes to making tough decisions, but he is waiting till the last possible moment to make this one. And who could blame him! If he takes military action and launches a first strike on Iran, the international reaction and condemnation of Israel will be overwhelming! The whole world will be down their throats and on their backs!

The Bible, in Ezekiel 36:24-38 predicted the re-creation of Israel - God would bring them home from the many lands and nations to which they were exiled for nearly 2000 years. This prophecy was partially fulfilled in 1948, and then completely fulfilled by victories in the ‘67 and ‘72 wars! In the following chapter, (Ez. 37) Ezekiel sees a valley of dry, disconnected bones coming together and coming to life. This is a word picture of these 20th century events! Then, in the very next chapter, Ezekiel predicts that many nations will gather against Israel led by “Persia” …none other than modern-day Iran! (Ezekiel 38:5) Could this next chapter be about ready to unfold?

The world-wide media machine continually spews out anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda. Israel is hounded as an “occupier” and branded as an illegitimate interloper in very the land that God Himself gave to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by an everlasting covenant over 3,000 years ago. Recently, the Obama administration once again pressured Israel to stop settlements in certain areas of east Jerusalem that were not under Israeli control prior to the 1967 six-day war. Netanyahu’s cabinet is right now discussing a 90-day moratorium on such construction. I was shocked to learn that they might be bowing to such pressure…until I heard what the U.S. was offering in return: 20 new F-35 fighter jets, and perhaps just as powerful, an extended security agreement between the U.S. and Israel which included promises from the U.S. to oppose in the United Nations Security Council any proposed resolutions that may come forward in the near future seeking to de-legitimize the sovereignty of Israel.

So what do we make of this? Should we conclude that the current administration has undergone a change of heart towards Israel? I don’t think so. If that were the case, the U.S. would simply offer the planes and the UN support without any strings. It seems that the Obama administration wants to look like it’s getting “tough” on Israel while at the same time doing some things that the President wouldn’t normally do to help Israel. Why? Of course, I don’t know…but my view is that last week when Netanyahu was in Washington he gave them the strike timetable. On Aug. 22, the Russians, after many years of trumped-up delays, finally delivered on their promise to provide nuclear fuel to Iran. It’s now loaded up into their reactor. On Nov. 3, the top Israeli general in charge of military intelligence reported to the Israeli parliament his evaluation is that Iran can now build at least one bomb and will soon have two. Without some unforeseen miraculous intervention, Mr. Netanyahu will very soon be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea - strike Iran and unleash a firestorm, including perhaps a large scale multi-front conventional war of retaliation, or see his nation obliterated by a nuclear missile. We should all be praying that Netanyahu will be like one of the son’s of Issachar described in the Old Testament – a man who understands the times and knows what Israel should do (1 Chronicles 12:32) – and that every believer in Jesus Christ would understand who we are and what we should be doing: praying for the peace of Jerusalem, living holy and godly lives, looking forward to the day of God and speeding its coming! (2Peter3:12)

If I Could Turn Back Time…

2010-11-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Go ahead, sing a few bars! I know you want to! I guess I was thinking about that ‘89 Cher standard (kinda weird to mention Cher, 1989, and “standard” in the same sentence, huh!) since last Saturday night we did just that: we turned back time. Of course, the hour we gained moving from daylight savings time back to standard time will be lost again next spring when we turn our clocks forward, but for one fleeting moment anyway, we got to do what many of us often wish we could, we got to turn back time. Unlike Frank Sinatra, whose regrets were “too few to mention,” most of us have plenty of them: missed chances, blown opportunities and words we shouldn’t have said. Many spend their lives playing the “coulda, woulda, shoulda, if-only” game.

What should we do with our regrets? We can’t really “turn back time” in the sense that we can change the past. Is it “water over the dam” or “water under the bridge? I don’t know, but either way, you get the picture, what’s done is done! … Or is it? The answer is….yes!.... and no!

