For several months now I have been expecting Israel to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear sites to keep the apocalyptic death-cult followers who run that country from perpetrating a second holocaust – not millions of Jews dying in Nazi death camps over torturous years but millions perishing in an instant from a death-rain of Iranian warheads. A few weeks ago I shared my view as to why it had not yet happened: covert operations over the summer involving a computer worm known as “Stuxtnet” had slowed the Iranian march towards the bomb giving Israel more time before a strike was necessary. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no shrinking violet when it comes to making tough decisions, but he is waiting till the last possible moment to make this one. And who could blame him! If he takes military action and launches a first strike on Iran, the international reaction and condemnation of Israel will be overwhelming! The whole world will be down their throats and on their backs!
The Bible, in Ezekiel 36:24-38 predicted the re-creation of Israel - God would bring them home from the many lands and nations to which they were exiled for nearly 2000 years. This prophecy was partially fulfilled in 1948, and then completely fulfilled by victories in the ‘67 and ‘72 wars! In the following chapter, (Ez. 37) Ezekiel sees a valley of dry, disconnected bones coming together and coming to life. This is a word picture of these 20th century events! Then, in the very next chapter, Ezekiel predicts that many nations will gather against Israel led by “Persia” …none other than modern-day Iran! (Ezekiel 38:5) Could this next chapter be about ready to unfold?
The world-wide media machine continually spews out anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda. Israel is hounded as an “occupier” and branded as an illegitimate interloper in very the land that God Himself gave to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by an everlasting covenant over 3,000 years ago. Recently, the Obama administration once again pressured Israel to stop settlements in certain areas of east Jerusalem that were not under Israeli control prior to the 1967 six-day war. Netanyahu’s cabinet is right now discussing a 90-day moratorium on such construction. I was shocked to learn that they might be bowing to such pressure…until I heard what the U.S. was offering in return: 20 new F-35 fighter jets, and perhaps just as powerful, an extended security agreement between the U.S. and Israel which included promises from the U.S. to oppose in the United Nations Security Council any proposed resolutions that may come forward in the near future seeking to de-legitimize the sovereignty of Israel.
So what do we make of this? Should we conclude that the current administration has undergone a change of heart towards Israel? I don’t think so. If that were the case, the U.S. would simply offer the planes and the UN support without any strings. It seems that the Obama administration wants to look like it’s getting “tough” on Israel while at the same time doing some things that the President wouldn’t normally do to help Israel. Why? Of course, I don’t know…but my view is that last week when Netanyahu was in Washington he gave them the strike timetable. On Aug. 22, the Russians, after many years of trumped-up delays, finally delivered on their promise to provide nuclear fuel to Iran. It’s now loaded up into their reactor. On Nov. 3, the top Israeli general in charge of military intelligence reported to the Israeli parliament his evaluation is that Iran can now build at least one bomb and will soon have two. Without some unforeseen miraculous intervention, Mr. Netanyahu will very soon be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea - strike Iran and unleash a firestorm, including perhaps a large scale multi-front conventional war of retaliation, or see his nation obliterated by a nuclear missile. We should all be praying that Netanyahu will be like one of the son’s of Issachar described in the Old Testament – a man who understands the times and knows what Israel should do (1 Chronicles 12:32) – and that every believer in Jesus Christ would understand who we are and what we should be doing: praying for the peace of Jerusalem, living holy and godly lives, looking forward to the day of God and speeding its coming! (2Peter3:12)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
If I Could Turn Back Time…
Go ahead, sing a few bars! I know you want to! I guess I was thinking about that ‘89 Cher standard (kinda weird to mention Cher, 1989, and “standard” in the same sentence, huh!) since last Saturday night we did just that: we turned back time. Of course, the hour we gained moving from daylight savings time back to standard time will be lost again next spring when we turn our clocks forward, but for one fleeting moment anyway, we got to do what many of us often wish we could, we got to turn back time. Unlike Frank Sinatra, whose regrets were “too few to mention,” most of us have plenty of them: missed chances, blown opportunities and words we shouldn’t have said. Many spend their lives playing the “coulda, woulda, shoulda, if-only” game.
