Category: Current Events

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Current Events Politics The Last Days

Perspectives on Iran from an Iraq War Veteran

The Iraq war is now officially declared to be over. Lately we have heard war drums beat louder and louder on tensions with Iran and the international oil supply that comes through the Strait of Hormuz. These events compel me as a veteran of the Iraq war, a Christian, and concerned citizen to voice my perspective.

Iraq bunker sunset
Sunset over a bunker in Iraq, 2004

Our approach with Iran should be to remind them of why they should fear us far more often than we remind them why they hate us. A show of force is not the only way to show strength. Often a clear message of our unity and resolve as a nation can go a lot further. In America, the single message that unifies even the most diametrically opposed political elements is the idea of liberty. Radical jihadists need to only to incite enough fear that we will choose to sacrifice that liberty for the sake of security.

Two of the biggest reasons I agree with Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul’s foreign policy should also explain why he enjoys the financial support of more military members than all other Republican candidates combined. First, he will not risk losing the lives of some of our brightest, most skilled young men and women unless and until Americans display the resolve necessary to guarantee a swift and decisive victory through a declaration of war. Second, our Constitution and way of life face a greater threat from within than from any of our enemies abroad. Our President, Judiciary, and Legislature more routinely and effectively erode our freedoms than Iran’s nuclear programs or lack thereof.

But, this isn’t just some political position or a rally for my favorite candidate.  It goes far beyond any election.  This foreign policy is based in nothing less than the eternal words of God Almighty.  Congressman Ron Paul expanded on this biblical argument at the 2011 Values Voter Summit (and went on to win their straw poll):

Let us also not forget that conflicts in the Middle East are as much a spiritual battle as they are socioeconomic frustrations.  We can wage such a war much more effectively with the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17) than we can with bullets and bombs.  My prayer for our country, our world, and our leaders is the same as Paul’s prayer to the Romans:

Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. -Rom. 15:33

 

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Current Events New World Order Politics The Last Days The World

7 Billion People: What Population Control Advocates Don’t Say

As the world population approaches 7 Billion, we’ll hear a crescendo of cries for population control measures including (but not limited to) easier access to abortion.  A serious analysis shows that the population is not out of control.

7 Billion People: What Population Control Advocates Don’t Say | LifeNews.com.

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Current Events The Last Days

Japan, In Need of a Savior

Being a Christian can be frustrating at times because it is so easy to forget about that time in our own lives when we too were blinded to the truth (Ephesians 5:8).  As Paul reminds us about unbelievers in 2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”  You want to shout from the rooftops:  “Don’t you people get it?”  When in reality, they can’t get it, because they are both blinded by Satan and willingly ignorant (2 Peter 3:5).  The best you can do is present them the Gospel and pray for their souls.  The rest is between them and God.

Within this framework I always find it amazing when a non-Christian is able to see a sliver of truth (John 17:17) in this world.  Tokyo Governor, Shintaro Ishihara, has apparently told the press that he believes the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan on Friday was a form of divine punishment:

“The identity of the Japanese people is selfishness. The Japanese people must take advantage of this tsunami as means of washing away their selfish greed. I really do think this is divine punishment.”

Shintaro, how right you are!  Instead of blaspheming God as most people would do (Revelation 16:9), you rightly identified the cause of your strife.  Now please, lead your constituents on their knees before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to repent and believe on Him for Salvation.  As in the days of Ninevah:  Jonah 3:8, “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.”

While Shintaro correctly recognizes that this tsunami has divine implications, he is sadly ignorant of whom his Lord and Creator is:  Acts 17:23, “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”  Shintaro, please, for the sake of your soul, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ so you will not be damned (Mark 16:16).  Contrary to popular opinion, you and your unbelieving countrymen have no excuse:  Romans 1:20 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

Christians, before you jump on the international aid wagon (rife with fraud, waste, and abuse), take a moment to pray and study your Bibles (2 Timothy 2:15).   Japan (or Africa for that matter) doesn’t need your money, aid, clothing, food, or stuff nearly as much as your prayers and your active witness:  Luke 10:2, “Therefore said he unto them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.’”

If you aren’t a prayer warrior, then figure out how to get out on the street and evangelize the masses.  Get over there and be a tourist, teach English, practice medicine, gain international employment, or even volunteer as a missionary.  If you can’t put your boots on the ground, find a way to do something proactive:  mail tracts, send Bibles, or support a missionary in Japan.  Time is of the essence for us to reach lost souls (2 Peter 3:10).  According to news reports, there are at least 2,500 Japanese dead and their numbers in Hell are growing by the day, Matthew 7:13 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:”

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ gave us our marching orders:  Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  It is up to you to obey (Galatians 3:1) and preach the good news.  For those of us with thick skulls who need everything repeated, Paul elaborated on these orders and clarified them:  Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

American Christians: the Chinese local churches plan on spreading the Gospel to Japan (and the rest of the 10/40 window), will you?