The Apostle Paul was a fellow who had lots of past mistakes: stoning Stephen, persecuting the church, denying Christ, to name a few! In fact Paul calls himself, “the worst of sinners!” But Paul did not let his past sins keep him from Christ’s service. Instead, he loudly proclaims his sinful unworthiness as an example of God’s mighty saving grace! “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1Tim. 1:14-15) Paul could have let his regrets eat him alive, but instead he sees and receives the grace, mercy and forgiveness of the cross that actually has the power to “turn back time”- making us justified: “just-as-if-I’d never sinned! (Rom 5:1-2) Paul refuses the devil’s condemnation and he exhorts us to not allow the devil to pummel us with our past either! “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death!” (Rom 8:1-2)

The blood of Jesus can, in a spiritual sense, “turn back time” removing all the guilt, shame and punishment which we deserve because of our sin! We must confess our sins to God and repent of them and by faith put our trust in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, and when we do He removes all the negative spiritual consequences of our past sins. However, the earthly consequences remain. Stephen was still dead. (Remember, I said the answer was both yes!... and no!) Sometimes our sins do have painful earthly consequences that God doesn’t remove. He wants us and others to see and remember that when we live according to our own desires, not doing things His way, (i.e. sin,) that those sinful actions bring pain and death. If it didn’t hurt when we touched a hot stove, we’d do it over and over. Pain has a purpose! But regrets…. not so much.

God does not want us to wallow in our past sin, failures or missed opportunities, rather He wants us to “let the dead bury the dead” and follow Him! Paul, puts it this way, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Why not use this seasonal clock change as a reminder to do more than just exchange the batteries in your smoke detector. Exchange your sinful past for a forgiven future, condemnation for freedom, regrets for motivation. Give Him your sin, guilt, shame and punishment, and receive righteousness, peace and joy!

Playing the Waiting Game

2010-10-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength….” You probably recognize these words from Is. 40:31. But what does that mean, “wait upon the Lord?” King James’ translators used the English word “wait” for the Hebrew word “kaw-vah.” Many modern translations render the same word as “trust in” or “hope in.” Kaw-vah literally means “to expectantly look for.” Remember when you were a kid and Grandma was coming to your house? You’d run and look out the window over and over, or go out and swing on the porch swing until you saw her car turn down your street! That’s Kaw-vah – to hopefully wait while expectantly looking. So, Is. 40:31 could easily sound like this: They that… hopefully wait and expectantly look for the Lord to show up in the midst of their present circumstance….will renew their strength!

Right now Des and I are playing the waiting game. We are waiting for our house to sell. (Know of anybody looking for a nice 3 bdr. brick ranch on the lake in Cherrydale?) We are waiting to see what kind of house we will be moving into when we get to our new home in Kansas. We are waiting to see what kind of jobs might be available for Des. We are waiting for answers to questions that right now have no answers. We are waiting. Anybody else hate to wait? Sometimes we do it well, other times….not so much.

I am reminded of Elijah’s weatherman… (Know who he was?) Three years before the great “call-down-fire-from-heaven” confrontation on Mt. Carmel (see 1Kings 18), God had told Elijah to pray that it would not rain as punishment on Israel for their idolatry, and for three years it did not rain. Then after the big show-down where baal was “showed-up,” the people turned their hearts back to God. So Elijah asked God to once again send rain upon the drought-stricken land. As Elijah began to pray he told his “weatherman” servant, “Go look for the rain-cloud.” (1 Kings 18:43) Now that’s kaw-vah! But, even though he was praying according to God’s will, there was absolutely no sign of rain. Again he prayed, and again he sent his servant to expectantly look. Over and over Elijah kept praying and kept anticipating an answer… until on the seventh trip, the servant saw one tiny cloud no bigger than a man’s fist! Hearing the partly cloudy weather report, Elijah told King Ahab, “Better hitch up your chariot and head for the palace because a real toad-strangler is a-brewin!” (I translated the Hebrew on that one myself!) And sure enough, before they got to Jezreel, the cloud became a thunderstorm and the downpour came!

