ENGLISH ONLY EDITION. Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Psalm 97:11
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Religious Wars Hit Brazil's Ballot Box
Reblogged from: www.bloombergview.com
There are still some believers left in Brazil. Photographer:
Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images
Silva won 22 million votes in the Oct. 5 elections, finishing third behind two powerful machine politicians, President Dilma Rousseff (43 million votes), of the Workers Party, and runner-up Aecio Neves (35 million), of the Social Democracy Party.
Still, the religious wave Silva personifies -- she's a devout follower of the conservative Assembly of God -- is just starting to swell. Driven by fervent Pentecostal voters, candidates calling themselves "Crentes" -- "Believers," in Portuguese -- scored big across Brazil.
The Evangelical Parliamentary Front, a faith-based congressional caucus, saw its members rise from 71 to 80 legislators. Evangelicos, as Brazilians call them, were some of the biggest winners in rich southeastern states like Espirito Santo and Parana, and Alagoas and Piaui in the poor northeast.
Few fared better than Marco Feliciano, a popular Sao Paulo pastor, known for his anti-gay litanies, who was reelected to Congress with 400,000 votes, almost double his haul of four years ago.
Fellow Sao Paulo lawmaker Celso Russomano, a former television host, is Roman Catholic, but his Brazilian Republican Party is controlled by the rollicking Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, that helped reap him 1.5 million votes, more than any other legislator.
Evangelical politics has risen on a sectarian earthquake rumbling this continent of cathedrals. In 1995, eight in 10 Brazilians still called themselves Roman Catholics, according to a poll by Latinobarometro. Now less than two-thirds go to mass, and even they are losing their ardor.
Padres are falling behind pastors, who beckon believers to brightly-lit mega churches and services throbbing with gospel rock, speaking in tongues and faith healing.
Their firepower was evident in the first round of voting when Assembly of God leader Silas Malafaia, with 814,000 followers on Twitter, lashed out at Silva after her Socialist Party backed same-sex marriage. In 24 hours, Silva backtracked.
The Oct. 26 runoff between incumbent Rousseff and Neves could be seen as a proxy battle between two competing evangelical orders, argues Andrew Chesnut, a religious studies scholar at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Though both Rousseff and Neves are Catholics and soi disant social liberals, they know when to kneel. Rousseff attended the inauguration of the IURD's new $300 million megachurch, Solomon's Temple, while Neves welcomed the endorsement by alpha "Crentes" like Malafaia and Feliciano.
The Protestant wave plus the declining clout of trade unions and social movements are conspiring to push Brazilian politics to the right. The new national Congress may be the most conservative since 1964, when the armed forces took power with the blessings of the Catholic hierarchy, according to Diap, a union-funded think tank in Sao Paulo. That means socially liberal banners such as allowing gay marriage, or decriminalizing marijuana and abortion, are sure to lose traction in Brasilia.
Don't look for a Brazilian Tea Party, though. Evangelicos may share some values with gringo Bible belters, but they are -- like Brazilian society itself -- far more eclectic and less organized. Scattered among Brazil's 28 political parties, Evangelicos tend to flock defensively, to thwart moves to "corrupt" family values.
And when pork and perks are on the line, they bow to more earthly authority. "Political parties have a poor national image, but they rule in Congress," says political scientist Carlos Pereira, of the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. "On roll call votes, legislators obey party bosses, not religion or ideology."
No matter the mega-churches they flock to on Sunday, for now, at least, Brazil's multiplying Protestants still spend the rest of the week rendering unto Caesar.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Keeping it Simple
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
Mankind has a propensity for taking simple things and making them complex, often confusing himself in the process. Some say this began with the serpent’s question to Eve, “Did God really say…?”(Genesis 3:1). Lets look at some of the simple things of the Bible that man has tried to complicate and ask ourselves if we’re better off with man’s opinion or would it make more sense to keep it simple and stick with what the Bible says.
The best man has come up with is that we’re really the product of random chance. The Big Bang theory and Evolution are called laws of nature by some, but in fact, they violate natural law. Things in nature don’t naturally evolve from randomness, or chaos, into order. In fact they go the other way. The evidence is all around us. Your house, your car, your body, and everything else that’s been created or made or manufactured confirms that absent some kind of preventive maintenance, the natural way is devolution, from order into chaos. Everything breaks down, wears out, rusts, rots, or dies. There’s no way around it.
And the best preventive maintenance can only retard the devolution process. It can never reverse it, let alone turn something into something else. Order into chaos, order into chaos. That’s nature’s way. Some folks want you to ignore this simple fact and believe that where you’re concerned, natural law was spontaneously reversed for no reason at all so that the amoeba that became the fish that became the monkey could become you. If we can’t believe the very first thing God said to us, how can we be sure about anything else He said?
The simple thing is to believe God.
But right from the beginning, man has tried to earn his own way into God’s Kingdom. Some have multiplied God’s laws by adding many others, while others have ignored His laws, substituting their own instead. Either way man has made his existence here on earth miserable as he labors to prove that he doesn’t need God’s free pardon, living a life of guilt and fear in a vain attempt to earn something that has been offered to Him for free.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Some men have imposed conditions without number to this unconditional promise. They say you must have been chosen in advance by God, or belong to a certain denomination, or behave in a certain way, give a certain amount, maintain certain standards, avoid certain food or drink, etc, etc. Others say you don’t have to accept God’s terms at all. Just try to do the best you can and treat others nicely. You’ll have a chance after you die to sit down and work it all out with God. Still others say it doesn’t matter who your god is. As long as you’re sincere in your belief, you’ll find your way to eternal life. Jesus said all these ways lead to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14).
The simple thing is to believe God.