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Application Current Events MetaV Politics The Bible The Last Days The World Visualizations

Egypt in the Bible

With the recent uprising in Egypt, I thought it would be worthwhile to get a little historical context.  What better place to go than the Bible?  Take a look at this interactive map to see all the places in modern-day Egypt that are mentioned in the Bible.

 

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Culture Current Events History The Last Days The World

Worshiping Moloch

When we read the Bible and come across Moloch, the God to which people offered babies as a sacrifice, we seldom think it has anything to do with people of our time. You’ll be surprised to discover we’re really not all that different.

Worshiping Moloch.

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Cults Current Events False Prophets Media Politics The Last Days The World

Following Glenn Beck’s Divine Destiny or God’s Word

The popular TV and radio host, Glenn Beck, is leading what he calls the “Third Great Awakening.” Brannon Howse, founder of Worldview Weekend, warns Christians against joining this spiritual movement which promotes a false God.

Following Glenn Beck’s Divine Destiny or God’s Word.

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Current Events Discernment Politics Separation The Christian The Last Days The World

To Whom We Pledge Our Allegiance

The socialist left clearly and unapologetically seeks government help and control when it comes to our economy, health care, and other such issues. We would be wise to also recognize that the “religious right” trusts in the government almost as much, yet for different reasons. As one example, liberals want the power of the state to protect them from poverty while conservatives seek state protection from invasion. Both of these views allow the government to usurp its proper authority as we surrender ever-increasing degrees of freedom while putting more and more faith in the hands of men in power and less in the hands of God. The end result of this will be all-out submission to a man in charge of a consolidated world government and a nearly complete rebellion against the Lord of Lords (Rev 13:4-8).

We are seeing this end result draw nearer each day. Not a single war we have engaged in since WWII has been constitutionally declared. Because of abortion, America now ranks second only to Mao Zedong’s reign in terms of how many innocents have been “legally” killed. Our President is openly advocating pulling the plug on the elderly when they are deemed unworthy for taxpayers to keep paying the bill (see it on video here ). Our schools are training grounds for atheism, immorality, and belief in myths parading themselves around as science. The daily news is saturated with signs showing our culture’s fast decline, especially if you’re watching mainstream media who are single-minded to such a degree that they often use the exact same catch phrases on every channel.

The responsibility for these problems lies not in those who advocated or voted for the leaders who implemented these policies and programs. It lies in the hands of Christians who have abdicated their responsibilities, allowing a multiplicity of new agencies to fill the void.

Christians cheered on efforts to engage in the Global War on Terror, while all too few were willing to engage in evangelism in that part of the world. Instead of building local orphanages in America for babies who might otherwise be aborted, churches erect state-of-the-art gymnasiums and put on rock concerts to attract the youth that managed to survive America’s Holocaust – all the while waiting around for a Supreme Court that will overturn Roe v. Wade. Churches used to build neighborhood hospitals to care for those who couldn’t afford a doctor. Now we fight for dear life in opposing national health care. The first “public” schools were Church schools. Today, we can’t even manage to get prayer or the Ten Commandments back into the classroom, let alone teach them the evidence that supports creationism or other biblical history. The way to steer this ship back on track is to turn the opposite direction – to repent as a nation.

Shouldn’t we air-drop gospel tracts at least as much as we launch aerial assaults on terrorist training camps? Can’t we draw the scared pregnant woman to a place where she and her future child will be cared for before she walks into the clinic seeking a permanent solution to her temporary problems? Aren’t we able to care for the sick in our own community before Obama forces a national program of taxpayer-funded euthanasia and abortion? Won’t fathers teach their kids the wisdom of God instead of expecting the public schools to teach anything other than Darwinism and moral relativism? None of these actions will guarantee our salvation for the victims of militant Islam, unwed mothers, cancer patients, or the illiterate. What it will do is demonstrate that Christians care more about serving God than attacking the symptoms of apostasy.

When we petition a President or any king-like figure to correct such issues before praying to the King of Kings, to which one are we demonstrating allegiance? Do we get more “fired-up” about standing up for our rights at a Tea Party than we do about falling to our knees in prayer? As a nation and as individuals, we must recognize the tendency to make an idol of the government in ourselves before attacking liberals who act in accordance with their godless worldview.

Some may think this article is an unpatriotic attack on America. They would be wrong. I am simply encouraging you to trust God for your freedom, your liberty, your sustenance and salvation. Do not trust in men or a constitution to protect your freedom or your rights. Do not expect any institution of men to weave our nation’s moral fiber. The only true protection from evil will come when Satan is forever vanquished and Jesus, not the “Shining Star” of your favorite political party, takes his seat in a new kingdom (Matthew 19:28).

