From American Thinker.Com

June 18, 2013

By Kim Zigfeld

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has published the results of a study which evaluates 34 major countries around the world against a set of eleven criteria to produce what OECD calls its Better Life Index (it’s a Eurocentric list; two glaring omissions are China and India; only two of the 34 countries are from Asia). The BLI basically indicates the best places to live on the planet. The USA does remarkably well in the study, and if there’s a biggest loser amid the BLI results that nation is Russia.

The way OECD presents (or “visualizes”) its data is as fascinating as the data itself. On its website, you can assign your own level of importance to each of the eleven criteria and produce your own customized list of countries ranked from one to 34 based on your personal set of life priorities. The visualization is fully animated, so the country rankings dance and reorganize before your eyes as you adjust them.
Then, if necessary, you can call the moving van.

The eleven criteria can be organized into four groups: Group A would be the financial group, including housing, income, and jobs. Group B would be the security group, including safety, environment, and health. Group C would be the intellectual group, including education and civic engagement. And Group D would be the psychological group, including community, life satisfaction, and work-life balance.

If you maximize only the Group A financial criteria, North America rules the roost. The USA comes out on top with Canada in third place. Switzerland is between them.

Maximize Group B security criteria, and Canada still appears in the top three. But the USA and Switzerland disappear, replaced by Australia in the top spot and Sweden in third. The USA is in ninth place in Group B (still well into the top third of all nations under review).

Emphasize Group C intellectual criteria, and you’ll see Australia and Sweden remain in the top three (Sweden moving up to second) while Canada drops out and Finland comes in third. Here again, the USA is ninth place.

And if you focus on the Group D psychological factors, Switzerland comes back into the picture at number three but now Norway tops the list followed by Denmark. Here the USA drops back the farthest, all the way to the middle of the pack at number 17. It seems that in order to maximize your financial prospects, a significant cost in the Group D area, which could loosely be called “stress,” is required.

The USA is sixth overall, when equal weight is given to all eleven criteria. Doing this, Australia is revealed as the best country on earth to live in, followed by Sweden, Canada, Norway, and Switzerland. With a population nearly four times larger than all of the top five countries combined, the USA is by far the best large country on the planet to reside in. Nice job, Americans!

What’s even more stunning, though, is the consistent noncompetitiveness of the major nations of Europe. Between them Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom don’t account for a single top-three spot in any of the four groups or overall. What’s more, their best finishes are all by one nation, UK. Its best result was #6 in Group B, followed by #7 in Group A, #10 overall, #12 in Group C and #14 in Group D. The major nations of continental Europe, by contrast, are exposed as dismal also-rans.

As for the worst countries to live in? The results are remarkably consistent.

In each one of the four groups, Turkey and Mexico rank in the bottom three, and they are worst and second worst overall. Brazil rounds out the bottom three in both Group A and Group C, while Russia does so in Group B and Greece fills the role in Group D.

Russia is an appalling #30 in the overall results, with only Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Turkey below it. If, as I would, you choose one factor from each of the four groups as your litmus test (income, health, civic engagement and life satisfaction, the four I’d say are most salient), Russia stunningly emerges as the very worst nation on the planet to live in, something that’s consistent with the experience of many foreigners who live in Russia. Doing this, Sweden is the best place on earth, followed by Australia and the USA.

As noted, Russia is in the bottom three in the Group B security group, its worst group result. For confirmation, Russia’s score is remarkably consistent, the same bottom 10%, when reviewed for similar criteria on the much broader Vision of Humanity Global Peace Index. There, Russia is one of only ten countries out of 162 studied that are depicted on the global peace map in blood-red ink as the most violent and dangerous on the planet. It ranks a shocking #155 for violence. Just a few stunning examples bring the point home: One Russian woman is murdered by her spouse every hour; in 2008 Russia invaded its tiny neighbor Georgia and annexed two large chunks of its territory. Russia is even extremely dangerous when all you’re trying to do is surf the web.

Thinking of taking a vacation in Russia? Think again. Know someone who’s going there for the 2014 Olympics? An athlete maybe? Best to warn them what they’re getting themselves into.

No matter what international survey you turn to, Russia’s report card reads the same: not just failing grades, but miserable unmitigated disaster. Indeed, given Russia’s advanced level of technology and its vast crude oil and gas holdings, the OECD data mean that pound for pound Russia is the palpably and clearly the most spectacular failure of all the nations being studied. Turkey, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico are not countries that can boast of space and military rocket programs or a top-ten GDP, but what is Russia’s excuse for such an exceedingly poor level of social development, barely distinguishable from theirs? This cataclysmic Russian failure is borne out by perusing the details.

Russians pride themselves on being well-educated, but if you isolate education on the BLI Russia is a shocking #30 out of 34 nations under review, not even slightly above its lowly overall position. The Kremlin brags about having low unemployment, but if you isolate the jobs criteria Russia is a miserable #28 on the list of nations, barely above its overall score. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claims he has vastly increased Russian incomes, but isolating that criteria on the BLI leaves Russia third from last on the list, even worse than its overall position.

How can Russia, with such wretched results, possibly be considered to deserve a place at the table of the mighty G-8 nations? Clearly, the only reason Russia has that seat is because of its nuclear weapons. This is a dire and reckless message to send to countries like Turkey, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil: If you want to be taken seriously, acquire weapons of mass destruction. But the mere fact that Russia does have nukes only further emphasizes its total and willful failure to provide for the basic needs of its population, in preference to attaining the status of international bully by pursuing a highly sophisticated weapons program.

All this domestic failure, of course, is why Putin’s popularity continues to deflate as time passes (polls show only about a third of Russians trust him and only a quarter want him to be reelected to a fourth term), and why his crackdown on the flow of information continues to escalate and expand rapidly. To maintain his grip on power, Putin needs to keep information like that in the BLI outside the ken of ordinary Russians as much as possible, to continue to bombard them with disinformation while at the same time making it clear what will happen if anyone challenges him.

Thus, we see opposition leader Alexei Navalny facing trial on highly dubious embezzlement charges. We see leading critics of the Kremlin like economist Sergei Guriev, author Masha Gessen and reporter Oleg Kashin seeking exile abroad. And we have seen other fearless critics, like Anna Politkovaskaya and Alexander Litvinenko and Sergei Magnitsky, killed outright.

The irony is that the OECD data clearly confirms that Putin is exceedingly weak because of his failed economy (Russia is likely mired at present in yet another brutal recession). This means that Putin would never be able to survive a concerted effort by the much stronger nations of the West to stand up for human rights and democracy, as they are doing in places like Syria, Egypt, and Libya.

But Putin’s ace in the hole is Barack Obama, whose “reset” policy is giving Putin plenty of room to continue his crackdown unfettered. Obama has consistently refused to put even rhetorical pressure on the Putin regime, and in fact has been far more willing to stand up to the U.S. Congress when it seeks to challenge Putin than to face down Putin himself.

