Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Psalm 97:11
What the Bible says about light and seed
The True Light "In him, (the Lord Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world,…the world didn’t recognize him." John 1:4,9.
The Good Seed and the Weeds “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seeds in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.”Matthew 13:24,25.
Q. This isn’t a theological question. You seem to
have a good grasp on ministry and I’m hoping you can help me with a
group-dynamics question relating to a small group setting. I lead a small group in our church. One couple seems to be very good
at getting us off-track from the study. As a leader, I don’t know how
far to let the discussion wander from the point. This occurs every week. When it happens, I pray for discernment but,
quite honestly, I don’t perceive any clear guidance either way, so I let
it go on until the conversation comes around to where I can grab it and
continue with the study. By that time, I feel the train of thought has
been cut and it’s difficult to continue.
Do you have any insights into the issue of leading small group discussions?
A. Sounds to me like there might have been a lack of
communication as to the format of your study group, as if you’re trying
to keep it more formal and structured while the other couple wants a
free wheeling discussion. These preferential differences always plague
the conduct of small groups.
As the group’s leader, you may have clear goals and even an outline
of topics to be presented and reviewed each week. When the discussion
veers from this outline you begin to wonder if you’ll run out of time
before accomplishing your goals.
The other party seems to prefer a spontaneous approach, like “Let’s
open the book and see where it leads us.” They may not even realize the
conflict this causes you. They may also be frustrated discussion leaders
themselves, unconsciously hi-jacking your agenda to meet their needs.
If you respect their views, even though their behavior frustrates your objectives, you could do one of several things. 1- Meet with them one-on-one to review your objectives as the group’s
leader and ask for their help in keeping things on track. You could
offer to assign them the responsibility of directing the group’s
discussions from time to time to help meet their leadership needs in
return for their cooperation. 2- Explain the situation to your Pastor and ask him to appoint them
as leaders over their own group, or recommend that they be transferred
into a group whose leader’s style is more compatible with their
preferences. 3- If you enjoy the discussions and feel the only problem is that it
conflicts with your goals for the meetings you could even offer to step
aside in favor of them.
Small groups seem to function best when everyone in the group
responds well to the leader’s style. Having conducted leadership
training sessions for over 20 years, I know it involves teaching leaders
to adapt their style to fit the needs of the people they’re in charge
of.
But in informal settings like yours the goal should be to make the
group as compatible with the leader’s natural style as possible. The key
to success in a situation like this is to handle it with the love and
respect due a fellow believer, maintaining the humility we should all
strive to express in doing the Lord’s work.
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Signs & Wonders! Five Things You Should Consider By David Dombrowski
Setting Things Up With Great Delusion
Jesus taught his disciples that in the last days, a time of mass delusion will come upon the earth. He said:
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders,
to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed:
behold, I have foretold you all things. (Mark 13:22-23; emphasis added)
Likewise, Paul spoke of this time when he said:
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits,
and doctrines of devils. (1 Timothy 4:1)
If we look at what is happening in the world today, the only logical
conclusion is that we have already entered into that period of history.
The world is going through a mystical paradigm shift where an
increasingly high number of people are engaging in occultic mystical
practices which are leading them into a New Age all-paths-lead-to-God
kind of mentality. This is not only happening in the world, but it is happening in the
church as well. It is shocking to see that doctrines and values formerly
held sacred are now being discarded. Many Christian leaders today have
replaced the reading and study of Scripture with having spiritual
experiences or what Jesus referred to above as signs and wonders. In
effect, multitudes of Christians are being led to believe that if they
can have some type of spiritual experience or witness a miracle, that
will bear more validity than the words of Scripture itself. What we have now generated is a delusion so great that if one has an
“experience” that contradicts the Bible, one will hold the experience as
valid and not the Bible because the experience is seen as tangible and
therefore more real. But this is an insult to our God because as David
points out in a Psalm:
I will worship toward thy hold temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalm 138:2; emphasis added)
God holds His Word in highest esteem as being entirely truthful, but
many would rather trust and rely on their own experiences as their
standard for truth. Read more
Psalm 19 is one of the best daily prayers I’ve ever
found. Commit it to memory and use it in your prayers each morning. Just
like your daily bath or shower makes you physically clean, praying Psalm 19 makes you spiritually clean. It’s a great way to fulfill 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Let’s go through Psalm 19 and I’ll show you why I believe it’s such a good one to know by heart. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)
These verses refer to the Hebrew Mazzaroth, later corrupted into
Babylonian Astrology. Hebrew tradition holds that Adam, Seth, and Enoch
picked 12 constellations of stars, each with a major star and 3 minor
ones (called decans) and named them in such a way as to tell the gospel
story. Being a nomadic people who slept in the open with their flocks,
generations of fathers could point out these constellations to their
sons at night and use them to teach the redemption story. This was to
give hope to the sons, who had heard stories of the fall of Man and his
expulsion from the Garden. It taught them that one day God would send
His Son to redeem them. Their faith in God’s promise, written in the
stars, is what saved them from their sins.
Evidence shows that the Sphinx in Egypt is a monument to the
Mazzaroth with the head of a woman (Virgo) and the body of a lion (Leo)
combining the 1st and 12th signs and completing the circle of
redemption. Some experts contend that the particular kind of erosion the
sphinx has experienced could only have occurred if it had spent a
period of time under water. If so, it’s a pre-flood memorial to the
Gospel in the Stars.