What should we do with our regrets? We can’t really “turn back time” in the sense that we can change the past. Is it “water over the dam” or “water under the bridge? I don’t know, but either way, you get the picture, what’s done is done! … Or is it? The answer is….yes!.... and no!
The Apostle Paul was a fellow who had lots of past mistakes: stoning Stephen, persecuting the church, denying Christ, to name a few! In fact Paul calls himself, “the worst of sinners!” But Paul did not let his past sins keep him from Christ’s service. Instead, he loudly proclaims his sinful unworthiness as an example of God’s mighty saving grace! “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1Tim. 1:14-15) Paul could have let his regrets eat him alive, but instead he sees and receives the grace, mercy and forgiveness of the cross that actually has the power to “turn back time”- making us justified: “just-as-if-I’d never sinned! (Rom 5:1-2) Paul refuses the devil’s condemnation and he exhorts us to not allow the devil to pummel us with our past either! “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death!” (Rom 8:1-2)
The blood of Jesus can, in a spiritual sense, “turn back time” removing all the guilt, shame and punishment which we deserve because of our sin! We must confess our sins to God and repent of them and by faith put our trust in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, and when we do He removes all the negative spiritual consequences of our past sins. However, the earthly consequences remain. Stephen was still dead. (Remember, I said the answer was both yes!... and no!) Sometimes our sins do have painful earthly consequences that God doesn’t remove. He wants us and others to see and remember that when we live according to our own desires, not doing things His way, (i.e. sin,) that those sinful actions bring pain and death. If it didn’t hurt when we touched a hot stove, we’d do it over and over. Pain has a purpose! But regrets…. not so much.
God does not want us to wallow in our past sin, failures or missed opportunities, rather He wants us to “let the dead bury the dead” and follow Him! Paul, puts it this way, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Why not use this seasonal clock change as a reminder to do more than just exchange the batteries in your smoke detector. Exchange your sinful past for a forgiven future, condemnation for freedom, regrets for motivation. Give Him your sin, guilt, shame and punishment, and receive righteousness, peace and joy!
What should we do with our regrets? We can’t really “turn back time” in the sense that we can change the past. Is it “water over the dam” or “water under the bridge? I don’t know, but either way, you get the picture, what’s done is done! … Or is it? The answer is….yes!.... and no!
The Apostle Paul was a fellow who had lots of past mistakes: stoning Stephen, persecuting the church, denying Christ, to name a few! In fact Paul calls himself, “the worst of sinners!” But Paul did not let his past sins keep him from Christ’s service. Instead, he loudly proclaims his sinful unworthiness as an example of God’s mighty saving grace! “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1Tim. 1:14-15) Paul could have let his regrets eat him alive, but instead he sees and receives the grace, mercy and forgiveness of the cross that actually has the power to “turn back time”- making us justified: “just-as-if-I’d never sinned! (Rom 5:1-2) Paul refuses the devil’s condemnation and he exhorts us to not allow the devil to pummel us with our past either! “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death!” (Rom 8:1-2)
The blood of Jesus can, in a spiritual sense, “turn back time” removing all the guilt, shame and punishment which we deserve because of our sin! We must confess our sins to God and repent of them and by faith put our trust in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, and when we do He removes all the negative spiritual consequences of our past sins. However, the earthly consequences remain. Stephen was still dead. (Remember, I said the answer was both yes!... and no!) Sometimes our sins do have painful earthly consequences that God doesn’t remove. He wants us and others to see and remember that when we live according to our own desires, not doing things His way, (i.e. sin,) that those sinful actions bring pain and death. If it didn’t hurt when we touched a hot stove, we’d do it over and over. Pain has a purpose! But regrets…. not so much.
God does not want us to wallow in our past sin, failures or missed opportunities, rather He wants us to “let the dead bury the dead” and follow Him! Paul, puts it this way, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Why not use this seasonal clock change as a reminder to do more than just exchange the batteries in your smoke detector. Exchange your sinful past for a forgiven future, condemnation for freedom, regrets for motivation. Give Him your sin, guilt, shame and punishment, and receive righteousness, peace and joy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