Man says something different. Some say the Holy Spirit doesn’t come all at once. You get a little bit when you’re saved and more when you’re worthy. You’ll know you’re worthy when you receive a certain Spiritual gift that tells you and others that you’ve made it. They also say the Holy Spirit isn’t permanently sealed within you. He’ll leave you if you don’t behave right or if you decide you don’t want Him any more. And once He’s gone you can never get Him back. Scary.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Man says you have to figure out what you want and then strive to get it. Work hard and sacrifice much, and you’ll be rewarded. The stress you feel from the job, and the difficulty you have staying connected at home are just part of the deal. And when you become successful, if it wasn’t all you hoped it would be, well everybody feels that way. The more you have, the better you’ll feel. Stay with it.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Man says some folks don’t deserve to be forgiven. Make them prove that they’ve earned it before you let them off the hook. Besides, maybe it’s you. Maybe you’re just too weak, too naive. As you become more skeptical, less trusting, you’ll find people won’t take advantage so often. Don’t get mad, get even.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Some pastors say you owe a debt to God and if you don’t pay it back to the church you’ll be cursed. Others say you worked hard for your money and it’s yours to do with as you please. Why give any of it to a bunch of do-gooders who’ll just waste it on people who don’t deserve it. Give enough to keep them off your back, if you must, but not so much as to cramp your lifestyle.
The simple thing is to believe God.
As a result the Book of Daniel became the most thoroughly validated Book in the entire Bible. And yet some still deny its authenticity, in spite of the fact that Daniel also predicted the rise of Alexander the Great (Daniel 7:6, 8:5-8, 8:21-22), named the exact day that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem as Israel’s Messiah, and foretold His Crucifixion, as well as the city’s subsequent destruction as (Daniel 9:26).
Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9), then be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver with the money being thrown into the Temple for the purchase of a potter’s field (Zech 11:12-13). Micah prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Isaiah that He would be the Son of God (Isaiah 9:6), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5), though innocent would offer no defense (Isaiah 53:7), be buried in a rich man’s grave (Isaiah 53:9), and come back from the dead (Isaiah 53:11). Amos said the sun would go down at noon on the day He was crucified (Amos 8:9-10). There well are over a hundred more that pertain to the first coming but you get the idea.
In spite of this, some of the very men and women who make a career out of studying the Word of God resort to extreme measures in their attempts to convince us that God is unreliable at best and at worst a liar. And to what end? If they were diplomats and worked this hard at undermining the principles on which our country is founded, they’d be charged with treason. If they were managers who were committed to destroying the public’s perception of their company’s product, they’d be fired. But since they claim to be Christians we call them scholars. “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,” Paul wrote, “And the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate” (1 Cor. 1:19) He was quoting from Isaiah 29:14.
The simple thing is to believe God.
If you’re from Israel and your neighbors are publicly planning your destruction, and take every olive branch you hand them then turn it into another excuse to attack, you need to know that the One who gave you the land you’re standing on will keep His promise that it’s yours forever.
When your eternal destiny hangs in the balance, you need to be certain that the One Who says He surrendered His life to redeem yours really did.
The End of the Age is upon us. It’s time to stop debating and start believing the simple truth of the Bible. God is Who He says He is and He did what He said He would do. And in the 6000 years of man’s relationship with Him, not one of the 14 billion of us who’ve walked this earth has ever been able to successfully refute this. Conversely, proof of His existence is so far beyond the limits of mere probability that it’s no longer debatable. Therefore belief in Him is a choice we make. It’s time to choose and be done with it. Like my favorite bumper sticker says, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” It’s the simple thing to do. Selah 10-18-14.
Mankind has a propensity for taking simple things and making them complex, often confusing himself in the process. Some say this began with the serpent’s question to Eve, “Did God really say…?”(Genesis 3:1). Lets look at some of the simple things of the Bible that man has tried to complicate and ask ourselves if we’re better off with man’s opinion or would it make more sense to keep it simple and stick with what the Bible says.
Creation
God said His work of creation required six days and He rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-2). There was no one around who could dispute His claim but that hasn’t stopped man from proposing alternatives.The best man has come up with is that we’re really the product of random chance. The Big Bang theory and Evolution are called laws of nature by some, but in fact, they violate natural law. Things in nature don’t naturally evolve from randomness, or chaos, into order. In fact they go the other way. The evidence is all around us. Your house, your car, your body, and everything else that’s been created or made or manufactured confirms that absent some kind of preventive maintenance, the natural way is devolution, from order into chaos. Everything breaks down, wears out, rusts, rots, or dies. There’s no way around it.
And the best preventive maintenance can only retard the devolution process. It can never reverse it, let alone turn something into something else. Order into chaos, order into chaos. That’s nature’s way. Some folks want you to ignore this simple fact and believe that where you’re concerned, natural law was spontaneously reversed for no reason at all so that the amoeba that became the fish that became the monkey could become you. If we can’t believe the very first thing God said to us, how can we be sure about anything else He said?
The simple thing is to believe God.
Salvation
God said we’re saved by grace through faith, not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) He doesn’t want anyone bragging that he earned his own way into the kingdom, and knows that we can’t do it anyway. He gave man a set of laws that were impossible to keep but which defined the standard He required of us. Then He sent His Son to keep those laws for us and give His life to purchase an unconditional pardon that releases us from the penalty of breaking them (Colossians 2:13-14). He said this is the only way we can be saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). All we have to do is believe in the one He sent (John 6:28-29) admit we’re sinners, ask for His pardon, and accept it in faith (Romans 10:13).But right from the beginning, man has tried to earn his own way into God’s Kingdom. Some have multiplied God’s laws by adding many others, while others have ignored His laws, substituting their own instead. Either way man has made his existence here on earth miserable as he labors to prove that he doesn’t need God’s free pardon, living a life of guilt and fear in a vain attempt to earn something that has been offered to Him for free.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Agency
God said that anyone who wants to can choose this pardon and have eternal life. It’s free for the asking irrespective of merit or worthiness (Matt. 7:7-8). It doesn’t matter if you’re a Jew or Gentile, free or slave, male or female, civilized or barbarian (Galatians 3:26-29). If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you’ll be saved (Romans 10:9). You have your entire lifetime to make your choice. However when you die His offer of pardon expires (Hebrews 9:27).Some men have imposed conditions without number to this unconditional promise. They say you must have been chosen in advance by God, or belong to a certain denomination, or behave in a certain way, give a certain amount, maintain certain standards, avoid certain food or drink, etc, etc. Others say you don’t have to accept God’s terms at all. Just try to do the best you can and treat others nicely. You’ll have a chance after you die to sit down and work it all out with God. Still others say it doesn’t matter who your god is. As long as you’re sincere in your belief, you’ll find your way to eternal life. Jesus said all these ways lead to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14).
