Commentary: Rainbow -- or Guns of August? - ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE - www.metimes.com
In October 2005, two months after he had become president, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- or as Jay Leno calls the tongue-twister "I'm-a-dinner-jacket" -- drew world attention when he called for Israel to be wiped off the map. Denials were slow in coming. Various Iranian experts said he had been misquoted when he painted the broad brushstrokes of history when a purely Jewish state would cease to exist.
The banners in English where he spoke said, "The World Without Zionism." Below the poster was a slick graphic depicting an hourglass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the United States and Israel were shown falling through the hourglass' narrow neck and crashing to the bottom.
Ahmadinejad's quote, the "Information Clearing House" informed us, was itself a quote from the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution: "The Zionist regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time." The word "map" was nowhere to be found.
This week the diminutive Iranian president left no room for ambiguity. He predicted Muslims would uproot "satanic powers" and that Israel would soon disappear. The Mehr News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Propagation Organization, quoted Ahmadinejad saying, "I must announce that the Zionist regime (Israel), with a 60-year record of genocide, plunder, invasion, and betrayal, is about to die and will soon be erased from the geographical scene. Today, the time for the fall of the satanic power of the United States has come, and the countdown to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started."
Speaking to a group of foreign visitors ahead of the 19th anniversary of the death of founder Ruhollah Khomeini, Ahmadinejad was on another verbal roll when he added, "I tell you that with the unity and awareness of all the Islamic countries, all the satanic powers will soon be destroyed."
How is that to happen? Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic vision of the return to Earth of the Mehdi, the 12th imam of Shiite Islam (a 5-year-old boy who went into "occultation" 11 centuries ago), could be in the 52-year-old president's lifetime. But not before widespread global death and destruction. Then a bright new era for humanity would rise from the ashes, as the Mehdi returns, along with his companions, including Jesus Christ.
Ahmadinejad is a former member of Al Quds, the revolutionary guards special forces that have been smuggling mortars, rockets and components for EFPs -- explosively formed projectiles -- that fire a slug of molten metal that penetrates armored vehicles.
Alarming, too, was last week's deal that followed the Syrian defense minister's visit to Tehran. Syria's missile units are to be integrated under Al Quds' missile section.
Western diplomats who have dealt with him found comfort in the election of Ali Larijani as speaker of Iran's Parliament, who persuaded the president's candidate to step aside. An archrival of Ahmadinejad, the new speaker, in his inaugural address, praised Lebanon's Hezbollah and castigated the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Parliamentarians greeted his words with "God is great!" and "Death to America!" But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, his old negotiating partner over Iran's nuclear enrichment activities, was taken by his more restrained, Western-style negotiating stance. For neocons, this smacked of appeasement.
In any event, pragmatist Larijani was now in a position to challenge Ahmadinejad's bid for a second term. To what degree this would change Iran's still largely secret nuclear plans to become the world's ninth nuclear power is unknown. The IAEA has briefed its members on a new document in its possession -- Iran's blueprint of a nuclear warhead.
Iran's mullahs have been hard at work on their nuclear ambitions for the past two decades, assisted by Pakistan's Dr. A.Q. Khan, the godfather of his country's nuclear ambitions. Confined to house arrest by President Pervez Musharraf after he confessed to supplying nuclear know-how to America's enemies (North Korea, Pakistan and Libya), he was recently released by Pakistan's new civilian coalition government, which crashed before taking off.
Surveying the regional scene, some of Israel's staunchest American allies are visibly alarmed by what they see over the diplomatic parapet. Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, sees a Greek tragedy unfolding, which could trigger "staticide," or the destruction of the Jewish state, "with incalculably serious repercussions for the Free World in general and the U.S. in particular."
Gaffney sees nothing but the gradual regression of the Jewish state, beginning with the surrender of the Sinai to Egypt in 1974; the Oslo accords and the recognition of Palestine Liberation Organization "terrorist chief Yasser Arafat"; Palestinian control of the West Bank and Gaza; the withdrawal from South Lebanon in favor of Hezbollah; the removal of Israeli citizens from Gaza; and the abandonment of Gaza to "terrorist faction Hamas." This is no longer land for peace, laments Gaffney, but land for war.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's legal trouble over alleged corruption could lead to early elections, with a return of the right under former Prime Minister and superhawk Binyamin Netanyahu. He believes, along with a majority of Israelis, that Iran's nuclear ambitions confront Israel with an existential crisis.
The Israeli air force has fine-tuned aerial bombardments of Iran's key nuclear facilities. But these number at least 27 that are widely scattered, and built underground close to population centers. Iran would then assume that such an operation could not take place without a green light from the White House. And the mullahs' formidable retaliatory capabilities with asymmetric warfare would then target the United States and its Persian Gulf allies. Oil at $400 a barrel wouldn't take long.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Which is right: Oprah or Jesus?