In ancient Babylon, the 12 constellations were given different names,
most of which bore no resemblance to the original Hebrew, and the 12
signs of the Zodiac were born taking God completely out of the picture.
The Babylonian names survive to this day and are the basis for the false
religion we call astrology. This was one of the enemy’s early attempts
to deprive mankind of the Gospel story. There is speculation among
archeologists and astrologers alike that the Tower of Babel may have
been dedicated to the study of astrology. Signs of the Zodiac have been
found in the ruins of similar ancient towers. In Israel the study of
Astrology was a sin punishable by death (Deut. 18:9-12 KJV). In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a
bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to
run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. (Psalm 19:5-6)
The rising and setting of the Sun each day also give evidence of
God’s creative powers in providing the light and warmth necessary to
sustain our lives day in and day out. How could this happen by chance? The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-11) God’s Laws, while impossible to keep in their entirety, are the
standard for behavior that He requires of us. Neither arbitrary nor
oppressive, they are perfect as He is perfect, and making them part of
your life is the sure path to prosperity and success (Joshua 1:8). Even people who don’t believe in the Creator who ordained them are blessed by incorporating His laws into their lifestyle.
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:12-13)
But even the best of us falls pitifully short of achieving the
standards God’s law sets forth. Our behavior is so contaminated by our
sin nature we don’t even realize the extent to which we violate them.
So David’s prayer was not just for God’s help in preventing him from
consciously sinning, but also for forgiveness for the sins he wasn’t
even aware of committing.
In Old Testament times, the evening and morning burnt offerings
temporarily set aside the unintentional sins of the nation. From the
time of the Exodus to the coming of the Messiah these offerings were
part of their daily lives. The evening offering was kept burning all
night to atone for the sins they committed during the night and the
morning offering covered them all through the day. Two lambs gave their
life every day to show the people the extent to which sin had permeated
their lives, literally causing them to violate God’s laws day and
night.
As the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) Jesus replaced these twice daily burnt offerings with His once-for-all-time sacrifice (Hebrews 10:11-14).
And it covered conscious as well as unconscious sin. Since He has
already paid the penalty due us, we need only confess to be forgiven.
Some dispute this, arguing that our original confession should be
sufficient for life. However John the Apostle reminded us that if we
think we’re without sin we’re liars, fooling ourselves. But if we
confess our sins, as David did, including even those that are so much a
part of our behavior that we’re not even aware of them, God Who is
faithful and just will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-10) Our original
confession saved us forever, but maintaining an intimate relationship
with God in the here and now requires confession whenever we sin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
God, Who judges the motives of our heart knows the difference between
the sincere confession of a humble and contrite sinner and the mindless
mouthing of words we’ve learned to say without feeling. David closed
his prayer with the hope that God would count him sincere as he offered
his confession, and judge his motives favorably. Good advice for us too.
Today, when there’s so much emphasis on self, it’s easy to forget
that we’re created beings who’ve been given incredible talent and
ability to use as we see fit, and a guide to living that will assure
success beyond our wildest imagination. Beginning each day by declaring
the glory of our Creator, acknowledging and confessing our sins, and
protecting our relationship with the One who is the author of all our
victories is a great antidote for the self-centeredness that can so
easily overtake us.
In the days ahead our way of life will be challenged in ways we would
never have imagined just a few years ago. It’s more important now than
ever before that we stay close to our Lord and Savior, to avail
ourselves of His blessing and His protection. Knowing and praying Psalm 19 will help us do that. Selah 10-30-10
Reports
nationwide are outlining how purported churches across the country are
being pulled in by one of the latest societal crazes: Pokemon Go, a
mobile game that has users on their feet and out on the town in an
effort to capture Pokemon characters at various “PokeStops” set by the
game’s creators.
Gamers seek to “catch ’em all” as they scout out various Pokemon
creatures—some comical, some crabby—such as a Weedle, a Jigglypuff, a
Poliwag, a Hypno, a Jynx and Vaporeon. Users may find Pokemon eggs at
PokeStops, which will “hatch” when the player walks a certain distance,
or they may throw a PokeBall to catch spotted Pokemon. According to reports, the game, which was rolled out earlier this month, currently has over 7.5 million daily users.
As number of congregations have discovered that they have been set up
as “PokeStops” or “gym,” many have decided to play along along with
gamers by posting on the signs outside their houses or worship, “Poke
stop here!” or “We are a PokeStop. Get supplies outside; find Jesus
inside.”
In other words, some assemblies have announced to players, “We’re
game.” Christian-identified blogs are consequently posting about how
church leaders can use the foot traffic to attract the lost to their
assembly or to accommodate existing members. Aaron Earls of the blog “The Wardrobe Door” wrote on July 11, “You
probably don’t want your student pastor spending his entire day playing
Pokemon on your front steps, so put up a sign to let players know they
can come inside.” “If it is hot, people will be thankful to step inside and hang out in
an air conditioned area while they pick up some items, see what Pokemon
are around or battle a gym leader,” he said. “If AC won’t bring someone
inside the doors, maybe some free pizza and a soft drink will.” Earls suggested that assemblies advertise a set “Pokemon day” at their house of worship. “Players can come and hang out in the church, get free food, and talk about their latest catches,” he wrote.