The simple thing is to believe God.
Security
God says that when you’re saved He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell within you, sealed there as a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). It’s the down payment on His promise never to leave you or forsake you. God Himself will make you stand firm (2 Cor. 1:21-22), and there’s no one who can take you out of His hand (John 10:27-30). His Spirit will also guide you and advise you on behavior that’s pleasing to Him, not to earn His favor but as a way to express your gratitude for already having received it. Your behavior is still your own choice and when you sin, as we all do, the Holy Spirit will prompt you to confess so you can be forgiven and preserve your intimate relationship with God (1 John 1:9).Man says something different. Some say the Holy Spirit doesn’t come all at once. You get a little bit when you’re saved and more when you’re worthy. You’ll know you’re worthy when you receive a certain Spiritual gift that tells you and others that you’ve made it. They also say the Holy Spirit isn’t permanently sealed within you. He’ll leave you if you don’t behave right or if you decide you don’t want Him any more. And once He’s gone you can never get Him back. Scary.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Abundant Life
God says that you shouldn’t worry about how your life will work out, that He’ll take care of it. Since He takes care of little birds and flowers, that aren’t worth anywhere near what you are to Him, He’ll certainly watch out for you. “Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness,” He says, “And I’ll take care of everything (Matt. 6:31-33). After all, I came to Earth so that you could have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). So don’t conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).Man says you have to figure out what you want and then strive to get it. Work hard and sacrifice much, and you’ll be rewarded. The stress you feel from the job, and the difficulty you have staying connected at home are just part of the deal. And when you become successful, if it wasn’t all you hoped it would be, well everybody feels that way. The more you have, the better you’ll feel. Stay with it.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Forgiveness
God says to forgive as you’ve been forgiven, that nothing someone does to you can ever approximate what you’ve done to God. (Matt. 18:32-33) And since He’s forgiven you unconditionally, you should do the same. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Don’t give the devil a foothold. “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord. “It’s mine to repay.”Man says some folks don’t deserve to be forgiven. Make them prove that they’ve earned it before you let them off the hook. Besides, maybe it’s you. Maybe you’re just too weak, too naive. As you become more skeptical, less trusting, you’ll find people won’t take advantage so often. Don’t get mad, get even.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Giving
Jesus said don’t store up treasure on earth, where it can be stolen or destroyed. Instead, store up treasure in heaven where nothing can happen to it (Matt. 6:19-21). He said, “Give and it will be given to you, for with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). Paul confirmed this. He said if we sow sparingly we’ll reap sparingly, but if we sow generously we’ll also reap generously. He said we should decide in our own heart what to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:6-7). He said our generosity will be rewarded with blessing and we’ll be made rich in every way so we can be generous on every occasion (2 Cor. 9:10-11).Some pastors say you owe a debt to God and if you don’t pay it back to the church you’ll be cursed. Others say you worked hard for your money and it’s yours to do with as you please. Why give any of it to a bunch of do-gooders who’ll just waste it on people who don’t deserve it. Give enough to keep them off your back, if you must, but not so much as to cramp your lifestyle.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Prophecy
God said he would never do anything without first revealing it through His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7) For over 6,000 years now He’s had a perfect record of first saying what He’ll do and then doing it. But many scholars call predictive prophecy a sham and go to great lengths to try and disprove its reliability. For example, when history documented that Daniel 11:1-35 contained 135 fulfilled prophecies, scholars tried to say it was written after the fact.As a result the Book of Daniel became the most thoroughly validated Book in the entire Bible. And yet some still deny its authenticity, in spite of the fact that Daniel also predicted the rise of Alexander the Great (Daniel 7:6, 8:5-8, 8:21-22), named the exact day that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem as Israel’s Messiah, and foretold His Crucifixion, as well as the city’s subsequent destruction as (Daniel 9:26).
Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9), then be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver with the money being thrown into the Temple for the purchase of a potter’s field (Zech 11:12-13). Micah prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Isaiah that He would be the Son of God (Isaiah 9:6), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5), though innocent would offer no defense (Isaiah 53:7), be buried in a rich man’s grave (Isaiah 53:9), and come back from the dead (Isaiah 53:11). Amos said the sun would go down at noon on the day He was crucified (Amos 8:9-10). There well are over a hundred more that pertain to the first coming but you get the idea.
In spite of this, some of the very men and women who make a career out of studying the Word of God resort to extreme measures in their attempts to convince us that God is unreliable at best and at worst a liar. And to what end? If they were diplomats and worked this hard at undermining the principles on which our country is founded, they’d be charged with treason. If they were managers who were committed to destroying the public’s perception of their company’s product, they’d be fired. But since they claim to be Christians we call them scholars. “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,” Paul wrote, “And the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate” (1 Cor. 1:19) He was quoting from Isaiah 29:14.
The simple thing is to believe God.
Conclusion
These are harsh and perilous times and now, more than ever, we need someone we can rely on who is utterly dependable. When the hurricane’s threatening to blow you down, and the flood waters are rising fast, you don’t want to be worrying whether the One you’re praying to is committed to your well being.If you’re from Israel and your neighbors are publicly planning your destruction, and take every olive branch you hand them then turn it into another excuse to attack, you need to know that the One who gave you the land you’re standing on will keep His promise that it’s yours forever.
When your eternal destiny hangs in the balance, you need to be certain that the One Who says He surrendered His life to redeem yours really did.
