The Irony of an Insult

The big news in the last few days has been about the Iraqi "journalist" who threw his shoes at a President Bush while he was giving a press conference recently on his trip to Baghdad. The man, who I won't dignify by naming him, stood up, and while yelling at The President, took off one shoe and then the other and hurled them one at a time at The President nearly hitting him. He was then quickly (although not quickly enough as far as I'm concerned) tackled by security and summarily removed from the room. Although it appears The President was not in any danger (other than getting smacked in the face with a size 10 shoe) this is still a major security incident and an outright slap in the face to Mr Bush.

In the Arab world when you REALLY want to insult someone you tell them they are lower than the dirt you are walking on and the way you do that is by throwing your shoes at them. You'll recall the news footage of the Iraqi's hitting the large bronze statue of Saddam with their shoes in the face once it was toppled. This is indeed a very serious insult.

Obviously in the mind of this Iraqi journalist, President Bush is deserving of this kind of public scorn and humiliation for what he perceives has been done to his country. However, it strikes me as ironic that this man felt he had the freedom to commit this act. You see, he was able to perpetrate this very act because he now has the freedom to do so. If he had hurled his shoes, let alone a verbal insult, at Saddam Hussein he would have been executed, his house would have been bulldozed and they would be playing soccer in the streets with his head!!! It's ironic that the very person who is mainly responsible for this man's new found freedom and liberty, President Bush, would also be the target of his scorn. President Bush for his credit acknowledged that "this is what happens in free societies". He is a class act through and through and I believe that history will treat his legacy well.

As for that Iraqi journalist? Well, let's just say that when it comes to your freedom, America says "You're welcome" and leave it at that.

Newsweek tries to right a "wrong".

In what has to be the most disrespectful and dishonest piece of journalism written on this subject to date, Newsweek's "religion writer" Lisa Miller has taken a very hard jab at the religious side of the gay marriage debate. In her piece "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage" she basically tries to argue that The Bible is NOT specific when it comes to the issue and that when religious people use this as a basis for their opposition towards gay marriage they are merely allowing their own interpretation to guide their decisions. The byline of her piece states: Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture. But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side. Really? Well since it is obvious to me that Lisa Miller has not READ The Bible, I've decided to help her out with what it DOES say about this issue.

First, it's interesting to note that she uses the age-old tactic of quoting from the Old Testament when she describes the different types of "marriages" that God allowed in ancient times. This is something that people often do when they want you to believe that God actually said you COULD have 10 wives or husbands. Well, let's use the very document that she pretends to be referencing from to make her argument. What does God say about marriage?

In Genesis 2:22-24 God puts Adam to sleep and removes a rib from him in order to create woman. He then present her to Adam who uses poetry when he lays his eyes upon her and calls her woman. The next verse 2:24 states the following: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. This is the first time that The Bible talks of marriage as between a man and a woman but it is not the last.

Let's look at what Jesus says about marriage in the New Testament. In Mark 10 Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees and they attempt to trick him into answering a question about divorce. Knowing the hardness of their hearts Jesus answers them this way: But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain (the two) shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain (two), but one flesh. Did you see what just happened? When Jesus was given the chance to speak of the issue of marriage he VALIDATED the Old Testament Scripture as written in Genesis. He also reiterated that God's plan for marriage is one woman and one man. Could it be any clearer than that? No I think not.

So why then would Newsweek take on this issue and blatantly LIE about it? Because they know that most people haven't or won't take the time to read what The Bible says about this issue. They would rather just listen to the media shape their argument for them and then regurgitate it at the opportune time.

Is it possible that there is some other agenda at work here? Absolutely! This is Newsweek's way of protesting the Proposition 8 vote in California recently. They, along with most members of the MSM and Hollywood are outraged that this actually passed. They are thinking to themselves: How DARE the people vote this down!!! What is wrong with them? They obviously don't know the truth behind this issue because they are all stupid and it is up to US to educate them.

The TRUTH of the matter is that we are VERY educated on this issue and we know EXACTLY what The Bible says about it. Regardless of how many "progressive scholars" they trot out to say that we are narrow-minded, intolerant, unloving and stupid WE know why we believe what we believe and we have The Bible to back us up.