Which is right: Oprah or Jesus? – Janet Folger – www.worldnetdaily.com
There are a lot of people searching, and rather than write about what's happening in the news, I decided to write about something much more important. People are looking for meaning, purpose and assurance; they're looking for God. And it seems as though we have done such a poor job of showing them where to look that they're turning to ridiculous counterfeits, including the Church of Oprah.
Sure, she's popular – even if her television ratings have slipped, she's got her own network and is on the cover of her magazine every single month. But now she's leading people astray by the millions, and I'm not just talking about her campaign for Barack Obama. What bothers me most is that Oprah claims to know better than Jesus. When it comes to getting to heaven, she confidently proclaims, "There couldn't possibly be just one way."
She can have online "courses on miracles" all day long, but she and her friends aren't the ones who perform them. It doesn't matter how confident she is. It doesn't matter how rich she is. How popular, how sincere or how well-meaning. The bottom line is what Oprah says doesn't matter. What I say doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what Jesus Christ Himself said.
Could there possibly be just one way? Here's the answer: Christ said, "I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father except by me" (John 14:6 KJV).
Pretty clear stuff. If "all roads" really "lead to heaven," then why did Christ have to die? Doesn't make sense. If there are lots of roads, why not just choose a much less expensive one? Jesus would have preferred another way, too. In Matthew 26:39, He said, "Oh my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
But there wasn't another way. If God didn't have to send His Son to be tortured and crucified to make the one way to heaven, then He wouldn't have.
Oprah adds her voice to all the talk about how "narrow-minded" and "intolerant" it is for us to say that Christ is the only way to heaven.
Question: If there were only one exit out of the burning building, would I be "intolerant" and "narrow-minded" to proclaim it to you? I know I might "offend" the people who think the basement door will get them out, or those who would seek an exit by opening the very hot door with the flaming inferno inside. I'm sorry that I may be "insensitive" by not "affirming" your beliefs, and I know I run the risk of hurting your feelings, but I would rather save your life. You see, I care more about you than whether or not you like me.
Instead of whining that there aren't more ways to be reconciled with God, we ought to be celebrating that there is a way.
Our efforts to try and get to God are like trying to jump across the Grand Canyon. You may have won an Olympic medal in the broad jump, but no matter how good you think you are, trying to jump the Grand Canyon by your own strength, even with a running start, won't cut it. But unlike every other religion in the world that tries to work their way to God, Christianity is the story about how God came to us and built a bridge with one (and only one) blood-stained cross.
We don't deserve it. We didn't earn it. It wasn't our blood that built that bridge. But we have two choices: walk across the only bridge or jump off the cliff. That's the thing about gravity. It doesn't matter whether or not you believe it exists. And it doesn't matter how educated, how popular, confident or sincere you are about your belief. It doesn't matter what a nice person you are: Jump off the cliff and gravity will prove itself. Unfortunately, once gravity kicks in, it will be too late to reconsider that jump.
My message to Oprah and to the millions who are attending her "online church":
What I say doesn't matter. What Oprah says doesn't matter. What God says does. If I'm going to choose whom to listen to, I'm going to choose the one with nail scars from building the bridge. I'm going to choose the one door out of the burning building. You can take all the courses on miracles you want or you can go to the source of them all. Take the bridge or find out for yourself that gravity is very real.
There are a lot of people searching, and rather than write about what's happening in the news, I decided to write about something much more important. People are looking for meaning, purpose and assurance; they're looking for God. And it seems as though we have done such a poor job of showing them where to look that they're turning to ridiculous counterfeits, including the Church of Oprah.
Sure, she's popular – even if her television ratings have slipped, she's got her own network and is on the cover of her magazine every single month. But now she's leading people astray by the millions, and I'm not just talking about her campaign for Barack Obama. What bothers me most is that Oprah claims to know better than Jesus. When it comes to getting to heaven, she confidently proclaims, "There couldn't possibly be just one way."
She can have online "courses on miracles" all day long, but she and her friends aren't the ones who perform them. It doesn't matter how confident she is. It doesn't matter how rich she is. How popular, how sincere or how well-meaning. The bottom line is what Oprah says doesn't matter. What I say doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what Jesus Christ Himself said.
Could there possibly be just one way? Here's the answer: Christ said, "I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father except by me" (John 14:6 KJV).
Pretty clear stuff. If "all roads" really "lead to heaven," then why did Christ have to die? Doesn't make sense. If there are lots of roads, why not just choose a much less expensive one? Jesus would have preferred another way, too. In Matthew 26:39, He said, "Oh my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
But there wasn't another way. If God didn't have to send His Son to be tortured and crucified to make the one way to heaven, then He wouldn't have.
Oprah adds her voice to all the talk about how "narrow-minded" and "intolerant" it is for us to say that Christ is the only way to heaven.