The End of the Age is upon us. It’s time to stop debating and start believing the simple truth of the Bible. God is Who He says He is and He did what He said He would do. And in the 6000 years of man’s relationship with Him, not one of the 14 billion of us who’ve walked this earth has ever been able to successfully refute this. Conversely, proof of His existence is so far beyond the limits of mere probability that it’s no longer debatable. Therefore belief in Him is a choice we make. It’s time to choose and be done with it. Like my favorite bumper sticker says, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” It’s the simple thing to do. Selah 10-18-14.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Benny Gantz’s troubling assessments by Caroline Glick
As for the money that will be transferred to Abbas, the billions in
funding will give the PLO the money it needs to finance Abbas’s rapidly
escalating political war against Israel in the international arena. At
least some of the money will also go to Hamas, Abbas’s partner in the
unity government.
The entire nature of the conference was surreal, but again predictable.
Surreal because it was based on a total disregard for reality.
In last summer’s war, Hamas wantonly and deliberately waged an unprovoked, illegal missile campaign against Israel for the third time in five years. It fired 4,500 projectiles at Israeli territory. It also used tunnels it dug into Israeli territory to attack Israel.
Had Hamas not attacked, Israel would not have counterattacked. There would have been no damage to repair in Gaza.
If the US, Europe and the Arab world were interested in actually helping Gaza, rather than organize a conference to fund Hamas and the PLO, they would have enjoined Israel to finish the job two months ago and end Hamas’s criminal, terrorist state in Gaza once and for all.
Yet, they did no such thing. Throughout the war, the US and the EU joined Qatar and Turkey in blaming Israel for Hamas’s illegal war.
And on Sunday, they put their money where their mouths are. They pledged billions to the PLO and its political war against Israel. And they funded Hamas – both directly and indirectly. Moreover, they gave Hamas a political victory by agreeing to fund Abbas, even though he is the head of a PLO-Hamas government.
All of this was predictable because it happens every time Israel is attacked, whether by terrorist armies in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, or in Lebanon.
Every time the Palestinians and Lebanese Hezbollah attack Israel, the US and Europe eventually side with the Arabs and demand that Israel stop defending itself.
The only difference between the most recent war with Hamas and its predecessors is that this time, the US was even more adamantly opposed to Israel’s attempts to defeat Hamas than the Europeans and many Arab governments.
In other words, the only difference between the most recent war and its predecessors is that the level of hostility towards Israel – and conversely support for Hamas – among leading members of the international community was unprecedented.
Israel’s job in contending with this hostile environment should have been similarly unprecedented.
Israel should have been offering to lead an international force in Gaza to overthrow Hamas and arrest its leaders pending war crimes trials. It should have been sticking the international community’s nose in the stench of its hypocrisy and anti-Israel bias.
Operationally, it should have recognized that Israel’s chief achievement in the war was its ability to withstand US pressure and maintain Gaza’s physical isolation by maintaining the borders shut, and so preventing the terrorist regime from resupplying and rearming.
At least on the last count, keeping Gaza sealed was Israel’s unflinching position throughout the war. To prevent the opening of Gaza’s borders, and through it, the rebuilding of Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure and political power, at great diplomatic cost, Israel repeatedly rejected US demands for an open border.
But today, this position is collapsing. True, Israel is insisting officially that stringent controls be placed on all dual use goods brought into Gaza. But officials openly acknowledge that there is no way to enforce the controls once the goods are imported.
Far worse than accepting that its position is difficult to enforce, Israel is actually facilitating the opening of Gaza’s borders. In so doing, Israel is giving Hamas the victory it failed to achieve on the battlefield.
And worst of all, the chief proponent of this policy is not Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, or even Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Its chief advocate is IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz.
Throughout the war, tremors of criticism were heard in governing circles and the media against the IDF leadership in general, and against Gantz, in particular.
In a series of media interviews on the eve of Yom Kippur, Gantz showed that not only was the criticism warranted – it was far too mild.
For years, it has been rightly said that Israel suffers from a chronic shortage of strong leaders. But what Gantz showed in his interviews is that even if Israel was blessed with the strongest leaders in Jewish history, it is far from clear that they would have the capacity to act on their convictions.
In Israel, as in all countries, for a government to get things done political leaders require the assistance of professional echelons who develop tactical options for achieving strategic goals and implement government policies.
The chief criticism of Gantz during the war was that he failed to present the government with options for defeating Hamas or that when he did present them, he did so in ways that made it impossible for the government to adopt options he opposed.
It was also said that he failed to respect the government’s sovereign authority to determine policy, and interjected his position on issues that were well beyond the professional authority of the IDF.
In his interview with Maariv, Gantz said that the only way to guarantee that the cease-fire will hold is by paying off Hamas. That is, he made clear that he sides with the US and the rest of the international community against the government.
In his words, “At the end of the day, 1.8 million Palestinians live there, and the quiet is also dependent on the trend of creating economic hope there.”
Gantz placed the blame for their supposed hopelessness on Israel, and its measures to contain Hamas’s threat to Gaza. In his words, “The people there need to live, and they are caught between Egypt on one side, us on another side and the sea with a six mile fishing zone on the other side.”
Later in the interview, Gantz insisted that Israel’s interest is in enabling the international community to fund Hamas, arguing that terrorism is simply the result of economic privation.
As he put it, “The Palestinians also do not want to see terrorism operating from within them. Hamas absorbed a mighty blow and sustained great damage. It needs to see economic recovery, and this need, for economic growth is an opportunity for us.”
The question of whether or not Gaza should be enriched is not a military one. But that doesn’t bother Gantz. After dictating what the government’s position must be, he then coyly winked, “I leave this for the elected leadership.”
Throughout the war, Israel’s elected leadership insisted that Gaza remain sealed.
The Left has followed Gantz’s lead and attacked the government for not opening Gaza’s borders and even participating in the Cairo conference.
But again, reality tells a different tale.
Israel has nothing to gain from participating in a Hamas funding drive.
It does however have an interest in influencing the international agenda. To do so, the most basic requirement for the government is to reject the lie that Israel is to blame for Hamas’s aggression. Israel’s leaders – elected and appointed – need to internalize the fact that the war this summer, like all previous acts of Hamas aggression against Israel stemmed not from privation and hopelessness, but from empowerment and hopefulness.