The crux of the argument for Newsweek though is not the issue of marriage at all but the opposition to homosexuality itself. Miller claims it's because "we evangelicals" have a hang up with "sex between men" but are somehow ok with lesbian sex. Again, for a "religious writer" she knows very little about her stated subject. The Bible has a great deal to say about homosexuality which for some reason Lisa Miller can't seem to find either. (I'm seriously thinking of sending her my highlighted, underlined and dog-eared Bible so that she can use it as research for her next "religious" article.) For example in Romans 1 we read: "For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." No ambiguity there, right? I mean can The Bible state it any clearer than it does right there? No, I think not.

And lastly, she resorts to the whole "living document" argument often used by liberals when discussing their opposition to the 2nd Amendment. She states: "Biblical literalists will disagree, but the Bible is a living document, powerful for more than 2,000 years because its truths speak to us even as we change through history." So if we choose to believe that The Bible is to be taken literally then we are obviously not allowing ourselves and out thinking to "change through history". You know, EVOLVE! However, what she fails to understand is that The Bible's truths are supposed to be applied to our lives so that IT changes us, not the other way around.

This whole article is somewhat disingenuous in the fact that Miller does her best to justify the homosexual lifestyle as acceptable in the eyes of God and counts on the fact that most of her loyal readers won't take the time to see if what she says is true. This is in fact a veiled attack on evangelical and fundamental Christianity at is core and it's goal is to further demean bible-believing Christians on the national and world stage. As I stated in my earlier End Days series.....we are getting very close The End and the signs are visible everywhere you look. This attack on God's Word and on His people is just the latest salvo.

I would also suggest reading Dr Albert Mohler's latest blog on this very article. Very good! It can be found here: http://www.albertmohler.com/

Terrorism STILL a threat!

In the last seven years here in the United States we have been warned from time to time about the possibility of new attacks by al Queda or other terrorist organizations. However, thanks to the commitment from President Bush and the often criticized and ridiculed Department of Homeland Security, we have not been attacked again since 9/11. This is cause for both celebration and for concern.

First we should all celebrate that we have not had to endure another attack on our country and have not had to witness our citizens get murdered in cold blood as we did on 9/11. However, this is also a cause to be concerned because this also means that many of us have forgotten what happened that day and have become complacent.

There should be no mistaking the agenda of our enemies. They mean to kill as many of us as possible and they mean to continue trying to do this unless we wipe them out. We should remember that even though we have not been attacked again that does not mean that they haven't tried! On the contrary, they have tried many times and we have been fortunate, lucky or cautious enough to have uncovered the plot before it was executed.

Take for instance the plot by terrorists to hijack and explode several commercial airline jets flying from England to the United States. If this would have been allowed to proceed they would have killed thousands and would have caused millions in material damage. The psychological effect of this attack would have also been devastating. Imagine if you needed to be concerned any time a commercial airliner flew over your house or city. You would always be wondering if this would be the one that would come crashing down. And if you think we have strict regulations for passenger screening at the airport now just imagine what would happen if they somehow used planes against us AGAIN! We might all be traveling nude for the foreseeable future!!! Thankfully, due to the cooperation between international authorities this plot was foiled before it could be implemented.

However, we should not think that this will be the last attempt. The attacks this last week in Mumbai prove that there are terrorist organizations in the world today that are well equipped, well funded and willing to unleash destruction on a massive scale anywhere in the world. As long as radical Islam is a force in the world this threat will continue.

One other thing that we need to think about is the fact that terrorists are by nature very patient. They will take the time to plan, train and equip their soldiers before they launch their attack and unfortunately that gives them an edge. You see, most people have very short memories. After 9/11 EVERYONE was worried about terrorism. Today there are some that still think about it but for the most part it's not something that most people concern themselves with on a daily basis. This is exactly the kind of behavior that terrorists expect from the general public and they use this to their advantage.

Take for example the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. It was by all accounts a failed operation since they did not achieve their objective of toppling the towers. So what did they do? Did they scrap the entire idea and move on to other targets? Yes and no. Yes, they did go on to attack the USS Cole, the Khobar Towers and the Embassies in Africa but simultaneously they were training for and architecting a long term plan to take down the World Trade Center which they did 8 years later. The lesson to be learned here is that they are patient, persistent and dedicated to their cause and that makes them a threat.

If we are to survive and eventually vanquish this foe we must learn to think like them and start taking this serious. We should continue to live our lives and not live in fear but we must also remain vigilant. We are one mushroom cloud away from a major tragedy in this country. They are already planning their next event and in the words of Osama bin Laden the next attack on the United States will be "spectacular". You can bet on it.

