Category: Society

from Joel Rosenberg’s blog

I am posting this post in its entirety — more’s going on than all post-election messes, the CIA mess, and whatever else is being reported as a “top story” in the news…  Eyes on Israel… this is top news.

 

ISRAEL AT WAR: MISSILES FIRED AT TEL AVIV

IDF retaliates by hitting 70 terror sites in one hour. Ground offensive being planned. 30,000 reservists being mobilized. Casualties rising.

Joel C. Rosenberg

(Netanya, Israel, November 16, 2012) — It is just after midnight on Friday morning here in Israel. To put it bluntly: Thursday was a very difficult day for Israelis in the south and Palestinians living in Gaza.

Consider this: the Palestinians have fired nearly 700 rockets, missiles and mortars over the past 36 hours. The Israelis have bombed more than 70 terrorist sites in Gaza in just the past hour. Tonight, the big news here is that the terrorists have fired missiles at Tel Aviv, Israel’s biggest and most populated city. Air raid sirens have been going off. People are anxious. This is the first time Tel Aviv has been the target of missile attacks since the Gulf War with Saddam Hussein in 1991. What’s more, three Israelis were killed in a direct rocket strike earlier today, and 54 have been wounded. Now the IDF is calling up 30,000 reserve soldiers to prepare for what could be a massive ground invasion.

As I explain in ISRAEL AT WAR, the onslaught by Hamas and its allies in Gaza is being driven by Iran. It is the mullahs in Iran who arm, fund and encourage the Palestinian terrorist movement and no one is happier to see Hamas unleashing its evil fury on Israeli towns, villages and cities more that the Ayatollah Khamenei. The big question is this: How far are Israeli leaders prepared to go to shut down the Gaza threat, before they turn towards a possible war with Iran to neutralize Iran’s nuclear threat. Will this conflict go just a few more days? Or are we talking weeks. That’s not yet clear, though officials in Jerusalem are telling their people this is just the beginning.

Events here are dominating discussions wherever you go. I just had dinner with Israeli friends who kept the TV on for much of the evening to keep track of the latest developments, particularly the nearly unprecedented attacks on Tel Aviv. They know families whose fathers and sons are being called up to prepare for an invasion of Gaza. We’re all praying that doesn’t have to happen, but Israeli officials are warning this is just the beginning of “Operation Pillar of Defense,” not the end. “Difficult days are ahead,” said IDF spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai Mordechai. “We must be strong in both defense and offense. At the end of the day we will be measured by what we have achieved; not by what we said we would achieve.”

Over the past several years, The Joshua Fund has been privileged to provide funds for the purchase of much needed equipment for a medical center in the south where the rockets have been aimed. This morning we received word that the medical center has been placed on its highest state of emergency due to the rockets being fired from Gaza. Patients are being evacuated to other facilities, all elective procedures have been cancelled, and doctors and nurses are on site to handle the wounded. As of earlier today (Israel time) the medical center was treating 20 injured patients and preparing for more.

As you pray for the Lord to intervene, please also remember the doctors and nurses who are presently dealing with the wounded. Please continue to pray for Jews and Arabs on both sides of the conflict. The Lord God loves them both. He has a plan for them both. Let’s pray for peace and security. Let’s also pray for wisdom for leaders on both sides and for the Lord to comfort and heal the dozens who are wounded and the millions who are traumatized on both sides. Please pray for the believers here as they continue to love their neighbors and pray for and comfort their neighbors, and continue to preach and teach the Word of God. Please mobilize others to pray. Remember: at its core, this is a spiritual battle. The violence is a physical manifestation of a spiritual war that is going on in the heavenlies. We need you to be interceding for Israel and the Palestinians in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

That said, here are more of the latest developments you should know about….

[To read the rest of this article on the blog — or learn more about the new e-book, ISRAEL AT WAR; or to find links to the latest news and analysis of events and trends in the U.S., Israel, North Africa, Russia, and the Middle East — please go to: http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/.]

* TWITTER — Please track the latest developments @joelcrosenberg.
BLESS ISRAEL: Would you prayerfully consider giving a generous, tax-deductible gift to THE JOSHUA FUND as this Gaza war worsens? Come help us educate and mobilize Christians around the world about God’s love and plan Israel and her neighbors; provide food, medical supplies and other humanitarian relief to the poor and needy, to those in harm’s way in southern Israel, to Holocaust survivors, and to widows and orphans; and teach the Scriptures throughout Israel and the epicenter. Thanks so much, and may the Lord bless you and your family as you invest in the work of The Joshua Fund at this critical time.
BLESS AMERICA: To order IMPLOSION — or to read an excerpt from the first few chapters and learn more about how much danger the U.S. is really in economically and spiritually, and the urgent need for a Third Great Awakening — please click here
READ NEW E-BOOK, “ISRAEL AT WAR: INSIDE THE NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN WITH IRAN”
Read Joel’s blog — and find links to key articles as well as to the 2012 Epicenter Conference messages.
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IndoctriNation – the movie