Earls also outlined in an article for the Washington Post entitled
“Come for Jigglypuff, Stay for Jesus: Church in the Age of Pokémon Go”
that Pokemon has become a theme of discussion among members of his
church—as well as a potential distraction. “Before we started our class Sunday, the young adults I teach wanted
to talk Pokemon Go. We shared our best catches and embarrassing
failures. Before I began the lesson, I joked, ‘Don’t play during class
unless you see a rare Pokemon. Then you have to let me know, so I can
catch it, too,'” he wrote.
“But for a few, the temptation was too great. They didn’t want to
miss any Pokemon that might virtually wander in while we talked Bible,”
Earls acknowledged. Ridge Community Church in Greenville, Wisconsin even distributed a
free Pokemon collectible to players during its Thursday night “happy
hour.” LudyBut
while some believe that Christians should use the cultural phenomenon
as an opportunity to build bridges with the unchurched, others note that
the biblical Church was never meant to use carnal means to win the
lost.
“For the Church to dish out the pablum of the world that can be
picked up on every street corner (or in this case, on every mobile
device) only serves to diminish the quality, the power, and the
integrity of the amazing life-changing truth we have to offer,” Eric
Ludy, pastor of the Church at Ellerslie and president of Ellerslie
Mission Society in Windsor, Colorado, told Christian News Network.
“The simple rule of thumb is this: If we compete with the world with
worldly means, the world will always best us. The Church only wins when
it labors God’s way, with God’s truth, power, purity, love and
ingenuity,” he said.
Ludy stated that he sees the Pokemon craze as being “emblematic of
the current drift of the Christian culture.” And while some professing
Christians see frittering away their time playing the game as a personal
liberty since they do not consider Pokemon to be intrinsically sinful,
Ludy noted that there are much better ways for Christians to spend their
fleeting lives.
“Long and short, a maturing Christian doesn’t ask the question, ‘What
can I get away with?’ but rather, ‘What can I do to love my God more?'”
he explained. “I think many immature Christians right now are seeking
to justify their petty addictions instead of allowing some good
soul-searching questions to reverberate in their souls. We have one life
to live for Jesus Christ. Is this really how we should be spending our
time?”
The ongoing assault on police is just one front in the
ongoing war between raging chaos and peaceful civility. On another
front stands Islamic terror. But a bigger threat comes from
“values-terrorists” — people out to undercut the notions of right and
wrong that make civilization possible. These are three areas of
conflict among thousands in an ongoing war that is bigger and older than
most people can imagine.
In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “Enemy-occupied territory — that is what this world is.”
The enemy he spoke of is neither a nation, human being,
nor political persuasion. It is the devil himself. C. S. Lewis, the
brilliant Oxford don, believed whole-heartedly in a universe within and
without our universe — a set of spiritual dimensions. The Bible
describes this spirit realm as a place where entities exist, think,
plan, and, in mysterious but real ways, influence human lives.
As we go deeper into the last days, we see a growing
paradox concerning Satan. A smaller percentage of people in western
nations believe in him than at any time in the last thousand years. And
yet, his power, chutzpah, rebellious ways, and even his evil are
celebrated as heroic throughout popular culture. With fewer and fewer
taboos, the craving for forbidden fruit drives humanity lower and lower
until finally it begins to praise this abominable embodiment of evil —
Satan.
The Bible shows him intensifying his activities in the
end times. One day, through the Antichrist, Satan will demand the
worship he has long craved from every person on earth. Until then, he
walks a tightrope — pleased to work stealthily behind the scenes, but
more pleased to be praised and celebrated.
I don’t talk about him because I enjoy the topic. I talk
about him because we will never understand the world around us if we
don’t understand his role in it. And don’t kid yourself. His role is
huge!
Jesus called him, “the ruler of this world.” (John 16:11
NASB) With such a “ruler,” it’s no wonder that just a few verses later
Jesus would say to His followers, “In this world you will have trouble.”
(John 16:33 NIV)
The Church was born into a world of trouble. But
thankfully, there’s more to John 16:33 than the part I quoted above.
The entire verse says, “I have told you these things, so that in Me
you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the world.”
We are in the middle of a spiritual combat zone. Battles
rage around us. But Jesus tells us to “take heart” because He’s
already won the war. And when you’ve already won, the power of the
opponent becomes inconsequential. Early Christians squarely faced the
raging anger of Rome, the greatest empire in the history of the world…
and they thrived!
Today, the earth reels from a planet-wide rise in
vitriol. The rage that has long boiled beneath the surface seems to be
emerging more often and with greater ferocity. And it is global —
touching every inhabited part of the globe.
As Christians, we must recognize the spiritual component
in these events. Every outbreak of human wickedness bears the
fingerprints of a monster from the deep — the “god of this world.” (2
Corinthians 4:4 KJV)
That’s why 2 Corinthians 10:3 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.” (NKJV)
Ephesians 6:11-12 says, “Put on the full armor of God,
that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against
the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NASB)
I’m not giving anyone a pass here. “The devil made me do
it” is never a valid excuse. We all make choices and all choices have
consequences. I am saying that while society must hold every person
responsible for his or her crimes, we Christians need to be aware of the
spiritual component. We must not forget the identity of our real
enemy.
We face difficult times. Many have fallen into despair.
Remarkably, in such times, the work of Christ bears its greatest
fruit. But it must be His work. Human strength is useless against the
attacks of Satan. We fall into frustration and pain when we rely on our
own vigor, intelligence, or goodness. We win by allowing the Lord to
give us His strength.