Hamas doesn’t attack Israel because it needs money. It attacks Israel because doing so empowers it and weakens Israel – as we saw in Cairo on Sunday.
Unfortunately, for as long as our unelected professional class is led by men who have internalized our enemies’ narratives, there is no way that Israel can act on these basic strategic truths regardless of whom voters elect. And as a result, we shall continue to witness our soldiers’ hard won victories being squandered by our leaders – in and out of uniform.
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.
The entire nature of the conference was surreal, but again predictable.
Surreal because it was based on a total disregard for reality.
In last summer’s war, Hamas wantonly and deliberately waged an unprovoked, illegal missile campaign against Israel for the third time in five years. It fired 4,500 projectiles at Israeli territory. It also used tunnels it dug into Israeli territory to attack Israel.
Had Hamas not attacked, Israel would not have counterattacked. There would have been no damage to repair in Gaza.
If the US, Europe and the Arab world were interested in actually helping Gaza, rather than organize a conference to fund Hamas and the PLO, they would have enjoined Israel to finish the job two months ago and end Hamas’s criminal, terrorist state in Gaza once and for all.
Yet, they did no such thing. Throughout the war, the US and the EU joined Qatar and Turkey in blaming Israel for Hamas’s illegal war.
And on Sunday, they put their money where their mouths are. They pledged billions to the PLO and its political war against Israel. And they funded Hamas – both directly and indirectly. Moreover, they gave Hamas a political victory by agreeing to fund Abbas, even though he is the head of a PLO-Hamas government.
All of this was predictable because it happens every time Israel is attacked, whether by terrorist armies in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, or in Lebanon.
Every time the Palestinians and Lebanese Hezbollah attack Israel, the US and Europe eventually side with the Arabs and demand that Israel stop defending itself.
The only difference between the most recent war with Hamas and its predecessors is that this time, the US was even more adamantly opposed to Israel’s attempts to defeat Hamas than the Europeans and many Arab governments.
In other words, the only difference between the most recent war and its predecessors is that the level of hostility towards Israel – and conversely support for Hamas – among leading members of the international community was unprecedented.
Israel’s job in contending with this hostile environment should have been similarly unprecedented.
Israel should have been offering to lead an international force in Gaza to overthrow Hamas and arrest its leaders pending war crimes trials. It should have been sticking the international community’s nose in the stench of its hypocrisy and anti-Israel bias.
Operationally, it should have recognized that Israel’s chief achievement in the war was its ability to withstand US pressure and maintain Gaza’s physical isolation by maintaining the borders shut, and so preventing the terrorist regime from resupplying and rearming.
At least on the last count, keeping Gaza sealed was Israel’s unflinching position throughout the war. To prevent the opening of Gaza’s borders, and through it, the rebuilding of Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure and political power, at great diplomatic cost, Israel repeatedly rejected US demands for an open border.
But today, this position is collapsing. True, Israel is insisting officially that stringent controls be placed on all dual use goods brought into Gaza. But officials openly acknowledge that there is no way to enforce the controls once the goods are imported.
Far worse than accepting that its position is difficult to enforce, Israel is actually facilitating the opening of Gaza’s borders. In so doing, Israel is giving Hamas the victory it failed to achieve on the battlefield.
And worst of all, the chief proponent of this policy is not Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, or even Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Its chief advocate is IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz.
Throughout the war, tremors of criticism were heard in governing circles and the media against the IDF leadership in general, and against Gantz, in particular.
In a series of media interviews on the eve of Yom Kippur, Gantz showed that not only was the criticism warranted – it was far too mild.
For years, it has been rightly said that Israel suffers from a chronic shortage of strong leaders. But what Gantz showed in his interviews is that even if Israel was blessed with the strongest leaders in Jewish history, it is far from clear that they would have the capacity to act on their convictions.
In Israel, as in all countries, for a government to get things done political leaders require the assistance of professional echelons who develop tactical options for achieving strategic goals and implement government policies.
The chief criticism of Gantz during the war was that he failed to present the government with options for defeating Hamas or that when he did present them, he did so in ways that made it impossible for the government to adopt options he opposed.
It was also said that he failed to respect the government’s sovereign authority to determine policy, and interjected his position on issues that were well beyond the professional authority of the IDF.
In his interview with Maariv, Gantz said that the only way to guarantee that the cease-fire will hold is by paying off Hamas. That is, he made clear that he sides with the US and the rest of the international community against the government.
In his words, “At the end of the day, 1.8 million Palestinians live there, and the quiet is also dependent on the trend of creating economic hope there.”
Gantz placed the blame for their supposed hopelessness on Israel, and its measures to contain Hamas’s threat to Gaza. In his words, “The people there need to live, and they are caught between Egypt on one side, us on another side and the sea with a six mile fishing zone on the other side.”
Later in the interview, Gantz insisted that Israel’s interest is in enabling the international community to fund Hamas, arguing that terrorism is simply the result of economic privation.
As he put it, “The Palestinians also do not want to see terrorism operating from within them. Hamas absorbed a mighty blow and sustained great damage. It needs to see economic recovery, and this need, for economic growth is an opportunity for us.”
The question of whether or not Gaza should be enriched is not a military one. But that doesn’t bother Gantz. After dictating what the government’s position must be, he then coyly winked, “I leave this for the elected leadership.”
Throughout the war, Israel’s elected leadership insisted that Gaza remain sealed.
The Left has followed Gantz’s lead and attacked the government for not opening Gaza’s borders and even participating in the Cairo conference.
But again, reality tells a different tale.
Israel has nothing to gain from participating in a Hamas funding drive.
It does however have an interest in influencing the international agenda. To do so, the most basic requirement for the government is to reject the lie that Israel is to blame for Hamas’s aggression. Israel’s leaders – elected and appointed – need to internalize the fact that the war this summer, like all previous acts of Hamas aggression against Israel stemmed not from privation and hopelessness, but from empowerment and hopefulness.
Hamas doesn’t attack Israel because it needs money. It attacks Israel because doing so empowers it and weakens Israel – as we saw in Cairo on Sunday.