Question: If there were only one exit out of the burning building, would I be "intolerant" and "narrow-minded" to proclaim it to you? I know I might "offend" the people who think the basement door will get them out, or those who would seek an exit by opening the very hot door with the flaming inferno inside. I'm sorry that I may be "insensitive" by not "affirming" your beliefs, and I know I run the risk of hurting your feelings, but I would rather save your life. You see, I care more about you than whether or not you like me.
Instead of whining that there aren't more ways to be reconciled with God, we ought to be celebrating that there is a way.
Our efforts to try and get to God are like trying to jump across the Grand Canyon. You may have won an Olympic medal in the broad jump, but no matter how good you think you are, trying to jump the Grand Canyon by your own strength, even with a running start, won't cut it. But unlike every other religion in the world that tries to work their way to God, Christianity is the story about how God came to us and built a bridge with one (and only one) blood-stained cross.
We don't deserve it. We didn't earn it. It wasn't our blood that built that bridge. But we have two choices: walk across the only bridge or jump off the cliff. That's the thing about gravity. It doesn't matter whether or not you believe it exists. And it doesn't matter how educated, how popular, confident or sincere you are about your belief. It doesn't matter what a nice person you are: Jump off the cliff and gravity will prove itself. Unfortunately, once gravity kicks in, it will be too late to reconsider that jump.
My message to Oprah and to the millions who are attending her "online church":
What I say doesn't matter. What Oprah says doesn't matter. What God says does. If I'm going to choose whom to listen to, I'm going to choose the one with nail scars from building the bridge. I'm going to choose the one door out of the burning building. You can take all the courses on miracles you want or you can go to the source of them all. Take the bridge or find out for yourself that gravity is very real.
Are you Average or Normal?
Are You Average Or Normal? - Commentary by Jack Kelley – www.gracethrufaith.com
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:11-14)
In the USA the average adult lives to about age 72, earns roughly $30,000 per year, gets married twice, has about 2 children ... the statistics go on and on. While most of us find some categories we don't fit in, the simple fact is that on the whole we're average. And it's also apparent that there isn't any big difference between believers and non-believers. As a group, we're not less educated or intelligent, and don't earn less, as some secular "thinkers" contend. Nor do we behave any closer to the Lord's standards, as some of us contend. We have about the same ratio of broken marriages, troubled children, and other dysfunctions as our unbelieving neighbors. We're neither better nor worse than others; we're just average. A bumper sticker I once saw declares, "Christians aren't any better, we're just forgiven". Well said.
When it comes to normal it's a different story. While we are average, we certainly are not normal. In truth the fact that we're average automatically renders us abnormal. You see in all of history there has only been one normal man. He lived about 2000 years ago and is the only perfect example of the human race. To be normal is to conform to an established standard and only one man has lived the way our Creator designed us to live; only one has met the standards for the race. His name is Jesus. All the rest of us have fallen far short of His glory (Rom 3:23).
An Example from Manufacturing
In the manufacture of mechanical or electronic parts, a prototype is made first. The prototype is the perfect example of the part to be made and is the one to which all others are compared. Design specifications are then established and subsequent parts are compared to the prototype. Quality Control procedures assure that the specifications are met.
Sometimes the setting on a machine will slip and a flaw will be introduced into the manufacturing process. All parts produced from then on will fail to meet the specification. The Quality Control department alerts the machinist, who resets the machine to make the parts perfect again.
Throughout the manufacturing process a simple rule is followed. Parts conforming to the specifications are kept and those with flaws are rejected. A perfect part is normal; a flawed part is abnormal.
The Ultimate Prototype
The Bible makes three sets of claims about The Lord (Rev 22:13). He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, and the First and the Last. These aren't just repetitious thoughts. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, equivalent to our phrase "from A to Z" which means all encompassing. The Greek word translated beginning is arche and denotes an order of time, place or rank. End comes from telos, which means the ultimate result or purpose; the upper limit.
The word translated first is protos and means the foremost or best. We get prototype from this one. And last comes from eschatos, a superlative meaning farthest or uttermost. The term eschatology (the study of the end times) originates here.
And so Jesus is the all encompassing model for mankind. He's the first in order of time, place and rank (Col 1:18), and the ultimate result or purpose of man; to be one with God (John 17:20-23). He is the prototype, against whom all will be compared (Rom 8:29), the uttermost or perfect example of the race (Hebr. 1:3) the only normal man ever born.
What Went Wrong?
Adam was created in the image of God, conforming to the specifications of the prototype Jesus. He sinned and a flaw was introduced into the procreation process. All his successors became flawed as a result of that sin.
Just as a machine that gets out of adjustment will not correct it’s self but gets worse until readjusted, so the sin introduced in the Garden was not self-correcting and has been compounded through time. This is demonstrated in the example of the first priest in the quote from Hebrews 10 above. No matter how many sacrifices are offered, our sins remain.