From The Blaze.Com

As the situation in Syria intensifies and the United Nations reports that 93,000 civilians have been killed since 2011, the United States is taking increased action. With the deadly drama continuing to progress, it’s likely that some — especially considering Syria’s Biblical and geographical significance — will see End Times prophesy unfolding.

A silly suggestion to non-believers and others who disagree with conservative views on the Bible and an undeniable reality to others, the debate over signs and symbols associated with Jesus’ return presents ever-fascinating discussions. But while author Joel C. Rosenberg embraces prophetic notions, others, like “Bible Answer Man” Hank Hanegraaff reject these ideals.

TheBlaze spoke with both Rosenberg and Hanegraaff in an effort to better understand how Syria might fit into Christian theology and prophesy. The former, an author and communications expect who has been called a modern-day Nostradamus, has produced intriguing, yet eery, writings, as they often highlight and seemingly predict major world-wide events months before they actually occur. The latter, however, takes a more literal approach to the scriptures.

Rosenberg’s Theological Views on Syria

Consider Rosenberg’s track record. As TheBlaze previously reported, in January 2001, he began working on his first novel, “The Last Jihad.” The book, which is a fictional account of a U.S. war with Iraq (yes, this preceded the actual war that America launched in that region), describes the highjacking of an airliner in an attack on America.

Then, there was his second novel, “The Last Days,” which starts by recapping the death of Yasser Arafat (and published 13 months before the Palestinian leader perished). Call it coincidence or divine providence, but Rosenberg definitely seems to have a knack for clairvoyance.

It is for this reason that his views on Syria — a nation that is very literally central to the Middle East — are worth exploring. While Rosenberg doesn’t pretend to be a psychic, his track-record and Biblical knowledge lead one to wonder what sort of voluntary — or involuntary — insight he might have on the matter.

Does the Bible Predict Gods End Times Destruction of Syria and Is Prophesy About to Unfold Before Our Eyes?
Bible expert Joel Rosenberg (Photo Credit: Facebook/Joel Rosenberg)

During a phone interview with TheBlaze, Rosenberg explained Syria’s significance in the Bible, noting two prophesies in the Old Testament — one in Isaiah 17 [show/hide]Isaiah 17 An Oracle Concerning Damascus [17:1]An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. [2]The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. [3]The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the LORD of hosts. [4]And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. [5]And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. [6]Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten-- two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the LORD God of Israel. [7]In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. [8]He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense. [9]In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation. [10]For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, [11]though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain. [12]Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! [13]The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. [14]At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.
and another in Jeremiah 49 [show/hide]Jeremiah 49 Judgment on Ammon [49:1]Concerning the Ammonites. Thus says the LORD: "Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad, and his people settled in its cities? [2]Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will cause the battle cry to be heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it shall become a desolate mound, and its villages shall be burned with fire; then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, says the LORD. [3]"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, lament, and run to and fro among the hedges! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his officials. [4]Why do you boast of your valleys, O faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying, 'Who will come against me?' [5]Behold, I will bring terror upon you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts, from all who are around you, and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him, with none to gather the fugitives. [6]"But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD." Judgment on Edom [7]Concerning Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? [8]Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him. [9]If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only enough for themselves? [10]But I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more. [11]Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me." [12]For thus says the LORD: "If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. [13]For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes." [14]I have heard a message from the LORD, and an envoy has been sent among the nations: "Gather yourselves together and come against her, and rise up for battle! [15]For behold, I will make you small among the nations, despised among mankind. [16]The horror you inspire has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's, I will bring you down from there, declares the LORD. [17]"Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. [18]As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. [19]Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? [20]Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. [21]At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. [22]Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains." Judgment on Damascus [23]Concerning Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet. [24]Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in labor. [25]How is the famous city not forsaken, the city of my joy? [26]Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, declares the LORD of hosts. [27]And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad." Judgment on Kedar and Hazor [28]Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down. Thus says the LORD: "Rise up, advance against Kedar! Destroy the people of the east! [29]Their tents and their flocks shall be taken, their curtains and all their goods; their camels shall be led away from them, and men shall cry to them: 'Terror on every side!' [30]Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor! declares the LORD. For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made a plan against you and formed a purpose against you. [31]"Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, that dwells securely, declares the LORD, that has no gates or bars, that dwells alone. [32]Their camels shall become plunder, their herds of livestock a spoil. I will scatter to every wind those who cut the corners of their hair, and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, declares the LORD. [33]Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, an everlasting waste; no man shall dwell there; no man shall sojourn in her." Judgment on Elam [34]The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. [35]Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. [36]And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. [37]I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, [38]and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the LORD. [39]"But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the LORD." (ESV)
. Charging that these alleged predictions get “very little attention,” the author explained that both speak specifically about the future of Damascus, the capital of Syria and one of the oldest cities in the Middle East.

And Rosenberg knows these chapters well, as the purported prophesies are the basis for his new fiction book, “Damascus Countdown.” Isaiah 17 [show/hide]Isaiah 17 An Oracle Concerning Damascus [17:1]An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. [2]The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. [3]The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the LORD of hosts. [4]And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. [5]And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. [6]Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten-- two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the LORD God of Israel. [7]In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. [8]He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense. [9]In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation. [10]For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, [11]though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain. [12]Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! [13]The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. [14]At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.
is entitled, “A Prophecy Against Damascus,” a chapter that details impending disaster, and, in Jeremiah 49 [show/hide]Jeremiah 49 Judgment on Ammon [49:1]Concerning the Ammonites. Thus says the LORD: "Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad, and his people settled in its cities? [2]Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will cause the battle cry to be heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it shall become a desolate mound, and its villages shall be burned with fire; then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, says the LORD. [3]"Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, lament, and run to and fro among the hedges! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his officials. [4]Why do you boast of your valleys, O faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying, 'Who will come against me?' [5]Behold, I will bring terror upon you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts, from all who are around you, and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him, with none to gather the fugitives. [6]"But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD." Judgment on Edom [7]Concerning Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? [8]Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him. [9]If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only enough for themselves? [10]But I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more. [11]Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me." [12]For thus says the LORD: "If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. [13]For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes." [14]I have heard a message from the LORD, and an envoy has been sent among the nations: "Gather yourselves together and come against her, and rise up for battle! [15]For behold, I will make you small among the nations, despised among mankind. [16]The horror you inspire has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's, I will bring you down from there, declares the LORD. [17]"Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. [18]As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. [19]Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? [20]Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. [21]At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. [22]Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains." Judgment on Damascus [23]Concerning Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet. [24]Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in labor. [25]How is the famous city not forsaken, the city of my joy? [26]Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, declares the LORD of hosts. [27]And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad." Judgment on Kedar and Hazor [28]Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down. Thus says the LORD: "Rise up, advance against Kedar! Destroy the people of the east! [29]Their tents and their flocks shall be taken, their curtains and all their goods; their camels shall be led away from them, and men shall cry to them: 'Terror on every side!' [30]Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor! declares the LORD. For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made a plan against you and formed a purpose against you. [31]"Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, that dwells securely, declares the LORD, that has no gates or bars, that dwells alone. [32]Their camels shall become plunder, their herds of livestock a spoil. I will scatter to every wind those who cut the corners of their hair, and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, declares the LORD. [33]Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, an everlasting waste; no man shall dwell there; no man shall sojourn in her." Judgment on Elam [34]The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. [35]Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. [36]And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. [37]I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, [38]and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the LORD. [39]"But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the LORD." (ESV)
, Damascus’ fate is further described. Here’s just a portion of the former chapter:

“The Bible indicates clearly that Damascus will be utterly and completely destroyed at some point in the future — it will be a great cataclysmal [event] and it will be part of God’s judgment,” he explained, claiming that the city will be utterly obliterated.