Unfortunately, for as long as our unelected professional class is led by men who have internalized our enemies’ narratives, there is no way that Israel can act on these basic strategic truths regardless of whom voters elect. And as a result, we shall continue to witness our soldiers’ hard won victories being squandered by our leaders – in and out of uniform.
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Is your church worship more pagan than Christian?
Reblogged from: http://www.crosswalk.com
by Todd Pruitt
There is a great misunderstanding in churches of the purpose of music in Christian worship. Churches routinely advertise their “life-changing” or “dynamic” worship that will “bring you closer to God” or “change your life.” Certain worship CD’s promise that the music will “enable you to enter the presence of God.” Even a flyer for a recent conference for worship leaders boasted:
"Join us for dynamic teaching to set you on the right path, and inspiring worship where you can meet God and receive the energy and love you need to be a mover and shaker in today’s world…Alongside our teaching program are worship events which put you in touch with the power and love of God."
The problem with the flyer and with many church ads is that these kinds of promises reveal a significant theological error. Music is viewed as a means to facilitate an encounter with God; it will move us closer to God. In this schema, music becomes a means of mediation between God and man. But this idea is closer to ecstatic pagan practices than to Christian worship.
Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. He alone is the One who brings us to God. The popular but mistaken notions regarding worship music undermine this foundational truth of the Christian faith. It is also ironic that while many Christians deny the sacramental role of those ordinances which the Lord Himself has given to the church (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) they are eager to grant music sacramental powers. Music and “the worship experience” are viewed as means by which we enter the presence of God and receive his saving benefits. There is simply no evidence whatsoever in Scripture that music mediates direct encounters or experiences with God. This is a common pagan notion. It is far from Christian.
In his helpful book True Worship Vaughan Roberts offers four consequences of viewing music as an encounter with God. I will summarize them.
1. God’s Word is marginalized.
In many Churches and Christian gatherings it is not unusual for God’s Word to be shortchanged. Music gives people the elusive “liver quiver” while the Bible is more mundane. Pulpits have shrunk and even disappeared while bands and lighting have grown. But faith does not come from music, dynamic experiences, or supposed encounters with God. Faith is birthed through the proclamation of God’s Word (Rom 10:17).
2. Our assurance is threatened.
If we associate God’s presence with a particular experience or emotion, what happens when we no longer feel it? We search for churches whose praise band, orchestra, or pipe organ produce in us the feelings we are chasing. But the reality of God in our lives depends on the mediation of Christ not on subjective experiences.
3. Musicians are given priestly status.
When music is seen as a means to encounter God, worship leaders and musicians are vested with a priestly role. They become the ones who bring us into the presence of God rather than Jesus Christ who alone has already fulfilled that role. Understandably, when a worship leader or band doesn’t help me experience God they have failed and must be replaced. On the other hand, when we believe that they have successfully moved us into God’s presence they will attain in our minds a status that is far too high for their own good.
4. Division is increased.
If we identify a feeling as an encounter with God, and only a particular kind of music produces that feeling, then we will insist that same music be played regularly in our church or gatherings. As long as everyone else shares our taste then there is no problem. But if others depend upon a different kind of music to produce the feeling that is important to them then division is cultivated. And because we routinely classify particular feelings as encounters with God our demands for what produce those feelings become very rigid. This is why so many churches succumb to offering multiple styles of worship services. By doing so, they unwittingly sanction division and self-centeredness among the people of God.
Todd Pruitt serves as Lead Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Raised a Southern Baptist, he is a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. He blogs regularly at Ref21 and 1517. Todd, along with Carl Trueman and Aimee Byrd, is one of the hosts of Mortification of Spin. He and his wife Karen have three children.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Saturday, October 11, 2014
During An Ebola Pandemic All Of Your Rights Would Essentially Be Meaningless
October 08, 2014
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If
there is a major Ebola pandemic in America, all of the liberties and
the freedoms that you currently enjoy would be gone. If government
officials believe that you have the virus, federal law allows them to
round you up and detain you "for such time and in such manner as may be
reasonably necessary."
In addition, the CDC already has the authority to quarantine healthy Americans if they reasonably believe that they may become sick. During an outbreak, the government can force you to remain isolated in your own home, or the government may forcibly take you to a treatment facility, a tent city, a sports stadium, an old military base or a camp.
You would not have any choice in the matter. And you would be forced to endure any medical procedure mandated by the government.
That includes shots, vaccines and the drawing of blood. During such a scenario, you can scream about your "rights" all that you want, but it won't do any good.
In case you are tempted to think that I am making this up, I want you to read what federal law actually says. The following is 42 U.S.C. 264(d). I have added bold for emphasis...
(1) Regulations prescribed under this section may provide for the apprehension and examination of any individual reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease in a qualifying stage and (A) to be moving or about to move from a State to another State; or (B) to be a probable source of infection to individuals who, while infected with such disease in a qualifying stage, will be moving from a State to another State. Such regulations may provide that if upon examination any such individual is found to be infected, he may be detained for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary. For purposes of this subsection, the term “State” includes, in addition to the several States, only the District of Columbia.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term “qualifying stage”, with respect to a communicable disease, means that such disease—
(A) is in a communicable stage; or
(B) is in a precommunicable stage, if the disease would be likely to cause a public health emergency if transmitted to other individuals.
In addition, as I discussed above, the CDC already has the authority to isolate people that are not sick to see if they do become sick. The following is what the CDC website says about this...
Quarantine is used to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms. Quarantine can also help limit the spread of communicable disease.
On a very basic level, we are already starting to see this happen in Texas. Obviously Thomas Eric Duncan has already been "isolated", and now his family has been placed under mandatory quarantine and ordered not to leave their home for 21 days...
Texas health officials have placed the Dallas family of a Liberian national infected with Ebola under quarantine and ordered them not to leave their home or have any contact with outsiders for 21 days without approval of the local or state health department.
The "control order" also requires the family of Thomas Eric Duncan to be available to provide blood samples and agree to any testing required by public health officials. Officials said Thursday that the four or five family members could face criminal charges for violating the order, which was delivered to them in writing Wednesday evening.