Ephesians 6:10 commands that we “be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.” (NASB)
Think about those words. We have the privilege of receiving “the strength of His might!” Even
though “His might” is a power infinitely beyond our ability to imagine,
He gives us glimpses at it. Look at the cosmos with its hundreds of
billions of galaxies, each containing an average of hundred billion
stars, and each star more amazing than we can know. We can’t fully
grasp “His might,” but we see enough to recognize it as a place where we
can rest in complete security.
The original text of Ephesians 6:10 is even stronger.
The command comes in the passive voice. That means we receive the
action described by the verb. It is actually saying that we are to be “constantly allowing ourselves to be strengthened by the Lord.”
He won the war. He does the strengthening. He gets the glory!
• Adam is the "Son of God" (Luke 3) • Abel is the "Son of Man" (Adam means "man", Genesis 4)
• Adam died through a "tree". (Genesis 3) • Abel was a Shepherd whose blood was shed by his brother. (Genesis 4) • Seth was the 3rd Son whose life resurrected the righteous lineage in place of Abel's death. (Genesis 4) • Enoch walked closely with God and was taken away to Heaven. (Genesis 5)
• Methuselah's life (the oldest life at 969 years) was a picture of
GRACE *restraining* the Judgment of God via the Flood (Methuselah's name
means "When He Dies; It [the Flood] Shall Come") • Noah and His family of 7 entered the single Door in the Ark of Salvation to escape the Judgment on the World (Genesis 7)
• Noah and His family of 7 return to Earth and set up an altar of
sacrifice to give thanks to God in a New World and New Order (Genesis 8) ::: COMPARE ::: • Jesus is the "Son of God" and the "Son of Man" (Mark 1; John 1) • Jesus is the Good Shepherd whose blood was shed by his brothers. (John 10) • Jesus died on a "tree". (John 19) • Jesus was resurrected in the 3rd Day, resurrecting the Righteousness of God in place of His prior death. (John 20) • After His resurrection God took back His son in the Ascension to Heaven to sit at His right-hand. (Acts 1)
• The Church Age [approximately 2,000 years] is known as the "Age of
GRACE" and as the Light we restrain the Darkness; when we are REMOVED
the Judgment of God is delivered [in the Tribulation] • Christ
and His 7 Churches enter through the Single Door set in Heaven via the
Rapture to escape the Judgment on the World (Revelation 2-4) •
Christ and His Church return to Earth and Christ sets up the Temple of
God (Ezekiel 40-48) in a New World Order known as the "Kingdom"
(Revelation 19-20)
PALESTINIANS HOLD a poster of President Tayyip
Erdogan during a demonstration yesterday in Gaza in support of the
Turkish government..
(photo credit:REUTERS)
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg insisted that the purge of thousands in the Turkish
military – including a third of the serving generals – did not weaken
the military.
Stoltenberg told Reuters, “Turkey has a large
armed force, professional armed forces and... I am certain they will
continue as a committed and strong NATO ally.”
It would be interesting to know whether the 1,500 US
soldiers who have been locked down at Incirlik Air Base along with
several hundred soldiers from other NATO countries since the failed
coup Friday night would agree with him.
Following the failed coup, the Erdogan regime cut off the
base’s external electricity supply and temporarily suspended all
flights from the base.
The base commander Gen. Bekir Ercan Van
and 11 other service members from the base and a police officer were
placed under arrest.
Incirlik is the center of NATO air
operations against Islamic State in Syria. It also reportedly houses 50
nuclear warheads. The atomic bombs belong to the US. They deployed to
Turkey – under US control – as a relic of the Cold War.
It took US President Barack Obama two years of pleading to
convince Turkish President Recep Erdogan to allow NATO forces to use
the base at Incirlik. It was only after the Kurdish political party
secured unprecedented gains in Turkey’s parliamentary elections last
year, and Tayyip Erdogan decided to expand his operations against the
Kurds of Iraq and Syria to dampen domestic support for the Kurds, that
he agreed to allow NATO forces to use the base.
His condition
was that the US support his war against the Kurds – the most effective
ground force in the war against Islamic State.
Stoltenberg’s
statement of support for Turkey is particularly troubling because
Erdogan’s post-coup behavior makes it impossible to continue to sweep
his hostility under the rug.
For nearly 14 years, since his AK
Party first won the national elections in late 2002, Erdogan and his
followers have made clear that they are ideologically – and therefore
permanently – hostile to the West. And for nearly 14 years, Western
leaders have pretended this reality under the rug.
Just weeks
after AKP’s first electoral triumph, the Turkish parliament shocked
Washington when it voted to reject the US’s request to deploy Iraq
invasion forces along the Turkish border with Iraq. Turkey’s refusal to
permit US operations from its territory are a big reason the Sunni
insurgency in Iraq was able to organize.
It took the US some two
months to take over northern Iraq. By that time, the Ba’athists had
organized the paramilitary militias that later morphed into al-Qaida in
Iraq and then, following the US withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, Islamic
State.
Ever since then, Erdogan has paid lip service, and even
assisted NATO and the EU from time to time, when it served his
momentary interests to do so. But the consistent trend of his behavior
has been negative.
Since taking power, Erdogan has galvanized
the organs of state propaganda – from the media to the entertainment
industry to the book world – to indoctrinate the citizens of Turkey to
hate Jews and Americans and to view terrorists supportively.
This
induced hatred has been expressed as well in his foreign policy.