How close are we? Part IV

As promised, this is the last installment of the End Times series. This time we will deal with one of the most intriguing subjects of the last days time period: The Antichrist. This individual has been immortalized on the silver screen through the "Omen" series and although the story line is very close to the actual biblical account, it is more Hollywood than not. Let's see what The Bible says about this person.

First you must understand that the term "antichrist" only appears in one book in the entire Bible, the Book of 1 John or John's First Epistle (Letter). He uses is to not only describe the "person" The Antichrist, but also to explain that it is a "type" of person as well. Let's look at what he says:

In the following verse he describes both:

1 John 2:18-Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

In this verse he explains who qualifies as an antichrist:

1 John 2:22-Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Therefore anyone who denies that Jesus is the Messiah is a "type" of antichrist.

He also goes on to talk about :"antichrist" as a type of spirit that is present in the world system:

1 John 4:3-And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world

So as you can see antichrist is not only depicted as the coming world leader spoken of in Revelation but also someone who denies that Jesus was who He said he was-The Christ. There are however, verses in The Bible that actually speak about the "person" The Antichrist and these are the ones we will look at closer.

When most people talk about the End Times and The Antichrist they refer to The Book of Revelation. Here The Antichrist is spoken of as "the beast". In Chapter 13 The Bible lays out what the characteristics of this person will be, his behavior and the events that will transpire around him as he reveals his evil plan for the world.

So what are the characteristics of The Antichrist? As described in Revelation Chapter 13 he will:

Get his power and authority from Satan himself (Rev 13:2)

He will be wounded in the head (possible assassination attempt)and miraculously will survive (Rev 13:3)

His "miracle" of survival will cause all people of the world to worship him and the power behind him which is Satan (Rev 13:4)

He will be given power to do whatever he wants for 42 months (Rev 13:5)

He will wage war against the Christians and the Jews and wipe many out and he will rule the entire world (Rev 13:7

He will be assisted by another "beast" that will perform miracles and have great power which he will use to cause all to worship The Antichrist and his image (13:11-14)

He will cause all to get a "mark" (in the hand or forehead) which they will need in order to buy or sell anything (Rev 17)

Also in Revelation 13 we are given a clue of who this person will be and how to recognize him when he comes:

Revelation 18-Wisdom is needed to understand this. Let the one who has understanding solve the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

It is interesting to note that the number 666 is more prominent now in many different places than it was just 10 years ago. Many scholars believe that the "mark" that the beast causes everyone to take will be some sort of bar code that contains the number 666 in some fashion and that there is an effort underway now to desensitize people to the stigma surrounding that number. We shall see.

There are also many warnings given about following The Antichrist and receiving his "mark". The Bible states that this will condemn you to eternal punishment and you should resist doing so.

Revelation 14:9-11 states-Then a third angel followed them, shouting, "Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or the hand must drink the wine of God's wrath. It is poured out undiluted into God's cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.

As you can see it would be a very bad idea to accept this "mark" and to give in and worship The Antichrist. But what if you did not know who you were worshipping? What if you were deceived by this man as many will be? Is this even possible? Actually it is and it is also another warning. If you have been told of Jesus Christ and you have rejected Him then this is warning is for you:

2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 states-And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the [lawless one] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Basically, The Antichrist when he comes to power will appear to be supernatural and will also appear to be "godlike". He will have the power of Satan that will allow him to work miracles and many will fall for this "false messiah". The warning from God is that if you have rejected His son and His plan for your redemption then this "strong delusion" He will send will affect the way you view things and you will willingly accept and worship the "beast". That is a very strong warning and should be taken very seriously.

There is a theory among some Christian Scholars that there have been many "antichrists" in history and there may be many more in the future. The reason behind this? They claim that because Satan is a fallen angel and is this a "created" being then his knowledge is finite whereas Got is omnipotent and knows all things Satan only knows some things. What he doesn't know is WHEN God will decide to Rapture His people and thus usher in the the final age in man's history. Because of this "blind spot" Satan must always have someone prepared to assume the role of the The Antichrist. They argue that Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin and other murderous tyrants could very well have been applicants for the job. In any case, The Bible is clear that this man is coming one day and he will orchestrate the bloodiest period in man's history. Is he waiting in the wings now? The world seems to be ready to accept a one world leader now more than ever. Someone who will have the answers to all of the worlds problems. Someone who will bring the world together and bring all religions together under his power. He is waiting for his signal to begin his reign of terror and then he will be unleashed. But the question is when?