Certainly some would dismiss this as mere fable, but Rosenberg notes that Damascus has never, to date, been destroyed and he believes that the prophesy could still hold true.

“They have been conquered, but it has never been obliterated and uninhabitable — even though it was conquered in the past it was a livable city and it is today,” he explained. “One begins to watch this mounting carnage and you start to wonder, look at the horrific cruelty of the Assad regime and the radical Islamists who are battling Assad.”

The Bible expert said he doesn’t see “clean hands in the fight”and he wonders if it’s possible “that the judgement of Damascus is not only coming” but that it could also be coming in our lifetime.

Rosenberg believes it’s important for people to get involved and help Syrians by feeding the hungry and providing water for the thirsty, especially considering what he believes could be impending Biblical judgement on the city.

“Most Christians don’t realize that there is not just one, but two [chapters] about the destruction of Damascus — drawing attention to its importance, not because we’re sure, but because we don’t know,” he said, urging that it is important for believers to pay attention to what happens in that city.

Rosenberg’s General Take on Biblical Prophesy

Prior to delving into the Syria question, Rosenberg responded to a more general — and a monumentally-loaded curiosity: What does the Bible say about the End Times? Quipping that it’s not only a question that has massive scope, but also one that could be a “doctoral dissertation,” the famed author focused mainly on the second coming of Christ — a central Biblical teaching. His worldview, in this regard, helped put his Syria views into perspective.

“The disciples asked Jesus, ‘Would you give us one sign of the End Times — when is this all coming to an end’ [Matthew 24 [show/hide]Matthew 24 Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple [24:1]Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. [2]But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." Signs of the Close of the Age [3]As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" [4]And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. [5]For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. [6]And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. [7]For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. [8]All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. [9]"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. [10]And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. [11]And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. [12]And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. [13]But the one who endures to the end will be saved. [14]And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The Abomination of Desolation [15]"So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), [16]then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. [17]Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, [18]and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. [19]And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! [20]Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. [21]For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. [22]And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. [23]Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. [24]For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. [25]See, I have told you beforehand. [26]So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. [27]For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [28]Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. The Coming of the Son of Man [29]"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30]Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [31]And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The Lesson of the Fig Tree [32]"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. [33]So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. [34]Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. [35]Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. No One Knows That Day and Hour [36]"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. [37]For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [38]For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, [39]and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [40]Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. [41]Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. [42]Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. [43]But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. [44]Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. [45]"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? [46]Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. [47]Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. [48]But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' [49]and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, [50]the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know [51]and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (ESV)
]. Jesus could have said, ‘No comment. Next question,’ but he didn’t,” Rosenberg said. “He actually walked through a whole list of signs to watch for that will be indicators that will culminate in the second coming of Christ [Mark 21 [show/hide]ERROR: No passage found for your query.
and Luke 14 [show/hide]Luke 14 Healing of a Man on the Sabbath [14:1]One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. [2]And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. [3]And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" [4]But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. [5]And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" [6]And they could not reply to these things. The Parable of the Wedding Feast [7]Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, [8]"When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, [9]and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. [10]But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. [11]For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." The Parable of the Great Banquet [12]He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. [13]But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, [14]and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." [15]When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" [16]But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. [17]And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' [18]But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.' [19]And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.' [20]And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' [21]So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' [22]And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' [23]And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. [24]For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'" The Cost of Discipleship [25]Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [26]"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. [27]Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. [28]For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? [29]Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, [30]saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' [31]Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32]And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. [33]So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt Without Taste Is Worthless [34]"Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? [35]It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (ESV)
].”

With this, the author explained that Jesus noted dozens of times that he would be back again — something that was widely documented and explained by the apostles. The Bible’s elements of prophesy, Rosenberg argues, are intended to give believers some idea surrounding what might happen before Jesus returns.

Does the Bible Predict Gods End Times Destruction of Syria and Is Prophesy About to Unfold Before Our Eyes?
A Syrian man crosses a street in Damascus on June 17, 2013. Russia said it would not permit a no-fly zone to be implemented over Syria, following reports that plans for such a measure were being drawn up by the United States. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

“He does want us to be aware that he’s coming and [that] we’re getting close so that we’re ready … you don’t know when he’s coming, but he’ll come like a thief in the night,” he continued, noting, though, that not everyone buys into these contentions. “There’s obviously skeptics and critics.”

The author further explained these elements, describing the notion that Jesus would come back “quickly” (found in the first chapter of Revelation). At the time, some interpreted this to mean that Christ’s return would be imminent, but that obviously wasn’t the case.

“And, yes, this was interpreted that he would come near to the end of the first century — it gave a sense of immanency,” Rosenberg said. “‘Quickly’ has been interpreted as soon — when he comes, he’s coming fast — he uses the expression of a flash of lightening.”

The author explains that this language was employed to urge people to be ready, as they would not know exactly when the Christian savior was returning. In what he called an “understandable disagreement,” some assumed that, since Christ didn’t return, that the so-called prophesies were actually not meant for the 20th and 21st centuries, but, instead, for people living in earlier centuries.

While Rosenberg explained that it is understandable why some would hold these views, once Israel was re-established as a state, the notion that the Bible wasn’t predicting what would come centuries after its contents were penned was turned on its head. The re-birth of the state of Israel — predicted in the Book of Ezekiel — he claims, solidified this.

“In the End Times, the Bible describes that the Jews will be coming back to the land in Ezekiel 36 [show/hide]Ezekiel 36 Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel [36:1]"And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. [2]Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you, 'Aha!' and, 'The ancient heights have become our possession,' [3]therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, [4]therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, [5]therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. [6]Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations. [7]Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach. [8]"But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. [9]For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. [10]And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. [11]And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. [12]I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. [13]Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, 'You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,' [14]therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord GOD. [15]And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD." The LORD's Concern for His Holy Name [16]The word of the LORD came to me: [17]"Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. [18]So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. [19]I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. [20]But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.' [21]But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. I Will Put My Spirit Within You [22]"Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. [23]And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. [24]I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. [25]I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. [26]And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27]And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. [28]You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. [29]And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. [30]I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. [31]Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. [32]It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. [33]"Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. [34]And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. [35]And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.' [36]Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. [37]"Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. [38]Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD." (ESV)
and 37,” he told TheBlaze. “For many, many, many centuries — basically for 19 centuries — even most of our church fathers … did not understand that God literally meant the physical, geopolitical birth of the state of Israel.”