Man vs. Machine
In manufacturing, flawed parts are simply discarded, but our Creator loves us too much for that. He made it possible for us to be recreated without the flaw. It took two things; the sacrifice of His Prototype and our willingness to be born again. With that He could recreate us in His own image and make us into perfect specimens, new creations, as righteous as God. (2 Cor. 5:17-21) He did this so we could become normal; conforming to our specifications. Among all of mankind, only Christians have the potential to become normal.
So What's the Big Deal?
I began by saying that right now as a group we're no better or worse than anyone else, when compared to God's standards. But know this. Whether in the Rapture or Resurrection one day soon you will be changed. That which has been completed in eternity will be consummated in time. The corrupt will be made incorruptible; the mortal immortal, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. No longer average, finally normal. Because by His one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebr. 10:14) Thank you, Lord
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:11-14)
In the USA the average adult lives to about age 72, earns roughly $30,000 per year, gets married twice, has about 2 children ... the statistics go on and on. While most of us find some categories we don't fit in, the simple fact is that on the whole we're average. And it's also apparent that there isn't any big difference between believers and non-believers. As a group, we're not less educated or intelligent, and don't earn less, as some secular "thinkers" contend. Nor do we behave any closer to the Lord's standards, as some of us contend. We have about the same ratio of broken marriages, troubled children, and other dysfunctions as our unbelieving neighbors. We're neither better nor worse than others; we're just average. A bumper sticker I once saw declares, "Christians aren't any better, we're just forgiven". Well said.
When it comes to normal it's a different story. While we are average, we certainly are not normal. In truth the fact that we're average automatically renders us abnormal. You see in all of history there has only been one normal man. He lived about 2000 years ago and is the only perfect example of the human race. To be normal is to conform to an established standard and only one man has lived the way our Creator designed us to live; only one has met the standards for the race. His name is Jesus. All the rest of us have fallen far short of His glory (Rom 3:23).
An Example from Manufacturing
In the manufacture of mechanical or electronic parts, a prototype is made first. The prototype is the perfect example of the part to be made and is the one to which all others are compared. Design specifications are then established and subsequent parts are compared to the prototype. Quality Control procedures assure that the specifications are met.
Sometimes the setting on a machine will slip and a flaw will be introduced into the manufacturing process. All parts produced from then on will fail to meet the specification. The Quality Control department alerts the machinist, who resets the machine to make the parts perfect again.
Throughout the manufacturing process a simple rule is followed. Parts conforming to the specifications are kept and those with flaws are rejected. A perfect part is normal; a flawed part is abnormal.
The Ultimate Prototype
The Bible makes three sets of claims about The Lord (Rev 22:13). He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, and the First and the Last. These aren't just repetitious thoughts. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, equivalent to our phrase "from A to Z" which means all encompassing. The Greek word translated beginning is arche and denotes an order of time, place or rank. End comes from telos, which means the ultimate result or purpose; the upper limit.
The word translated first is protos and means the foremost or best. We get prototype from this one. And last comes from eschatos, a superlative meaning farthest or uttermost. The term eschatology (the study of the end times) originates here.
And so Jesus is the all encompassing model for mankind. He's the first in order of time, place and rank (Col 1:18), and the ultimate result or purpose of man; to be one with God (John 17:20-23). He is the prototype, against whom all will be compared (Rom 8:29), the uttermost or perfect example of the race (Hebr. 1:3) the only normal man ever born.
What Went Wrong?
Adam was created in the image of God, conforming to the specifications of the prototype Jesus. He sinned and a flaw was introduced into the procreation process. All his successors became flawed as a result of that sin.
Just as a machine that gets out of adjustment will not correct it’s self but gets worse until readjusted, so the sin introduced in the Garden was not self-correcting and has been compounded through time. This is demonstrated in the example of the first priest in the quote from Hebrews 10 above. No matter how many sacrifices are offered, our sins remain.
Man vs. Machine
In manufacturing, flawed parts are simply discarded, but our Creator loves us too much for that. He made it possible for us to be recreated without the flaw. It took two things; the sacrifice of His Prototype and our willingness to be born again. With that He could recreate us in His own image and make us into perfect specimens, new creations, as righteous as God. (2 Cor. 5:17-21) He did this so we could become normal; conforming to our specifications. Among all of mankind, only Christians have the potential to become normal.
So What's the Big Deal?
I began by saying that right now as a group we're no better or worse than anyone else, when compared to God's standards. But know this. Whether in the Rapture or Resurrection one day soon you will be changed. That which has been completed in eternity will be consummated in time. The corrupt will be made incorruptible; the mortal immortal, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. No longer average, finally normal. Because by His one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebr. 10:14) Thank you, Lord
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