Erdogan was the first major leader to embrace Hamas after its electoral
victory in the 2006 Palestinian Authority elections. He treated Hamas
terror chief Ismail Haniyeh like a visiting monarch when he hosted him
shortly after those elections.
During Hezbollah’s 2006 war
against Israel, Turkey was caught red-handed as it allowed Iran to move
weapons systems to Hezbollah through Turkish territory.
Erdogan
has turned a blind eye to al-Qaida. And he has permitted ISIS to use
Turkey as its logistical base, economic headquarters and recruitment
center. Earlier this year the State Department claimed that all of the
25,000 foreign recruits to ISIS have entered Syria through Turkey.
As
for Iran, until Obama engineered the lifting of UN sanctions against
Iran through his nuclear deal with the ayatollahs, Turkey was Iran’s
conduit to the international market. Turkey was Iran’s partner in
evading sanctions and so ensuring the economic viability of the regime.
According to a series of investigative reports by Turkish and foreign
reporters, Erdogan’s family was directly involved in this illicit
trade.
Then there is Europe. For ISIS, Turkey has been a two-way
street. Fighters have entered Syria through Turkey, and returned to
Europe through Turkey. Turkey is behind the massive inflow of Syrian
refugees to Europe.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to cut a
deal with Erdogan that would stem the flow. Erdogan pocketed her
economic concessions and did nothing to stop the hemorrhage of refugees
to Europe.
As for the US, the years of anti-American incitement
and indoctrination of Turkish society are now coming into full flower
in the aftermath of the coup. Even before the dust had settled, Erdogan
was pointing an accusatory finger at Washington.
Insisting that
the failed coup was the brainchild of exiled Islamic cleric – and
erstwhile ally of Erdogan – Fetullah Gulen, who took up residence in
Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains 16 years ago – Erdogan demanded that
the US immediately put Gulen on an airplane with a one-stop ticket to
Turkey.
In the days that followed, the Erdogan regime’s
accusations against the US became more and more unhinged. Prime
Minister Binali Yildirim said that failure to comply with Erdogan’s
extradition demand would be viewed as a hostile act by the US.
And Turkish Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu flat out said that “America is behind the coup,” in a media interview.
In
other words, after arresting the base commander and other forces at
Incirlik, and while effectively holding US-led NATO forces and 50
nuclear warheads prisoner for the past six days, Turkey is accusing the
US of engineering the coup attempt.
But apparently, NATO has
decided to try to again sweep reality under the rug, once more. Hence,
Stoltenberg’s soothing insistence that there is no cause for worry.
Turkey remains a trusted member of the alliance.
This isn’t merely irresponsible. It is dangerous, for several reasons.
First of all, Stoltenberg’s claim that the Turkish military is as strong as ever is simply ridiculous.
A
third of the serving generals are behind bars along with thousands of
commanders and soldiers, educators, police officers, jurists and
judges.
Who exactly can be willing to take the initiative in
this climate? Amid at best mixed messages from the regime regarding the
war against ISIS, and with the generals who coordinated the campaign
with NATO now behind bars, who will maintain the alliance with NATO ?
No one will.
The implications of this passivity will be felt on the ground in Turkey as well as in Syria and Iraq.
Thanks
to Erdogan’s passive support, ISIS has operatives seeded throughout
Turkey. Who can guarantee that they will leave the nuclear weapons at
Incirlik alone? Is the US really planning to leave those bombs in
Turkey when its own forces are effective prisoners of the regime? And
what are the implications of removing them? How can such a necessary
move be made at the same time that NATO pretends that all is well with
Turkey? Then there is the problem of chemical weapons.
In recent
months, ISIS has used chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq. In February,
James Clapper, the director of US national intelligence, warned that
ISIS is developing a chemical arsenal and intends to use chemical
weapons against the US and Europe.
In May it was reported that
ISIS is conducting experiments with chemical weapons on dogs and
prisoners in labs located in residential neighborhoods in Mosul.
Turkey
is a NATO member with open borders to Europe, and the only thing that
has prevented ISIS terrorists from bringing chemical weapons to Europe
has been the Turkish military and police force. They are now being
purged.
Moreover, as Soner Cagaptay reported in The Wall Street
Journal this week, Erdogan used out and out jihadists to put down the
coup on Friday night and Saturday. He has continued to embrace them in
the days that have passed since then.
In so doing, Erdogan
signaled that he may well use the post-coup state of emergency to
dismantle what is left of Turkey’s secular state apparatus and
transform the NATO member into an Islamist state, along the lines of
the short-lived Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt, which Erdogan
enthusiastically supported.
In this climate, it is difficult, if
not as a practical matter impossible, to imagine that the military and
police will work particularly hard to prevent ISIS terrorists from
transporting weapons of mass destruction from Syria to Europe through
Turkey.
The Obama administration is partly responsible for the
current crisis. Secretary of State John Kerry just agreed to
subordinate the US-led anti-ISIS campaign to Russia. In so doing, he
made clear that the US will not protect Turkey from Russia. This gives
Erdogan little choice other than to strike out a new, far more radical
course.
To Erdogan’s own Islamist convictions and US incompetence
must be added a third reason to assume the situation in Turkey will
only get worse.
As David Goldman has reported in the Asia Times,
Turkey is on the brink of economic collapse. Its currency has been
devalued by 7 percent just since the failed coup. “With about $300
billion in foreign currency liabilities, Turkish corporations’ debt
service costs rise as the currency falls. Stocks have lost more than
half their value in dollar terms since 2013,” Goldman warned.