These Christian leaders apparently thought that the Israel mentions were symbolic, but Rosenberg claims that the state’s re-creation forces believers to pause and re-read other portions of the Bible that were once also viewed as symbolic.

Hanegraaff’s Wildly Different Take on Christian Prophesy

Despite Rosenberg’s confidence in Biblical prophesy and its application to modern-day living, Hanegraaff has a wildly different take on the matter. In a phone interview with TheBlaze, he rejected the notion that Revelation and other alleged predictions apply to today’s world. However, there is one point on which the two experts agree: That Jesus Christ will return.

When asked that same loaded question about what the Bible says about the End Times, Hanegraaff was candid. Noting that “paradise lost becomes paradise restored,” he highlighted that those who want a relationship with Christ will have it, while those who have denied the savior will not enjoy this benefit.

“Well, the Bible says … that Jesus is going to appear a second time,” he said. “Those who have lived on the planet … Jesus said, do not be amazed by this … there will be the ultimate judgement that takes place, which those who have a relationship with God in this time-space continuum are given that relationship in eternity and those who did not want a relationship will have that validated in eternity as well.”

From there, though, Rosenberg and Hanegraaff couldn’t be more theologically separated — at least when it comes to the End Times. As for the latter Bible expert, well, he simply doesn’t believe that the book’s writers were looking so fervently into the future.

In fact, he contends that they were speaking about prophesy that would unfold in the immediate and that has already come to pass.

In Revelation, Hanegraaff argued that John wasn’t speaking about the 21st century. While he was clear that his “opinion is no better than anyone else’s,” the theologian outlined where he stands on the prophesy matter.

“When Jesus says that the apocalypse will soon take place and that the time is near … his words are meant to convey the events in the future,” he said. “If he wanted to say that 2,000 years later he could easily do that, but instead, he said the time is soon and the time is near so it has to do what is happening to the Seven Churches that God is circulating the letters to” (here’s more on the Seven Churches).

These literal churches, Hanegraaff contends, are being told by John what they will face — “an apocalypse of unparalleled proportions.” Through Revelation, he argues that John is telling the churches to be faithful and that their vindication would be eternal. While the Bible expert didn’t speak about Damascus explicitly (and we did not ask him about the verses that Rosenberg mentioned), his view on the Bible is clear: It’s not talking at all about the 21st century.

“I think the point we have to probably recognize is that all of the Bible was written for us, but none of it was written to us,” he contended. “This book of Revelation was written to seven churches.”

Hanegraaff said that End Times prophesy has been touted for centuries, but that none of it ever comes to pass. Rather than reading the scriptures for what they are, he believes that these theologians are “reading into the scriptures their own eschatological views.”

While it’s clear that Rosenberg and Hanegraaff have very different views on the Bible and its prophetic application, the debate surrounding Syria and its role in the Bible is a fascinating one. After all, one can certainly patently reject the applicability of the Old Testament verses that Rosenberg mentions. However, it is entirely interesting to note that Damascus is still a viable city, unlike many of the other localities in the Bible that have since vanished.

It could be by chance that Damascus is still around — or it could be part of a broader theological plan. Regardless of where one stands, considering these elements is certainly intriguing.

- Prophecy News Watch.Com

From Rubin Reports.Blogspot.Com

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Obama Doctrine: Alliance with Muslim Brotherhood to Promote Middle East “Stability”

By Barry Rubin

Here is what I wrote in October 2010. The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad al-Badi, had just given a sermon calling for the overthrow of Egypt’s government, which happened four months later, and a jihad against the United States, a country he considered weak, foolish, and retreating from the Middle East. I declared that this was:

“One of those obscure Middle East events of the utmost significance that is ignored by the Western mass media, especially because they happen in Arabic, not English; by Western governments, because they don’t fit their policies; and by experts, because they don’t mesh with their preconceptions.”

Two and a half years ago, who would ever have thought that the United States would enter an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood? There were hints in President Barack Obama’s Cairo speech, yet now it is clear that this is the new basis for regional security sought by the Obama Administration.

For all practical purposes the closest allies to the United States are no longer Israel, Saudi Arabia, and a moderate Egypt but an Islamist Egypt, an Islamist regime in Turkey, and the Syrian rebels led by the Brotherhood.

And literally every mainstream media outlet, every expert who speaks in public, every Democrat and the majority of Republican politicians still don’t realize that this is true.

There have been in American history the Truman Doctrine (help countries fight Communist takeover), the Nixon Doctrine (get local middle-sized powers to take part of the burden of the Cold War from the United States), the Carter Doctrine (defend Gulf Arab states from Iranian aggression), and the Reagan Doctrine (go on the offensive against Soviet expansionism). Now we have the Obama Doctrine:

An alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood to transform the Middle East.

Is this really an improvement on a situation based on alliances with pro-Western dictators? Now they are still dictators but are also anti-American and even more oppressive than their predecessors. After all, the old dictators, as horrible as they were, were content with the status quo (except for Iraq where the overthrow came without a new extremist regime taking power) . The Islamist ones want the fundamental transformation of their societies. By our times, the old dictators were resigned to the regional situation. The Islamist ones want a wave of new revolutions, terrorism, wars against Israel. And sooner or later they will strike out against America, just as they give their Salafist allies a free rein to do so.

The occasion for declaring that an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and similar groups is the new Obama Doctrine is, of course, the decision to supply arms to the Syrian rebels. As recently as April 28—a mere six weeks ago!—the New York Times was talking of an imminent rebel victory! Now, however, panic has set in about a total rebel collapse. This has prompted a rush to give weapons to the rebels even as they seem to have stopped the government advance. In some parts of the country the rebels are the ones advancing.

The weapons will be given to the Supreme Military Council which runs the Free Syrian Army (FSA). But while the FSA is nominally led by defected military officers, in fact  most of its soldiers hold views close to the Muslim Brotherhood. Thus, the fig leaf will be that these guns are being given to “moderates”—like the people Senator John McCain met with—while actually they will be given to people whose politics encompass hatred for Jews, Christians, the West generally, and ready to engage in what in American politics has come to be known as Homophobia and a War on Women.

If the rebels were to win, this would mean imposing a Muslim Brotherhood government on Syria. Let’s remember that the political opposition organization the United States recognizes and has financially supported is overwhelmingly run by the Brotherhood and it refuses to admit real moderates and Kurds on a serious level.

Note that this is the second Muslim Brotherhood entity the U.S. government has provided with weapons. The first was the Egyptian government, to which despite its questionable human rights record the Obama Administration has no objection to helping. The shipment of weapons is not even postponed as a gesture.

Thus, Egypt is an anti-American client state of America. And so is Tunisia. So, too, is Turkey, which is sort of a Muslim Brotherhood regime in Turkish style. The Turkish regime, it should be remembered, is the chief adviser to the Obama Administration on Syrian affairs and its favorite government in the region.