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Current Events General Science Politics The First Days The Last Days The World

Only Jesus Can Save The Planet

Global Warming has a lot in common with Darwinism. Creatures, like global average temperatures, change over time. Zealous advocates match the skill of politicians when sidestepping any believable definition of how and why such changes take place. They call us to take action, to be a part of slowing down or reversing our impending doom from rising sea levels and growing deserts. We are told the problem is caused by humans; therefore, we have the power to change it if we work together to find a solution to this global problem.

Given our biblical command in Genesis 1:28 (also see Genesis 2:15) to take care of God’s creation, I’m all in favor of conservation efforts. But, many of today’s mainstream Christians have taken this command out of proportion and have bought into the hoax that we are a primary cause of our planet’s impending destruction. That would be true if we’re talking about God’s final judgment of sin (Revelation 20), but in the case of environmentalism sin has been redefined to include emitting anything classified as a greenhouse gas, including the air you exhale.

This really amounts to worshipping Gaia, better known today as “Mother Earth” or “Mother Nature.” It is this goddess we are said to be sinning against, not the God of Creation. To think we could have the power to fundamentally alter what he has made is to put ourselves in the place of God. True, original sin brought about the curse that forever altered the planet (Genesis 3:17-19), but this curse was God’s doing in response to that action. It had nothing to do with our implementation of fossil fuels as a primary source of energy.

With the widespread acceptance of the manmade global warming theory, there is a good chance that those reading this article are uninformed about which facts are fabricated and which claims are exaggerated. Since the most common claim is that carbon dioxide emissions are the number-one manmade contributor to climate change, I shall focus in that area for the limited scope of this article.

You may have seen or heard of charts that show a correlation between the rise of CO2 and the rise of global temperatures. What is usually not pointed out clearly on these charts is that CO2 rises afterthe temperature change. In order for it to have caused temperature increases, the rise in CO2 would have to come before the warming. For a little bit of perspective, you should know that at least 97% of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is not manmade. Even with all the increases in fossil fuel emissions, the levels of this “greenhouse gas” have only gone up a tiny fraction of a percent since we began measuring it. God’s creation is precious, but it simply isn’t fragile enough to be toppled by our puny industrial achievements.

So, what is the cause of the increase in average temperatures (if we can even believe the claim that it is still going up)? We can look to the sky for the answer. It turns out that Jupiter and Mars, along with several moons, show signs of warming as well. Considering that all these celestial bodies share the same primary heat source as we do, doesn’t it seem at least a little more reasonable to say that the sun may be the driving factor behind warming? Of course, this squashes the big dreams of mankind reducing temperatures by driving hybrids, building windmills, etc.

Let’s take care of what God has given us, but let’s also recognize that doing so does not mean we must build a world alliance to enforce regulations and tax emissions on everything from coal-fired power plants to the putrid emissions of a cow who had too much grass to eat. Let’s not get carried away into thinking we’re sinning against God when neo-pagans preach falsely about rising sea levels or lonesome polar bears. Only Jesus had the power to create this planet of ours (John 1:1), and only he has the right or the ability to save or destroy it.

For further reading, I highly recommend The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism.

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Apostasy Church Issues Current Events Discernment The Christian The Last Days

Pastor To Obama: “May The Force Be With You”

You know you’re apostate when…

You quote Star Wars as your prayer for the new Commander and Chief of the United States.

“I say to you as my son who is here today, my 14-year-old son – he probably would not quote scripture. He probably would use Star Trek (sic) instead, and so I say, ‘May the force be with you.”
 http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/20/pastor-to-obama-may-the-force-be-with-you

Is he serious? Did a so-called Christian pastor just give a New-Age send off (The Force definitely isn’t the Holy Spirit of the Bible) to the President-elect in the face of looming national crisis? Is there no outcry? People, wake up. If our leaders lead this nation into error – we will be destroyed (Isaiah 9:16). In case you don’t know, this is exactly what is being planned for this nation as predicted in the Book of Revelation almost 2,000 years ago!

We’ve turned our churches into standing jokes. They have spiraled down so far that your average church-going American thinks that the building he attends is what should be called the “church.” Most people think our meeting houses are places you only go to host marriages, funerals, and Presidential pre-parties like the above mentioned travesty. How can we be the light to the world (Matthew 5:14) if we no longer have light? If you are among born again believers, you are the church (Colossians 1:24). You are to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). You are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). You are to sow seed and reap a harvest (John 4:36-37). You are to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-20) and be soldiers for Christ (2 Timothy 2:3).

Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us of our national sin in turning from your pure words (Psalm 12:6-7). Forgive us for heaping upon ourselves teachers after our own lusts (2 Timothy 4:3). Forgive us for pursuing profane and vain babblings (2 Timothy 2:16). Forgive us for equating the Holy Ghost with a pantheistic idol such as “The Force” from a man-made fairy tale (Star Wars).