In
the current climate, it is hard to imagine Erdogan instituting
austerity measures to pay down the debt. So he needs a scapegoat for his
failure. The chosen scapegoat is clearly the US.
To make a long
story short then, the Turkish military is no longer capable of
cooperating in any meaningful way with the US or NATO . Erdogan, never a
reliable ally, is now openly hostile.
He is in the midst of
committing aggression against NATO forces at Incirlik. And he is
embracing Turkish jihadists who are ideologically indistinguishable
from ISIS.
The US surrender to Russia means that America cannot
protect Turkey from Russia. And Erdogan has chosen to blame American
for Turkey’s fast approaching economic doomsday.
Under the
circumstances, if NATO takes its job of protecting the free world
seriously, it has no choice but to quit with the business as usual
routine and kick Turkey out of the alliance, withdraw its personnel and
either remove or disable the nuclear weapons it fields in the country.
As
for anti-ISIS operations, the US will have to move its bases to Iraqi
Kurdistan and embrace the Kurds as the strategic allies they have
clearly become.
In the aftermath of the failed coup, Turkey is a
time bomb. It cannot be defused. It will go off. The only way to
protect the free world from the aftershocks is by closing the border and
battening down the hatches.
www.CarolineGlick.com
France's response to Terror: Teach Arabic in middle school
In the last 19 months, France has been the stage for three major terrorist attacks: the Charlie Hebdo/Kosher Market in January 2015, the Bataclan in November 2015 and now the Bastille Day rampage on July 14, 2016. More than 230 innocent people lost their lives at the hands of bloody murderers who all appear to have…
Thousands of young people join in unity on National Mall in Washington, D.C., Saturday for Together 2016. (Facebook)
Dear Lighthouse Trails: Regarding the Together 2016 event that you recently reported on and
which took place this weekend, I was planning on keeping a close eye on
that event. What I found was this:
1. There is a website ‘reset2016.com‘
about the event, their site. It’s an ad that appears when you type
‘together 2016’ in the search box. The first page lists the speakers,
the schedule, and all that. When you look there, click on event info,
and then ‘week of events.’ I clicked on that, and they listed events for
the week leading up to the 16th, and one event included the IF: Gathering. When you read their captions, you identify all the emergent and unity buzz words on the site. 2. On Berean Research,
there was a post about Nick Hall and his ‘pulse’ organization being
behind the scenes on this event. There was another post about the app
for the event, and when a person searched for churches on it, they were
lead to a list of options, including ‘gay affirming.’ Then, once the
post was up, the app feature was quickly removed. 3. The pope was to make a video appearance at the event, which he
did, and the only thing I saw from the news about it is that he was
quoted as saying: “Find the one who can give you an answer to your
restlessnes.”
The name of Jesus was not mentioned there, and He is the only one who
can. But that quote can mean anything, from other religions to a gay
buddy; it’s so vague. 4. By searching, I noticed there is also a ‘together 2016’ scheduled
for Europe, and again the purpose is ‘unity’ among all the Christian
churches, organizations, and movements in Europe, planned by none other
than ‘Pope Francis.’ He gave a long speech about it and the transcript
is there also. You can see it by typing in ‘Together for Europe, 2016.’ 5. The event on Saturday in Washington, DC was cut short due to a
‘heat emergency,’ and many had to be treated for heat exposure. I have
no idea, but it reminds me of those assemblies in the Old Testament
where a portion of the congregation was wiped out. Yet of course these
are all in apostasy, it may have been discipline, or simply a sign that
it did not have the Lord’s blessing. In either case, that was
interesting.
These events will increase as it is all leading up to the one-world
religion. The ecumenism with apostasy and the promotion of ‘unity’ at
these events, which now include ‘Pope Francis,’ and eventually the other
religions will be included until their goal is met. I can just hear the
feverish pitch at their golden-calf fest, all in the name of ‘unity’
and ‘revival.’ All they need is Bono with his coexist sign in the back,
with all the symbols of these religions, and it’s complete. The site
captions for this one include phrases like ‘all are welcome,’ ‘invite
everyone,’ and ‘unifying’ phrases. One theme appeared to be unity in
general, such as regarding race. It’s like the powers that be create the
perfect storm and then usher in ‘the solution’ for everyone to accept;
unifying the world regarding religion, countries, race, diversity
(gays), and economically, etc. all under antichrist.
Those who won’t unite with their agenda will be called ‘bigots,’
‘haters,’ and ‘extremists’ to be ‘dealt with.’ (I am against racism and
economic polarity due to deregulation that causes the middle class to
shrink, but this is about all sorts of things rolled into ‘one’ ball of
wax.). We can be one in Jesus. Or, they can be one under the devil in
white. Who it’s under makes all the difference.
I figure you know this stuff but we all have various insights on
things. And I remember about a year ago they were rolling out all these
‘anti-terrorism’ laws and measures, like in Australia but other places
too as it all becomes very totalitarian. New rules for Facebook against
those who speak the truth, all in the name of ‘hate speech’ rules.
The world has become such a scary place in such a short time. I think
back to around 25 years ago, and the difference is shocking, how
peaceful things were compared to now. So many hold their breath in hopes
that ‘this too, shall pass,’ but these things will only get worse.