Why did Muslim Brotherhood-ruled Egypt endorse an American no-fly zone in Syria? In Islamic terms to invite in an infidel power to “invade” an Arab land cannot be justified by any Islamist in contrast to a non-Islamist Muslim-majority state. The Muslim Brotherhood can justify this support because the goal of this action will be to install a Muslim Brotherhood government, that’s why.

There are four places where U.S. policy is not (not yet?) backing the Brotherhood.

First, because of pro-Israel sentiment in the United States, the Obama Administration is still anti-Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood group which rules the Gaza Strip. Hamas has also committed too many terrorist attacks and is in revolt against the U.S.-backed nationalist Palestinian Authority.

In an unguarded moment, Obama’s then counterterrorism advisor let slip that he would engage Hamas if he thought he could get away with it. But this would be too big a step for even pro-Obama Democrats to accept. And besides right now Hamas is in a conflict with Egypt so that doesn’t have to be faced right now.

The second problem is with Jordan, where the Obama Administration still supports the monarchy though it often seems only absent-mindedly to do so. The Brotherhood, which is the chief opposition group, wants to overthrow the king but is afraid—precisely because the regime is so tough–to try violence. Who knows what will happen, though, if Syria is ever taken over by the rebels?

The third case is in Lebanon. The leadership of the Sunni Muslims there is pro-Western and moderate. Radical Islamists are in a small minority.  Both Sunni groups hate Hizballah, which is of course the ally and now co-belligerent of Iran and the Syrian regime. Still, there is no sign that the United States is going to do anything on Hizballah’s home court. It is somewhat ironic that the one place where the Sunni Muslim leadership is most moderate is where Obama isn’t acting even though Hizballah (another force Brennan declared moderate not long ago) is now a proven enemy beyond denial.

And fourth, the Obama Administration has not yet supported the Muslim Brotherhood against Israel. The strategy on this point is to get a two-state peace agreement and thus defuse the issue. Of course, the Islamists will not be satisfied with that result even if it happens, which it won’t.

Why is the United States backing the Brotherhood in Syria? Most immediately it is being done in order to prevent an Iranian bloc victory in Syria, even though the Brotherhood and al-Qaida are on the same side there. Except in Iraq, U.S. policy is backing the Sunnis over the Shia.

Beyond that, however, the Obama Administration has argued that the Brotherhood is the best way to defeat al-Qaida, which wants to attack America directly. It has also claimed that the Brotherhood will inevitably moderate, the same argument that was once heard about Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Yasir Arafat, Ruhollah Khomeini, and Saddam Hussein.

Are the Sunnis the lesser of two evils compared to Iran? Arguably, yes. But that doesn’t mean that the Sunni Islamists are better than the non-Islamists who range from nationalist army officers to traditionalist conservatives, and pro-democratic liberals.

At any rate, the new policy is in place. America has had many unlikely allies in its history—including Stalin and a number of Third World dictators. But have any been such strange partners as those who would like to kill all the Jews, wipe out Christianity, reduce women to permanent second-class citizens, and murder gays? Indeed, these are not only strange but unnecessary and mistaken allies.

An interesting MEMRI piece gives an example of Sunni closing of ranks. Muslim Brotherhood and chief Sunni Islamist guide Yusuf al-Qaradawi attacks Hizballah (Islamist but on the Shia side) and extols his friendship with King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia (anti-Islamist but on the Sunni side).

And here’s another Sunni Islamist, a Kuwaiti, wishing in a MEMRI video that  he could personally slit the throats of Hizballah soldiers. Why is this significant? Because Kuwait has a lot of Shia with whom the Sunni Islamists have worked pretty well. The new Sunni-Shia conflict may also bitterly divide Kuwait. What this all means is that the Sunni Islamist war against the Shia supersedes the Islamist war against the non-Islamists.

And on demonstrations in Turkey see this source: On Turkish demonstrations for English-speakers.

Breaking: Reformist Candidate Wins Big in Iran’s Election

Posted: 16 Jun 2013 06:34 AM PDT

By Barry Rubin

Hasan Rowhani, the only reformist candidate allowed in Iran’s presidential election, has won a landslide victory. There won’t even need to be a second, run-off round since he won over 50 percent of the vote.

If this was a regime maneuver to portray Iran as suddenly moderate, it seems to be working. Around the globe, mass media outlets are  claiming that Iran has been transformed and now is the time for the West to show patience or make concessions.’

Consider this: A stronger man and a more dedicated reformer and moderate than Rowhani, Muhammad Khatami, was president for eight years and did not accomplish a single reform under this regime. Khatami, according to what is being claimed now, broke the power of the radical regime in 1997. That was 16 years ago. And yet the radical regime is still there.

Did the Tehran regime put in a seemingly moderate but actually helpless or compliant front so it could claim moderation and thus stall for time to build nuclear weapons? Or did he masses simply overwhelmed the regime so that his victory was undeniable? Perhaps the regime figured that a second straight election stolen by the regime from the reformists–the previous one was in 2009–would set off a revolt.

New York Times correspondent Thomas Erdbrink  reported that Tehran has turned into a massive street celebration. The police and militia vigilantes stayed off the streets where pop songs ruled instead of regime dress standards. People chanted, Erdbrink tweeted, “We are celebrating that we are free after 8 years of Ahmadinejad.”

Since supreme guide Ali Khamenei congratulated Rowhani it appears that the rulers have accepted his victory and he will not be denied office.

No matter what the regime’s intentions or acceptance, the outcome will be this:

1. Rowhani will have little power. Remember that a moderate already served eight years as president and accomplished nothing. Rowhani is clearly loyal to the regime or he wouldn’t have been the only reformist candidate who was approved for the election by the regime.

2. A lot of Iranians will be very happy. One big thing they will hope for is better management of the economy.

3. There will be many analysts and politicians and government officials saying that since Iran has now turned in a moderate direction, it must be given a chance to show whether this is true. Rowhani is a very articulate and glib man. He will know how to make things look good in Washington especially compared to Ahmadinejad’s outrageously radical style.

4. Therefore, the Obama Administration will spend the rest of 2013 in exploratory negotiations as Iran moves forward toward nuclear weapons. People will talk about gestures toward Iran like reducing sanctions and certainly not increasing them. Russia, Turkey, and China will continue to get waivers on sanctions.

5.  This will have no effect on U.S. policy in Syria, giving weapons to rebels.

6. What will this mean for the Green Movement, the reformist forces some of whom have been put under house arrest? These were the people from whom the 2009 election was stolen? Would Rowhani be like the sincerely reformist president Muhammad Khatami who, despite real efforts, had no successes in his eight years in office?

Many analysts–including myself–cynically suggested that the election would be once again fixed so a regime candidate would win. In retrospect, of course, this was wrong. In hindsight, perhaps it was a tip-off (if the regime wanted Rowhani to win–that it let in several regime supporters who took votes from each other. In the end, though, it didn’t matter. The key decision was to allow an honest tally of votes.

