WorldNetDaily: Quake, roaring sea, ... now pestilences And where, you ask? In the Indian Ocean, and along the shores of eleven different countries that felt the effects of the gigantic wave, called a tsunami, that swept over those shores over the weekend. Other accounts tell us that the count of the dead has reached 68,000 (that's six myriads and eight chilioi for my fellow Greek scholars) and will likely rise to ten myriads before it's all over.

Jesus warned us that such things would happen. More to the point, John the Revelator warned that war, economic depression (translated as "famine"), and pestilence (the pale horse; Greek chloros a sickly pale green, whence "chlorine") would kill off twenty-five percent of the people then living when the second, third, and fourth Seals break [Revelation 6:3-8]. Nor is this all, of course: recall the Sixth Trumpet, that will in its time kill one-third of the people remaining alive at that time.

And consider this: some commentators have already compared the death toll to the Flood of Noah [Genesis 6-8]. That's an exaggeration, of course, because that Flood killed all but eight people. In fact, the late tsunami is a taste--just a taste--of what is to come.

WorldNetDaily: Bishop: 'Israel is a terrorist state'. The bishop involved is that of the Pakistan Presbyterian Church.

The background: Someone calling himself a Pakistani Presbyterian pastor--whose name is given merely as "Reverend Boiz" and has no further reliable identification--called for the church to recognize Israel. Today the bishop refused, and even went so far as to call Israel "a terrorist state." Then he said:

I wish to make it clear that my statement is based on principles and I am not trying to please the Muslim majority of Pakistan. What we see every day is enough to condemn this demand.

Well, you could have fooled me. I don't know what The Right Reverend T. Nasir "sees every day," but I fail to see anything that would make Israel morally equivalent to Taliban Afghanistan, for example. I have heard that Israel recruited a spy in the United States--which spy is still cooling his heels in an American prison, and whose case is still an occasional sore point in our own relations with Israel. I have heard that an Israeli bulldozer operator ran over a protester who had the bad sense to stand in front of the bulldozer and then fall out of view. But nowhere have I heard that Israel, or any of its agencies:

1. Arrested Christian missionaries, held them without a proper trial in conditions that fostered a gastrointestinal parasite infestation, and then threatened to kill them and would have done so were it not for American military intervention, or
2. hosted a gang of irregulars who then flew airliners into American commercial and government buildings.

Both of which Taliban Afghanistan did, and that is why Taliban Afghanistan is no more.

And as far as I'm concerned, Bishop Nasir is "trying to please the Muslim majority of Pakistan." That he would have to deny this specifically speaks volumes about his attitude. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "the gentleman doth protest too much, methinks."

Nasir goes on:

We have seen more than enough blood and deaths of unfortunate and forgotten Palestinians at the hands of Ariel Sharon, and as such we do not support this demand. We will go to visit the holy places only after the Palestinians get their right to establish their own homeland and start living in peace. Nothing less will be accepted by us.

Then the Bishop will wait until hell freezes over, mostly because the Palestinians are not a peaceful people. If they get their own state, it will be more of a terrorist base than it already is.

The prophet Zechariah predicted all this folderol. He said that Jerusalem would be the stumbling-block (Greek skandalon, whence "scandal") of the nations. How true this is turning out to be.

The Iran-E.U. Agreement on Iran's Nuclear Activity

From MEMRI. The bottom line: Iran has bamboozled the European Union into essentially endorsing its nuclear research program--or perhaps, just perhaps, the European Union found a way to endorse Iran's program "under the table," as it were. Everyone should read about Ezekiel's War [Ezekiel 38-9], and especially the names of the participants. One of them is Persia, the real name of which is--Iran. And among the sideline cheerleaders of this Russo-Muslim coalition are "the merchants of Tarshish and their young lions." which could represent Europe. (Sheba and Dedan likely represent oil-rich Arab lands--which ones, I can't be dogmatic about, though Ussher, in his Annals of the World, suggests the regions now known as Saudi Arabia and Yemen.)

AP - Conservatives Take on Christmas Cause
This Yahoo News report details efforts by Christians in the U.S. to keep the "Christ" in Christmas. Not only is it important to balance the reason for the season amid all the commercialism, it is also an excellent opportunity to share the Good News of salvation (Matthew 24:14).

AP - Report: China Detains Leader of Church
There are two churches in China, there is the official government recognized church comprising various Christian denominations, and there is the unofficial underground church. Members of the underground church meet in private homes and try to stay one step ahead of government agents, and when they fail, they are arrested and sent to labor camps. Submitted for your files on persecution (Matthew 24:8).

CSM - Passports go electronic with new microchip
Thanks to the war on terrorism, identification technology has made great strides. This CSM report describes how ID chips will soon be required in U.S. passports. For your mark of the beast (Rev 13:16-18) files.

AP - Ambassador Wary of Peace Conference Idea
The search for Mideast peace continues, this time an idea for an international peace conference has been put forth by Egypt. Israel is talking down the idea, but this does indeed sound like a something that could become a Covenant With Many (Daniel 9:27).