“And he shall make a firm covenant with
many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice
and the offering to cease; and upon the wing of detestable things shall
be that which causeth appalment; and that until the extermination
wholly determined be poured out upon that which causeth appalment.” Daniel 9:27 (The Israel Bible™)
IDF soldiers from the Nahal Brigade operating in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge. (Photo: IDF)
For the first time since the Syrian civil war began six years ago, the IDF is reportedly operating with tanks and heavy bulldozers inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating Israel from Syria in the Golan Heights indicating a dangerous end to the long period of relative quiet on the country’s northern border.
Sputnik News,
a multi-language news site, reported the IDF was operating in the
region between Quneitra in Syria and Ein Zivan in Israel. This area was
designated in 1974 as a demilitarized zone officially under control of
the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and the Syrian civilian
administration, according to the 1974 armistice agreement. The zone is
10 kilometers deep on each side and no ground-to-air missiles may be deployed inside a 25km radius from the DMZ.
The heavy equipment seen approaching the area was preparing a militarized zone dividing the Israeli and Syrian Golan borders, according toDebka, an Israeli military intelligence website based in Jerusalem.
The machinery is there to build a line of fortifications and anti-tank
trenches 300-500 meters inside the DMZ. No altercations were reported. Debka also reported “unusual Israeli Air Force movements over Syria and Lebanon, and elevated preparedness”.
Being that this week marks the 10th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War fought between Hezbollah and Israel, the site in question brings with it concerns of increased activity by the terrorist group.
“Hezbollah refrained from celebrating
[the anniversary of the war] and omitted its customary boasts of a
‘great victory’, thereby intensifying the sense in Israeli military
circles that Iran’s Lebanese proxy may be cooking up a surprise
operation,” Debka noted. The website added that there have
been no complaints or protests from Syrian President Bashar Assad about
the Israeli military activity on his border, warning this may also be a
bad omen.
“The silence from Damascus on
Israel’s military steps on the Golan may be no more than a respite as
the Syrian ruler waits for Tehran’s endorsement of joint Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah counteraction,” the site conjectured.
Though still considered enemies,
there have been no military confrontations between Israel and Syria
since the Yom Kippur War ended in 1974, making this technically the
longest standing agreement between the Jewish state and an Arab
neighbor. However, the mutual accord has been on shaky ground since September 2014
when the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front overran Syrian government
forces in Quneitra on the Israeli border as part of the civil war
embroiling Syria since that time.
Israel has thus far mostly managed to
stay out of the messy conflict on the other side of the border, since
the war began in 2011. There have been a few cases of projectiles
“overflowing” from the inter-Arab war in Syria into Israel, and the
Israeli Air Force has conducted occasional airstrikes on convoys transporting rockets from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Read
more at
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/71880/unusual-activity-sparks-confusion-idf-tanks-bulldozers-roll-golan-syria-border/#EzTqhd3cdMzexgcs.99
Breaking Story: Israeli Defense Forces are reported to have crossed
into Syria via the Golan Heights with tanks and bulldozers. Air support
is being provided as tanks appear to be digging a defensive posture.
Fighting is not indicated at this time.
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the
law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He
spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke
him.But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked
Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the
things of God, but the things of men.” (Mark 8:31-33)
In Matthew’s version of this exchange we can read what Peter said to
cause such a strong response. His reaction to the Lord’s prophecy had
been, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” (Matt. 16:22).
It was an emotional statement, made on the spur of the moment out of a
desire to protect the Lord from harm, and spoken with pure motives. You
or I might have said something like, “Over my dead body!”
Although the Lord’s response was strong in the extreme it wasn’t off
the top of His head like Peter’s had been. Remember, Jesus could not say
anything on His own. Instead, He explained, “Whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (John 12:50). Was Jesus saying that no matter how well intended or pure of motive,
if what we say doesn’t conform to the will of God, but instead reflects
the desires of men, then it’s really from Satan? Let’s find out. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come
from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).
During their time with the Lord, the disciples often seemed like they
just didn’t get it. More than once, He appeared to have exhausted His
patience with them. Matt. 15:1-20 is a good example.
Some Pharisees had criticized Jesus because the disciples didn’t perform
the traditional ceremonial hand washing before eating. Jesus responded
by pointing out instances where their traditions contradicted God’s Law.
He called them hypocrites and said it’s not what goes into a man’s
mouth that makes him unclean, but what comes out of it. When the
disciples told Him the Pharisees were offended by His comments, Jesus
told them a parable about the blind leading the blind.
Peter didn’t understand and asked Jesus to explain the parable. “Are you still so dull?”
Jesus exclaimed, and then told them how things that go into our mouth
go to our stomach and then out of our body, but things that come out of
our mouth come from our heart, and include evil thoughts of all kinds.
These are what make us unclean, He said, not eating food with unwashed
hands.
And in the very next chapter of Matthew, they completely
misunderstood His reference to the “yeast” of the Pharisees. Although He
had recently created enough bread out of thin air to feed multitudes of
people, they thought He was saying they didn’t bring any bread. Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why
are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still
not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five
thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for
the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you
don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on
your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they
understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used
in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matt. 16:8-12)
Even after the resurrection, some did not understand. On the road to
Emmaus after listening to two disciples sorrowfully recounting the
events that culminated in His crucifixion, Jesus said, “How foolish you are and slow to comprehend all the prophets have spoken.” While they walked along together He explained all the Old Testament prophecies concerning His death and resurrection (Luke 24:13-27).