At any rate, while the Iran regime has not changed policy really, many will think it has done so. If the regime really wanted to change its aggressive and nuclear-oriented policy, it would have put into power a regime supporter who would announce a new set of positions. At any rate, all of these questions about Iranian politics and foreign policy will have to be seriously evaluated now.

From Flash Traffic Blog Wordpress.Com

Hassan Rouhani officially wins Iranian presidency, meets with Khamenei. What it means. How to pray. Insights from an Iranian Christian leader. by joelcrosenberg

President-elect Hassan Rouhani (right) meets with his boss and mentor, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

It is now official: Hassan Rouhani has officially won Iran’s presidential elections. But make no mistake — he is not the moderate the media and Western politicians are portraying him as. He is a Radical Shia cleric who is loyal to the Ayatollah Khamenei. But he has been chosen because he will try to provide a new face of the regime, one that will appear to be more pragmatic and willing to cooperate with the West, in contrast to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I’ve asked some Iranian Christian leaders their views of Rouhani, and how we can best pray for the people of Iran.

Here’s what one leader sent back to me:

1)      Dr. Rouhani is absolutely in the pro-regime camp. He is loyal to the Ayatollah Khamenei and is committed to obeying his wishes and orders.

2)     What makes Rouhani different is that he is just one step closer to the reformists than other candidates. The week before the election, Rouhani mentioned that he will work to normalize Iran’s international relations. He explicitly said that he will do that without compromising Iran’s nuclear plans. He also mentioned that he will work on lifting sanctions without giving in to the control of the West. He was the only candidate that made such statements. So suddenly people had/have a small ray of hope.

3)      We must remember that Khamenei is the supreme power and will make all the important decisions. This includes relationship with the west and nuclear program. So Rouhani promised something that he has absolutely no authority to do. His decision making will be limited to some internal affairs and economy and even that with limited authority.

4)      Khamenei and the clergy have set up a power structure so that there are layers of protection for them. They use the government as their puppet (a front) to implement their national and international wishes. But if something goes wrong, they have the government to blame for it. When that happens, he (Khamenei) steps in as the good guy to give orders to fix the problem. For example, they totally blame Ahmadinejad for the economy, the sanctions, and the fall of the currency (as if they had no part in it and it was all Ahmadinejad’s fault).

5)      Khamenei and the clergy in power also have the Revolutionary Guards as another layer of protection. All the violence, arrests, killings, and oppression is done by the Revolutionary Guards. Again, for the most part, they are implementing the wishes of Khamenei and the clergy. However, if something happens (e.g. the killings and rapes that happened in Kahrizak prison), then Khamenei steps in as an innocent hero and corrects the situation (he condemned what happened in Kahrizak and ordered it to be closed).

6)      Most people in Iran are aware of the strategy in 4 and 5. So they are not fooled. They directly blame Khamenei and clergy for all that is happening in Iran. They are looking for a candidate to stand up to the clergy. Their highest hope was Rafsanjani (No. 2 man in power in Iran). But he was not allowed to run. If he had run, people would have voted for him despite the proven fact that he was a corrupt man. Their only reason to vote for him would have been to have a little hope that he will stand up to the clergy.

7)      I expect that Rouhani’s will immediately try to bring some hope to the people of Iran. But practically, he will not be able to do much. However, there is a possible scenario that may exist behind the scenes: it is possible the Khamenei will use Rouhani to buy more time for his nuclear programs. This is how it works: Rouhani will start negotiating with the West. He will seem to be a “good guy” and will look like that he is making some progress. After months of negotiation, when both sides seem to be coming to an agreement, Khamenei will step in and veto the decision. There is also a slight chance that Khamenei indeed wants to establish relationship with the West and will use Rouhani to do that (but this is very unlikely).

This what I pray:

1)      That Rouhani, in order to show that things are different now, to give a good impression, and to buy the support and confidence of people, will set free the Christians and other prisoners of conscience who are in jail.

2)      That persecution of Christians will stop.

3)      That the government in order to reconnect with people will give more freedom of gathering, less internet and phone control, less jamming, and fewer websites to block.

4)      My main prayer as always is against the spirit of Islam which is the spirit of fear and terror. I pray that through all these, millions of Iranian Muslims who are captives in the hand of our enemy, Satan, through the religion of Islam, will be set free.

Hassan Rowhani — endorsed by the only Iranian politician who has ever publicly called for Israel to be destroyed with nuclear weapons.

You’ve really got to hand it to Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The man is one of the most evil tyrants on the face of the earth. He is pursuing nuclear weapons to wipe Israel and the U.S. off the map. He wants to usher in the caliphate of the Twelfth Imam and bring about the apocalyptic End of Days. Yet he is desperately trying to prevent Israel — or any other country — from launching preemptive military strikes and neutralizing Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Thus, Khamenei is trying to use the rigged current presidential elections to recast Iran as suddenly moving in a more “moderate” direction, and thus persuading the West to ease up on economic sanctions and pressure Israel to back off.

And the Western media is totally buying it.

Consider the headlines this morning, all of which are declaring Hassan Rowhani (also spelled “Rouhani”) as the frontrunner and a “moderate” who could be the best answer to bringing peace to the world:

In Iran, moderates see Hassan Rouhani as best alternative to conservatives (Washington Post)

Moderate in Iranian Election Takes Strong Lead in Early Returns (New York Times)

· Iran Election: Moderate Cleric In Lead: Early results show Hassan Rouhani, seen as the most moderate of the presidential candidates, is leading. (Sky News)

The man who could bring peace: Hassan Rowhani’s bid for Iran presidency raises hopes of nuclear deal (Executive Magazine)

Moderate ahead in race for Iran presidency (Agence France Presse)

Give me a break. Rowhani is no moderate. He is a disciple of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late fanatical tyrant of Tehran. He was a senior national security advisor to Khomeini during the brutal war with Iraq that left a million people dead. He was Iran’s nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 and is both a loyal defender of Iran’s nuclear program and a wily and experienced diplomat.

But here’s the one fact you need to know that will help you understand Rowhani — he was endorsed by the only prominent Iranian politician who has ever publicly called for Israel to be destroyed with nuclear weapons.

· RAFSANJANI ENDORSES MODERATE ROWHANI FOR IRAN PRESIDENCY (Agence France Presse/Al Arabiya, June 11, 2013)

· RAFSANJANI SAYS MUSLIMS SHOULD USE NUCLEAR WEAPON AGAINST ISRAEL (Iran Press Service, December 14, 2001)

“Iran’s former moderate president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday endorsed ally Hassan Rowhani in the June 14 election, saying the candidate is ‘more suitable’ than others for presidency,” reported Agence France Presse. “‘I will vote for Dr. Rowhani, who entered the race after consulting me,’ Rafsanjani said. ’I consider him to be more suitable (than other candidates) to steer the executive branch,’ he said referring to the slate of five other hopefuls, most of whom are conservatives.”