Police have been stationed at the apartment complex to ensure residents' safety, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told a news briefing Thursday afternoon.
If we could all just stay in our homes during a national Ebola emergency, that wouldn't be so bad.
But if thousands (or even millions) of cases start popping up it simply will not be possible for law enforcement authorities to monitor so many homes.
This is a point that Mike Adams of Natural News made exceptionally well...
When just one family is suspected of carrying Ebola, they can be easily monitored in a "volunteer home isolation" scenario. But what happens when it's 100 families? 500? 1,000? At that point, there aren't enough state or federal workers to keep an eye on these people, and the quarantine effort will almost certainly shift to forced relocation into quarantine camps.
Those camps will, of course, be called something nice-sounding like "Community Health Centers." No one in government or media will call them camps, even though they are camps. The word "camp" brings up echoes of "concentration camps" and the government definitely wants to avoid that association.
If one particular town or city is hit especially hard with the virus, there is a likelihood of the entire town being quarantined. No one in, no one out. Everybody will be ordered to "shelter in place" in their own homes for at least 21 days while health workers wearing hazmat suits go door to door, identifying Ebola victims and "relocating" them to the "Community Health Centers."
If that sounds like "martial law" to you, that is because it would essentially be martial law.
For the moment, public health authorities are pledging that nothing like this will ever happen because they have everything completely under control.
Others are not so sure.
For example, on Thursday a doctor from Missouri named Gil Mobley checked in for a flight at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport dressed in a mask, goggles, gloves, boots and a protective white jumpsuit. On the back of the jumpsuit, he had written the following words: "CDC is lying!"
Mobley believes that we are not being told the truth about the spread of Ebola. And he is convinced that as Ebola continues to spread exponentially, that we will eventually "be importing clusters of Ebola on a daily basis"...
“Once this disease consumes every third world country, as surely it will, because they lack the same basic infrastructure as Sierra Leone and Liberia, at that point, we will be importing clusters of Ebola on a daily basis,” Mobley predicted. “That will overwhelm any advanced country’s ability to contain the clusters in isolation and quarantine. That spells bad news.”
Mobley, a Medical College of Georgia graduate who had an overnight layover after flying to Atlanta from Guatemala on Wednesday, said that he feels that the CDC is “asleep at the wheel” when it comes to screening passengers arriving in the United States from other countries.
“Yesterday, I came through international customs at the Atlanta airport,” the doctor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The only question they asked arriving passengers is if they had tobacco or alcohol.”
Earlier on Thursday, there were reports of people being tested for Ebola in Hawaii, Kentucky and Utah. None of those tests has produced a confirmed case of Ebola as I write this article.
Many Americans are still treating this Ebola crisis as if it was just one big joke.
But Ebola is no joking matter. This is a very, very serious disease.
Just consider the experience of one British health worker that witnessed a young brother and sister both die one day apart...
'The next morning I came in and saw him lying as I had left him, on the bed.
'He wasn't breathing. I remember going up to him and looking at his face, his lips were drawn back in a grimace, and his eyes were vacant, lying in a pool of his own diarrhea.
'I lifted his hand to try, just to confirm things and his whole body turned rigid and cold.
'I put him in a body bag as his sister looked on.
'She seemed more baffled than anything, not really understanding what was happening. I carried his corpse outside with the others.
'The little girl, she deteriorated the next day. Overnight, the following night she had intravenous fluids and the line came out and she bled.
'I came in the following morning and she was covered in blood. She still had a very puzzled expression on her face and she wasn't breathing.
'So I put her in a bag and left her next to her brother. She was a beautiful little girl.'
Hopefully our medical authorities are correct and this virus will not spread easily in this country.
But at this point even some of our top politicians are wondering if we are truly getting accurate information. For example, check out what U.S. Senator Rand Paul had to say on the Laura Ingraham Show just recently...
“I really think that it is being dominated by political correctness and I think because of political correctness we’re not really making sound, rational, scientific decisions on this.” Paul said referring to statements issued by the CDC last week that assured there was little risk of an outbreak occurring in the US.
“We should not underestimate the transmissibility of this,” said Paul, a doctor himself, adding that medical workers have been contracting the virus even though they are taking precautions and covering themselves with gowns and masks.
“My suspicion is that it’s a lot more transmissible than that if people who are taking every precaution are getting it. There are people getting it who simply helped people get in or out of a taxicab.” Paul said.
Let's pray that this crisis fizzles out, because if it doesn't, we could truly be looking at the greatest health crisis that any of us have ever seen.
And along with countless numbers of people getting sick and dying, we would also have to deal with government-imposed medical martial law.
The stakes are extremely high, and so let us hope that this crisis does not escalate any further.
In addition, the CDC already has the authority to quarantine healthy Americans if they reasonably believe that they may become sick. During an outbreak, the government can force you to remain isolated in your own home, or the government may forcibly take you to a treatment facility, a tent city, a sports stadium, an old military base or a camp.
You would not have any choice in the matter. And you would be forced to endure any medical procedure mandated by the government.
That includes shots, vaccines and the drawing of blood. During such a scenario, you can scream about your "rights" all that you want, but it won't do any good.
In case you are tempted to think that I am making this up, I want you to read what federal law actually says. The following is 42 U.S.C. 264(d). I have added bold for emphasis...
(1) Regulations prescribed under this section may provide for the apprehension and examination of any individual reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease in a qualifying stage and (A) to be moving or about to move from a State to another State; or (B) to be a probable source of infection to individuals who, while infected with such disease in a qualifying stage, will be moving from a State to another State. Such regulations may provide that if upon examination any such individual is found to be infected, he may be detained for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary. For purposes of this subsection, the term “State” includes, in addition to the several States, only the District of Columbia.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term “qualifying stage”, with respect to a communicable disease, means that such disease—
(A) is in a communicable stage; or
(B) is in a precommunicable stage, if the disease would be likely to cause a public health emergency if transmitted to other individuals.
In addition, as I discussed above, the CDC already has the authority to isolate people that are not sick to see if they do become sick. The following is what the CDC website says about this...