AP - Militants Bomb Two Churches in Mosul
We should not be terribly surprised that Islamic terrorists attack churches, but it doesn't make it any less heinous for followers of an alleged "religion of peace." For your Persecution (Matthew 24:8) files.

Reuters - At Least Nine Killed in Attack on U.S. Mission in Saudi
The war on Islamic totalitarianism took a turn today as terrorists struck in the heart of the country that gave birth to the movement. For your War (Matthew 24:6) files.

Yahoo News - AIDS Day Is Observed Around the Globe
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been very busy, and to you Christian bloggers who may be reading this, please consider this a standing invitation to join the blog team. Ok, on to the news of the week. Perhaps the most significant event of the week was the commemoration of Word AIDS Day. The pestilence prophecy of Luke 21:11 leads us to consider many different types of infections diseases but none of have been as destructive as HIV/AIDS. Those of us living in the developed West tend to think of HIV/AIDS as a manageable disease, but to many people in the developing world it is a true pandemic, a scourge that is eroding hopes for economic development by decimating entire generations of workers and at the same time increasing demands on states for healthcare and social services. While the medical community warns of the potential for a new strain of the flu to become the next pandemic, most of the world continues to struggle in the face of the existing HIV/AIDS crisis.

WorldNetDaily: Meet NAFTA on steroids
Funny--this is right out of Left Behind:Tribulation Force. Specifically, such a security arrangement would create a "United States of North America" along the same lines as the straight geographic scheme that Jerry B. Jenkins invented as a possible realization of the ten kings [Revelation 13, 17, and 18].

Miami Herald - Rapture theory source of apocalyptic dispute
This is interesting, the publisher of the Left Behind series is now going to publish a new end times series from an alternative eschatological perspective. This is good news, it means that Bible prophecy will remain a subject of debate and discussion.

CNN - The rise of the machines
Imagine a world in which every person and product is connected in one seamless wireless network. That day is closer now thanks to pervasive computing and radio frequency identification chips. It will take some time for the infrastructure to be put in place, but this is certainly more evidence for a technological fulfillment of the mark of the beast (Rev 13:16-18).

Dutch Muslims Dismayed by Anti-Islamic Backlash.

They shouldn't have killed Theo van Gogh--and now their co-religionists are paying the price.

Actually, all of Holland is paying the price for too many years of deciding not to believe in anything, including themselves. This is what post-modernism brings. Post-modernism is the idea that truth is whatever any particular person believes. Even modernism, the idea that reason is the only god anyone need bow to, would be better than this. But another part of post-modernism is not being willing to criticize anything--except for Christianity. Well, the Bible predicted that such annoyances--and even outright persecution--will someday run rampant throughout all the inhabited world, and that Jesus Himself will handle it, not us.

Then a filmmaker named Theo van Gogh broke the rules. From a purely secularistic, we-know-no-God-but-reason viewpoint, he dared criticize Muslim treatment of women. A gang of Muslim men took exception to that, with the result we all know. And suddenly all that post-modernism stuff doesn't have the answers. Tired philosophy takes a back seat if you threaten someone with death. And make no mistake: the murder of Theo van Gogh was itself enough to constitute a threat to all Dutchmen who were not Muslim, even without the threatening note pinned to his body with the knife used to kill him.

The Dutch Muslims are now protesting, "But stuff like that movie doesn't happen in Holland!" Sorry, but that won't cut the ice. A strict reading of the Koran mandates that such shall be the lot of women everywhere.

While all this has been going on, the Dutch government has been facing head-on an issue they have too long neglected: the presence of terrorists in their territory. That, of course, is commendable as far as it goes. But what will Dutch society do next? All that the Muslims can now offer is a belated disavowal of militancy--which, to a Muslim, means a compromise of their faith. Somehow, I'm not sure that this will be trustworthy, or trusted for very long.

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My Way News - U.S. Says Troops Occupy All of Fallujah
Good news, the battle for the city of Fallujah seems to be over, a week after it began. For your War (Matthew 24:6) files.

MSNBC - A Chip in Your Shoulder Should I get an RFID implant?
Chips are fun, chips are trendy, be the first in your neighborhood to get chipped! Ok, not really, or at least, not yet. This is some background info on this chipperific technology that has MOB (Rev 13:16-18) written all over it.

AP - SARS Vaccine May Not Be Available Soon
There won't be a vaccine for the SARS anytime soon, according to this AP report. Why? There is no demand unless there is a major outbreak, and without demand, pharmaceutical companies can't afford to research and produce a vaccine, at least, that is what they say. For more information on SARS, see this FAQ from the CDC. :: For your Pestilence (Luke 21:11) files.

My Way News - Palestinian Leader Arafat Dies at 75
AP reports, "Yasser Arafat, who triumphantly forced his people's plight into the world spotlight but failed to achieve his lifelong quest for Palestinian statehood, died Thursday at age 75. He was to the end a man of many mysteries and paradoxes - terrorist, statesman, autocrat and peacemaker." :: I have nothing good to say about Arafat, so I will say no more.

My Way News - Iran Says It Can Mass-Produce Missiles
AP reports, "Iran said Tuesday it can mass produce a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East." :: For your Rumors of War (Matthew 24:6) files.