In the 2005 elections, the Western media called Rafsanjani  a “moderate” and a “pragmatist” who would help Iran recast its relationship with the West and bring about peace. Now Rafsanjani — who was banned by the Khamenei regime from running in this “election” — has endorsed Rowhani, the so-called ”moderate.” Yet as I wrote during the 2005 elections, Rafsanjani is one of the leading extremists in Iran. “Rafsanjani, who previously served as Iran’s president from 1989 to 1997, was neither a ‘moderate’ nor a ‘reformer.’ He certainly was no ‘pragmatist’ with whom the West could do business. To the contrary, he is one of the father’s of Iran’s nuclear program and an outspoken advocate of Iran and her radical Islamic allies building offensive nuclear weapons.”

Exhibit A — “If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world,” Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani told the crowd at the traditional Friday prayers in Tehran, the Iran Press Service reported in December of 2001. “Analysts said not only Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani’s speech was the strongest against Israel, but also this is the first time that a prominent leader of the Islamic Republic openly suggests the use of nuclear weapon against the Jewish State.”

Now, let’s be clear: Just because Rowhani is suddenly emerging as the “frontrunner” doesn’t mean he will win. There could be a run-off election, and someone else could suddenly “surge” to the front. One possibility is the current Mayor of Tehran, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf.

Let’s wait and see exactly what happens.

But for now we can say two things are true:

· First, whichever candidate “wins” will win because he was hand-chosen by the Ayatollah Khamenei to be the face of the regime. He will not have been chosen by the people.

· Second, if Rowhani “wins,” we will know that the Western media and many world governments will say that a “moderate” and “reformer” and “pragmatist” has won, but that will be a lie. Rowhani is a first-rate extremist. He wants to build The Bomb and destroy Israel and usher in the End of Days, just like Khamenei. But unlike Ahmadinejad, Rowhani is a wily coyote. He’s a smooth, sophisticated and experienced operator. He’s already got the media fooled about who he is. That’s just the beginning.

Please keep praying for the people of Iran to be set free from the slavery of such cruel and evil men.

——————————

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From PJ Media.Com

From Jihad Watch.Org

Robert Spencer: The Muslim Family: An Empire of Fear

Jun 17, 2013 12:13 pm | Robert

In PJ Lifestyle today I discuss the Islamic nations’ opposition to a UN resolution decrying violence against women: Last Friday, Islamic member nations of the United Nations Human Rights Council rejected as un-Islamic a resolution condemning violence against women. The Kuwait News Agency reported that “the rejections include the paragraph,…

read more

AFDI Islamic apartheid ads running in San Francisco!

Jun 17, 2013 12:01 pm | Robert

Pamela Geller tells the appalling story of how our pro-freedom ads have been delayed: After months of procrastination and dhimmitude, the San Francisco MTA finally posted our Islamic apartheid ads on city buses (above are the first of the pics). They have been running the libelous “Israel is an apartheid…

read more

Reza Aslan already misses Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Jun 17, 2013 11:25 am | Robert

As I have noted many times, our increasingly authoritarian politically correct culture has thrust all sorts of mediocrities into the limelight — people who never would have garnered any public attention were it not for the fact that they mouth the accepted dogmas of the day. One of the foremost…

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“Allah will punish you all!” Muslim attacks other Muslims with machete in UK mosque for not praying properly

Jun 17, 2013 09:24 am | Robert

When you have a religion that teaches that human beings are the executors of the wrath and vengeance of the supreme being, and that apostates and heretics should be murdered, this kind of thing is going to happen. “‘Allah will punish you all!’: Terror at mosque as worshipers and policeman…

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Al-Azhar Friday sermon repeats genocidal hadith: Muhammad predicted that Muslims would kill Jews, and Jews would hide behind stones and trees

Jun 17, 2013 08:54 am | Robert

In October 2001, right after 9/11, the New York Times called Al-Azhar “the revered mosque, the distinguished university, the leading voice of the Sunni Muslim establishment.” It quoted a Muslim cleric: “Al Azhar is the only institution in the world that has learned the moderate Islam and taught it…

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Pakistan Taliban demands “protection money” from local businessmen to sustain jihad

Jun 17, 2013 08:43 am | Robert

Apparently there are not enough Infidels around to finance the jihad by means of the jizya, as Islamic law envisions. “TTP demands ‘protection money’ from Pakistani businessmen to sustain jihad,” from ANI, June 17: The Pakistani Taliban has reportedly asked two local businessmen to pay ‘protection money’ to help militants…

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Iran’s Thug-In-Chief-elect Rowhani: Not ready to suspend uranium enrichment

Jun 17, 2013 08:33 am | Robert

#Live: President-elect #Rowhani says #Iran not ready to suspend enrichment of uranium— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) June 17, 2013 But…but…he’s a “moderate”!…

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Syria: Sunni Muslims blow up Shi’ite mosque

Jun 17, 2013 08:26 am | Robert

Islamophobia once again rears its ugly head as Sunni Muslims murder Shi’ites in Syria, and it is all no doubt the fault of Zionists and/or “right-wing extremists.” The Sunni-Shi’ite Jihad continues to escalate in Syria, where it could turn into an international confrontation when American (pro-Sunni jihadists) and Iranian (pro-Shi’ite…

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Egyptian politician: Jews use Christian child’s blood for Passover matzos

Jun 17, 2013 08:26 am | Robert

Watch him grin as he says it. Is it because he is delighted at the thought of blood and murder, or because he knows just how big the lie is that he is perpetuating? This blood libel, of course, originated in Christian Europe. Yet it was never universally accepted….

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No doubt

Jun 17, 2013 08:20 am | Robert

I have no doubt whatsoever that history will vindicate me completely and prove me entirely correct. There is also no doubt that getting to the point where that is obvious to everyone is going to be devastating beyond measure. Willful ignorance will have its price: the denial of the reality…

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Jordanian newspaper quotes Qur’an to argue “let’s kill the Jews everywhere”

Jun 17, 2013 05:45 am | Robert

“You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers [to be] the Jews…” (Qur’an 5:82) Usually this works out in practice that the most intense of the people in animosity toward the Jews are the Muslims. Note also Batayena’s Qur’an quotes. Will Muslims in…

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Morning

“Thy Redeemer.”
Isaiah 54:5

Jesus, the Redeemer, is altogether ours and ours forever. All the offices of Christ are held on our behalf. He is king for us, priest for us, and prophet for us. Whenever we read a new title of the Redeemer, let us appropriate him as ours under that name as much as under any other. The shepherd’s staff, the father’s rod, the captain’s sword, the priest’s mitre, the prince’s sceptre, the prophet’s mantle, all are ours. Jesus hath no dignity which he will not employ for our exaltation, and no prerogative which he will not exercise for our defence. His fulness of Godhead is our unfailing, inexhaustible treasure-house.