So what’s the point? “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”(Luke 18:1) Are you playing the waiting game too? Well, keep praying and don’t give up! Pray and expectantly look for God’s answer! Wait upon the Lord, and He will renew your strength! Remember Elijah’s weatherman!

P.S. for those of you who read between the lines, you probably noticed something between these. After almost 18 wonderful years serving the Lord here in Mechanicsville, Des and I will be finishing the year here at Hanover Friends and then after Christmas, we will be heading back home to Kansas to take a pastorate in a small town near Wichita. I have dearly loved being able to share my “View” with you here in the Local for the past 11 years and pray that you have been blessed! I will have a few more articles in the paper before we have to say our good-byes. But for now, let’s agree to pray for one another, expectantly looking for God’s perfect answer!

Ahmadinejad at the UN, “Stutxnet” and Esther

2010-10-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

In the words of former President Ronald Reagan, “There he goes again!” Last month, Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared at the UN making his annual America-bashing speech to the delegates, and once again, as he has done each and every time he has spoken to the UN, he included a prayer for the appearance of the Mahdi. Most mass media outlets failed to cover this item, but the prayer was there, in fact, it was his opening line! “O Allah, hasten the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers and those who attest to his righteousness.” Those of you who follow my column know that I believe that the Mahdi, whom Muslims believe to be their messiah, will be the world leader whom the Bible refers to as “The Anti-Christ.” Ahmadinejad certainly believes in the soon appearance of the Mahdi and he is doing everything in his power to hasten that arrival, including the building of nuclear weapons and threatening to use them against Israel - plunging the world into chaos to bring forth the Mahdi. Here’s a link to the full transcript of Ahmadinejad’s UN remarks:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38037667/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-United-Nations-General-Assembly-FULL-Transcript

In spite of Ahmadinejad’s chilling words, an interesting thing has been happening inside Iran. Over the past few months their nuclear capabilities have taken an unexpected down-turn. The number of Iran’s operational centrifuges needed to enrich uranium to weapons-grade level has actually declined for the first time ever after years of steady growth. Has Iran bowed to international pressure and slowed their hell-bent pace towards the bomb? Hardly. It seems a computer worm, a mal-ware virus known as “stutxnet” has infected their enrichment computers! Over 30,000 Iranian computers are now infected with this bug which has knocked nearly 1/3 of their centrifuges off-line. This might be the work of hackers, but more likely it is a targeted attack on the Iranian nuclear program. But from whom? The CIA? The Israeli Mossad? The stutxnet virus has infected computers from other countries as well, with some infections taking place before it hit Iran, but it seems to have been intentionally planted in the Iranian atomic plants much like the virus that knocked out the alien enemy in the sci-fi movie “Independence Day” or its literary fore-runner from several decades ago, H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds!

Of course, no one is taking credit for this attack….at least not overtly! Many prognosticators, including me, have been predicting an Israeli attack on the Iranian nuclear sites before now. Why hasn’t it come? Perhaps they know something we don’t. Maybe Israel already attacked them from the inside! Virus experts have analyzed the computer code in this worm and noted that one of the main “files” in the code is named “Myrtus.” Myrtus is the latin root from which we get our English word myrtle – the fragrant plant. Why is that interesting? You may remember a beautiful Jewish girl named Esther who became a queen and foiled a Persian (Iranian) plot to wipe out all the Jews? Her Hebrew name was Hadassah, which is the Hebrew word for…. myrtle! Too far a stretch? Maybe not. One thing is sure, this “cyber” attack, wherever it came from, seems to have worked beautifully, it has given Israel (and us all) more time and it has not cost a single life nor endangered a single soldier, sailor or airman. Now that’s a miracle worthy of Esther!

Ahmadinejad is working with all his might to speed the coming of his messiah. Are we speeding the coming of ours? “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” (2Peter 3:10-12a)

Source: The New York Times, “In a Computer Worm, Possible Biblical Clue.” Markoff and Sanger, Sept. 29, 2010