Then we learn that the disciples didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until the evening that followed the Lord’s resurrection (John 20:22). Even three years of daily teaching by the Lord Himself couldn’t substitute for this gift. Peter’s sermons in Acts 2:14-41 and Acts 3:11-26 show the remarkable difference the Holy Spirit can make in a person.
From this we can see that it shouldn’t surprise us when unbelievers
can’t understand God’s word. After all we couldn’t understand it before
we became believers either. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the
person with the Holy Spirit will immediately understand all the things
of God, and automatically yield his or her will to the will of God like
the disciples did. It means that unlike non-believers we have been given
the potential to understand the things of God and follow his will for
us. But to realize this potential we have to allow the Spirit of God to
retrain our minds. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put
off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephes. 4:22-24)
Paul made it clear that this is something we have to decide to do. We
have to put off our old self, that’s been steeped in the ways of the
world, and put on our new self, the new creation we became when we
accepted the Lord’s death as payment for our sins (2 Cor. 5:17). We have to be made new in the attitude of our mind.
An attitude is simply a habit of thought. As non-believers we all
developed habits in the way we think. We acquired them from exposure to
the world around us, and since the whole world is under the control of
the evil one (1 John 5:19), many of the attitudes we
formed are in opposition to the things of God, and they didn’t go away
just because we became believers.
We have to make a choice to exchange our old worldly attitudes for
new Godly ones. And even with the indwelling Holy Spirit, this takes
time and it takes practice. Remember, He’s only here to guide us into
all truth (John 16:13), not to control us. That’s why
He’s called the counselor instead of the commander. We still have to
make the choice to allow Him to change the way we think. The reason so
many believers today still live the same way and want the same things as
they did before they were saved is they haven’t made this choice, and
therefore the Holy Spirit can’t change them (Matt. 13:22). Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer
your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your
spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you
will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing
and perfect will. (Romans 12:2-4)
Offering our body as a living sacrifice means choosing to live in a
manner pleasing to God in gratitude for the priceless gift of salvation.
Renewing our mind means rejecting any worldly attitudes that aren’t
consistent with God’s word and replacing them with those that are. In 1 Cor. 6:19-20 Paul reminded us that we are no longer our own, but have been bought at a price. According to 1 Peter 1:18-19,
that price was not silver or gold but the precious blood of Christ, and
when we agreed with God to let it constitute payment in full for our
sins, He put His seal of ownership on us and put His Spirit in our
hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor. 1:22). We belong to Him now, and nothing can change that.
The world tells us we’re free to choose what ever lifestyle,
vocation, and world view we want. But Paul said to experience the full
benefit of God’s will for us, we should not blindly conform to the
world’s patterns, but instead should yield our lives to Him, and allow
Him to give us the abundant life He desires for us (John 10:10).
There’s no real sacrifice involved here, because when we delight
ourself in the Lord, He will give us the desire of our heart (Psalm 37:4).
Most people never realize their heart’s true desire, but sooner or
later settle for much less. It’s only those who delight in Him who can
look forward with assurance to getting it all. Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set
your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is
revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you
had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy,
so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am
holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16)
So ultimately everything that’s not from God really is from Satan.
Even the things of this world that we think we’ve freely chosen are
really only an illusion, because if they’re not drawing us toward God
they’re drawing us toward His enemy. There is no independent position.
For example, do we really believe that by excluding God from our society
we’ve gained more freedom for ourselves? Or does the evidence around us
point to the conclusion that we’ve only acquired a different master,
one who does not have our best interests at heart. Having abandoned God
are we not conforming to the evil desires men had when they lived in
ignorance of Him?
Look around you. Are we healthier? Are we happier? Are we more
secure? Are our children better off? Can they look forward to a life of
opportunity and promise? Can we trust our elected officials not to
betray us? Have the prospects for the future improved? Is there any
evidence at all that life is better in a society that’s breaking free of
God? People ask me if I think it’s too late for the US, but I think a
better question would be, “Is it too late for the world?”
King David had our day in view when he prophesied, Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The
kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together
against the Lord and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then
he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2:1-6)
While this prophecy will see its ultimate fulfillment in the Battle
of Armageddon, it’s reasonable to conclude that the world is already in
open rebellion against God. Can His wrath be far behind?
1 Peter 1:13-16 contains good advice for us upon
whom the end of the age has come. We’re to prepare our minds for action,
be self-controlled, and set our hope fully on the grace to be given us
when Jesus Christ is revealed. To me this means get ready to leave,
don’t panic, and trust in the Lord’s promise to rescue us before His
wrath comes crashing down (1 Thes. 1:10).
We’re to turn away from the evil desires of this world and be holy,
as the One who called us is holy, not depending on the world to somehow
right itself without God, but staying focused on His plan for our future
instead.
Remember, holiness is not a function of behavior, it’s a function of
purpose. To be holy is to be set apart for God, and the clear message of
the Bible is that God’s people are to be set apart from the world.
We’re not to conform to its ways (Romans 12:2) or be deceived by its promises (Matt. 13:22) or store up its treasures (Matt. 6:19).
We’ve been redeemed from the world and set apart for Him. Although for a
little while we’re still in the world, we’re not of the world (John 18:36). Our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) and our destiny is to dwell there. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). Anything less is not having in mind the things of God but the things of men. Selah 07-26-12
July 25th, 2016
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Author: Lighthouse Trails Editors