Quarantine is used to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms. Quarantine can also help limit the spread of communicable disease.
On a very basic level, we are already starting to see this happen in Texas. Obviously Thomas Eric Duncan has already been "isolated", and now his family has been placed under mandatory quarantine and ordered not to leave their home for 21 days...
Texas health officials have placed the Dallas family of a Liberian national infected with Ebola under quarantine and ordered them not to leave their home or have any contact with outsiders for 21 days without approval of the local or state health department.
The "control order" also requires the family of Thomas Eric Duncan to be available to provide blood samples and agree to any testing required by public health officials. Officials said Thursday that the four or five family members could face criminal charges for violating the order, which was delivered to them in writing Wednesday evening.
Police have been stationed at the apartment complex to ensure residents' safety, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told a news briefing Thursday afternoon.
If we could all just stay in our homes during a national Ebola emergency, that wouldn't be so bad.
But if thousands (or even millions) of cases start popping up it simply will not be possible for law enforcement authorities to monitor so many homes.
This is a point that Mike Adams of Natural News made exceptionally well...
When just one family is suspected of carrying Ebola, they can be easily monitored in a "volunteer home isolation" scenario. But what happens when it's 100 families? 500? 1,000? At that point, there aren't enough state or federal workers to keep an eye on these people, and the quarantine effort will almost certainly shift to forced relocation into quarantine camps.
Those camps will, of course, be called something nice-sounding like "Community Health Centers." No one in government or media will call them camps, even though they are camps. The word "camp" brings up echoes of "concentration camps" and the government definitely wants to avoid that association.
If one particular town or city is hit especially hard with the virus, there is a likelihood of the entire town being quarantined. No one in, no one out. Everybody will be ordered to "shelter in place" in their own homes for at least 21 days while health workers wearing hazmat suits go door to door, identifying Ebola victims and "relocating" them to the "Community Health Centers."
If that sounds like "martial law" to you, that is because it would essentially be martial law.
For the moment, public health authorities are pledging that nothing like this will ever happen because they have everything completely under control.
Others are not so sure.
For example, on Thursday a doctor from Missouri named Gil Mobley checked in for a flight at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport dressed in a mask, goggles, gloves, boots and a protective white jumpsuit. On the back of the jumpsuit, he had written the following words: "CDC is lying!"
Mobley believes that we are not being told the truth about the spread of Ebola. And he is convinced that as Ebola continues to spread exponentially, that we will eventually "be importing clusters of Ebola on a daily basis"...
“Once this disease consumes every third world country, as surely it will, because they lack the same basic infrastructure as Sierra Leone and Liberia, at that point, we will be importing clusters of Ebola on a daily basis,” Mobley predicted. “That will overwhelm any advanced country’s ability to contain the clusters in isolation and quarantine. That spells bad news.”
Mobley, a Medical College of Georgia graduate who had an overnight layover after flying to Atlanta from Guatemala on Wednesday, said that he feels that the CDC is “asleep at the wheel” when it comes to screening passengers arriving in the United States from other countries.
“Yesterday, I came through international customs at the Atlanta airport,” the doctor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The only question they asked arriving passengers is if they had tobacco or alcohol.”
Earlier on Thursday, there were reports of people being tested for Ebola in Hawaii, Kentucky and Utah. None of those tests has produced a confirmed case of Ebola as I write this article.
Many Americans are still treating this Ebola crisis as if it was just one big joke.
But Ebola is no joking matter. This is a very, very serious disease.
Just consider the experience of one British health worker that witnessed a young brother and sister both die one day apart...
'The next morning I came in and saw him lying as I had left him, on the bed.
'He wasn't breathing. I remember going up to him and looking at his face, his lips were drawn back in a grimace, and his eyes were vacant, lying in a pool of his own diarrhea.
'I lifted his hand to try, just to confirm things and his whole body turned rigid and cold.
'I put him in a body bag as his sister looked on.
'She seemed more baffled than anything, not really understanding what was happening. I carried his corpse outside with the others.
'The little girl, she deteriorated the next day. Overnight, the following night she had intravenous fluids and the line came out and she bled.
'I came in the following morning and she was covered in blood. She still had a very puzzled expression on her face and she wasn't breathing.
'So I put her in a bag and left her next to her brother. She was a beautiful little girl.'
Hopefully our medical authorities are correct and this virus will not spread easily in this country.
But at this point even some of our top politicians are wondering if we are truly getting accurate information. For example, check out what U.S. Senator Rand Paul had to say on the Laura Ingraham Show just recently...
“I really think that it is being dominated by political correctness and I think because of political correctness we’re not really making sound, rational, scientific decisions on this.” Paul said referring to statements issued by the CDC last week that assured there was little risk of an outbreak occurring in the US.
“We should not underestimate the transmissibility of this,” said Paul, a doctor himself, adding that medical workers have been contracting the virus even though they are taking precautions and covering themselves with gowns and masks.
“My suspicion is that it’s a lot more transmissible than that if people who are taking every precaution are getting it. There are people getting it who simply helped people get in or out of a taxicab.” Paul said.
Let's pray that this crisis fizzles out, because if it doesn't, we could truly be looking at the greatest health crisis that any of us have ever seen.
And along with countless numbers of people getting sick and dying, we would also have to deal with government-imposed medical martial law.
The stakes are extremely high, and so let us hope that this crisis does not escalate any further.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/October08/082.html#cwIoTeOsGl2bwxmy.99
Friday, October 10, 2014
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Today Oct. 11th. 2014.
Note from the blog author: This post was added in error. Sometimes, I click on the Add ;this program instead of the article to add from another site. I just keep it here because I wrote a reply to a comment from a reader who was afraid my blog had been hacked or infected. Jean-Louis.
AddThis - Get likes, get shares, get followers
Note from the blog author: This post was added in error. Sometimes, I click on the Add ;this program instead of the article to add from another site. I just keep it here because I wrote a reply to a comment from a reader who was afraid my blog had been hacked or infected. Jean-Louis.
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