His manhood also, which he took upon him for us, is ours in all its perfection. To us our gracious Lord communicates the spotless virtue of a stainless character; to us he gives the meritorious efficacy of a devoted life; on us he bestows the reward procured by obedient submission and incessant service. He makes the unsullied garment of his life our covering beauty; the glittering virtues of his character our ornaments and jewels; and the superhuman meekness of his death our boast and glory. He bequeaths us his manger, from which to learn how God came down to man; and his Cross to teach us how man may go up to God. All his thoughts, emotions, actions, utterances, miracles, and intercessions, were for us. He trod the road of sorrow on our behalf, and hath made over to us as his heavenly legacy the full results of all the labours of his life. He is now as much ours as heretofore; and he blushes not to acknowledge himself “our Lord Jesus Christ,” though he is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Christ everywhere and every way is our Christ, forever and ever most richly to enjoy. O my soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit! call him this morning, “thy Redeemer.”

Evening

“I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse.”
Song of Solomon 5:1

The heart of the believer is Christ’s garden. He bought it with his precious blood, and he enters it and claims it as his own. A garden implies separation. It is not the open common; it is not a wilderness; it is walled around, or hedged in. Would that we could see the wall of separation between the church and the world made broader and stronger. It makes one sad to hear Christians saying, “Well, there is no harm in this; there is no harm in that,” thus getting as near to the world as possible. Grace is at a low ebb in that soul which can even raise the question of how far it may go in worldly conformity. A garden is a place of beauty, it far surpasses the wild uncultivated lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in his life than the best moralist, because Christ’s garden ought to produce the best flowers in all the world. Even the best is poor compared with Christ’s deservings; let us not put him off with withering and dwarf plants. The rarest, richest, choicest lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls his own. The garden is a place of growth. The saints are not to remain undeveloped, always mere buds and blossoms. We should grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid where Jesus is the Husbandman, and the Holy Spirit the dew from above. A garden is a place of retirement. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us reserve our souls as a place in which he can manifest himself, as he doth not unto the world. O that Christians were more retired, that they kept their hearts more closely shut up for Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like Martha, with much serving, so that we have not the room for Christ that Mary had, and do not sit at his feet as we should. The Lord grant the sweet showers of his grace to water his garden this day.

- Bible Gateway.Com

Psalm 58:6–8

Several psalms call upon God to take revenge on the enemy. Yet Jesus taught that we should love our enemies (see Mt 5:44). And the apostle Paul wrote, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath” (Ro 12:19). How, then, do we interpret psalms that call a curse on the enemy?

Several points help put this question into perspective:

(1) Cursing the wicked was, for Old Testament saints, more a plea for God’s justice than a cry for personal revenge. Their reasoning may have been this: Sinners show contempt for God’s honor when they cause the innocent to suffer. The writers of the psalms could not tolerate the idea of God standing by, permitting these wrongs to go unpunished. They begged for his justice and his wrath to be carried out.

(2) Though David asked God to show no mercy to the wicked (see Ps 59:5, for example), he himself showed mercy several times when he could have taken revenge on the guilty: to Saul (see 1Sa 24:8–13; 26:8–11), to Shimei (see 2Sa 16:5–13) and to Absalom (see 2Sa 18:5). In those cases, David left the judgment of sinners in the hands of God, the “Judge of the earth” (Ps 94:2).

(3) The writers of the psalms, though they had the benefit of Old Testament law, had not experienced the new dimensions that were given through Christ. It’s hardly fair to expect Old Testament people to act “Christian” before Jesus Christ even came.

No, we should not pray for revenge. Like the psalmists, we must trust God to right the wrongs of this world. And with Christ’s help, we can love and pray for those who mistreat us.

-  Bible Gateway.Com

“Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.” Ezekiel 16:1,2

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

God gives to his people riches, and they offer them before the shrine of their covetousness. He gives them talent, and they prostitute it to the service of their ambition. He gives them judgement, and they pander to their own advancement, and seek not the interest of his kingdom. He gives them influence; that influence they use for their own aggrandisement, and not for his honour. This is like taking his gold, and his jewels, and hanging them upon the neck of the god Ashtaroth. Ah! Let us take care when we think of our sins, that we set them in this light. It is taking God’s mercies to lavish them upon his enemies. Now, if you were to make me a present of some token of your regard, I think it would be the meanest and most ungracious thing in the world I could do to take it over to your enemy, and say, “There, I come to pay my respects.” To pay my respects to your foe with that which had been the token of your favour! There are two kings at enmity with one another—two powers that have been at battle, and one of them has a rebellious subject, who is caught in the very act of treason, and condemned to die. The king very graciously pardons him, and then munificently endows him. “There,” says he, “I give you a thousand crown-pieces;” and that man takes the bounty, and devotes it to increasing the resources of the king’s enemies. Now, that were a treason and baseness too vile to be committed by worldly men. Alas then! That is what you have done. You have bestowed on God’s enemies what God gave to you as a love-token. Oh, men and brethren, let us bow ourselves in dust and ashes before God.

For meditation: Is a readiness to use God’s gifts selfishly the reason why he appears to say “No” to so many of your prayer-requests (James 4:3-4)?

Sermon no. 323
18 June (Preached 27 May 1860)   —   Charles Spurgeon

- Bible Gateway.Com

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

The Apostle Paul is very specific here in defining a fatherly role and gives three special characteristics of a Christian father. We fathers tend to apply them in reverse order but Paul states them as:

A. Encouraging

Like children, we are often tempted to give up. When that happens, the real need is for someone to come along side who can identify with and encourage them to keep going. A Christian father is one who is always there to give an encouraging word when needed. And the need is often!

B. Comforting

This reference is to the kind of comfort that helps a child or another person carry a burden of grief or pain. Just by coming alongside in this concerned way, the burden is made lighter and the pain is lessened. We were not created to be alone, especially in grief. The Christian father and disciple maker is also always there for times of comfort giving.

C. Exhorting

This is the direction and assertiveness characteristic that should be evident in the father/disciple maker relationship. There are times when the father moves from the side to stand squarely in front and confront them with something that they need to face. The dangers in not exercising this responsibility are very great and should compel us to be diligent toward both our children and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

J.J. Andrews is an elderly Lutheran pastor friend in Rangoon, Burma—now Myanmar—with a great father’s heart for ministry. Several years ago his daughter died of viral hepatitis. Two months later his wife passed away from a broken heart. Six months after that one of his sons suddenly died. He was crushed. He said, “I felt like Job, only no one visited me.”

A young Filipino staff member of Open Doors heard about this situation. He made a special trip just to visit Brother J.J. and encourage him. J.J. said, “Thank you for coming in my darkest hour.”

Some months later, I was visiting Brother J.J. in Rangoon. He had his young grand-children laughing and playing around his home. He smiled as he shared unforgettable lessons with me. The words I remember verbatim were, “God rewarded me for my perseverance and healed my broken heart!” The ministry of encouragement is straight from the heart of Father God.

RESPONSE: Today I will commit to being an encourager, comforter and exhorter.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for Christian fathers who have modelled Your heart with their children.

- Bible Gateway.Com