Below is the content of an email letter I just received…

Next weekend (March 16-18) is the nationwide premiere of IndoctriNation through National Movie Night.  Please consider hosting a movie night for this special weekend promotion to share IndoctriNation, which we are honored to have been chosen as the Best Documentary at the 2012 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival last month.
National Movie Night is a project of Freedom Film Distributors, and is designed to harness grassroots energy to promote independently produced films like IndoctriNation in local communities around the country and the world.
It’s simple!  Hosts are provided with a Movie Night Host Guide to help them plan and run their movie night, along with promotional tools and support.  The IndoctriNation National Movie Night is scheduled for the weekend of March 16-18, so please consider signing up to host a screening of IndoctriNation in your home, church, or other community venue.  Go to nationalmovienight.com for more information, to sign up as a host, and to get host discounts for IndoctriNation and other great films.
For more information about other Gunn Productions movies visit us here.

“Every Christian parent with a child in a government school should see this [movie] and be forced to confront their unwillingness to do what Scripture requires for the children on loan to them by God. A mass exodus from government schools is the only way to preserve the souls and minds of our children.”

Cal Thomas (America’s most widely syndicated op-ed columnist)

“This is the most important issue facing the Body of Christ, an issue that must be addressed and put to rest forever. IndoctriNation is an extremely important movie. Every church in America should show IndoctriNation. Every Christian should show IndoctriNation to their friends.”

Ted Baehr  MovieGuide


How can you help us stop the indoctrination?

There are various sponsorship opportunities available. Please visit the IndoctriNation website for contact info and benefits.

 

that book

In the arena of hot topics in Christian circles since the first of the year, that book is getting a lot of press.  It’s been common to hear, have you read the book yet?  Or, what do you think about the Driscoll’s new book?  Ironically, it’s as if it’s the first time such a book’s been offered in Christian circles — though it certainly is not.  I remember similar discussions in the late ’70’s regarding a book with marriage revving suggestions totally for women.  But this new book is so now, and it’s so cool to be so now. Pretty much everything else is so last century. Except Facebook.

Believe me, I have no doubt that much of what the Driscoll’s discuss in the book will be helpful. In days gone by, I’d probably have more to say than I will presently about the book — but I think I’d purposely avoid discussing online the most referenced chapter — the one that’s undoubtedly giving the book the most press.   I wouldn’t avoid it for reasons that might first come to mind.  I’m not afraid to tackle sensitive subjects — I mean, my previous blog entry deals with the most sensitive subject I know.  But somehow it seems to me that to belabour the obvious would be just that.  The continual references to Chapters 6 and 10, in particular, both online and in conversations confirm to me the curiosity and sometimes insatiable appetite for the salacious.  However, as believers, propriety must take precedence over curiosity and indulging in questionable communication must be guarded.  Much wisdom is needed for drawing the line.   We’re exhorted in Scripture to be careful with our speech and behaviour — I’m referencing different verses in Ephesians 5.  I think we often focus on and  spend time contemplating the latter portion of that chapter and not as much time in the early verses of chapter 5 — we’d be wise to spend some more time here.

For now, I’d  just like to link to Tim Challies and his discussion of the book and the talk it’s generating… he’s doing a fine job addressing the matter and the comments — additionally, I’m sure glad he’s including Doug Wilson’s wise counsel.  Both thoughtfully address issues while retaining sensibilities and decorum.

The Latest Cool Stuff

You know when you’re sitting in you Doctor’s office waiting room and you sort of mindlessly thumb through the  magazines on the coffee table and you see things you didn’t even know existed or you see a half torn page and wonder what it was you missed?  Do you  log into Facebook or browse Google  News and see offers or Web ‘gadgets’ you don’t even understand?  Trend watchers, social engineers, movers and shakers all look for them: the latest cool stuff — the next big thing.

I remember when I first started blogging… I was keeping a journal of sorts on my website that I would update most every day — it was to keep visitors updated — it was a sort of  blend of In my kitchen today, things I was reading in the news, things I was doing around our house or what I’d added to the site.  I felt much more “folksy” or in touch with readers in those days than I do today — not just sure why — I didn’t have “comment” capabilities set up or anything like that, I just felt more in touch.  Anyway,  I’d delete the page and start a new one at the beginning of each month — each page decorated according to the season — even if it didn’t match the overall ‘decor’ of the site.  It was around that time that I started seeing the word: weblog.  I wondered, what in the world is a WEblog?    Yep, I read it that way, sought to understand it that way: WE blog.  A whaaa??    And I clicked links to WEblogs.  And I read them.  Duh: WEB(site) logs = Weblogs.  Those web-logs eventually became known simply as Blogs.  They were the next cool thing.   Thus, I began saving the old pages and starting new ones.  I didn’t know about blog software and couldn’t have imagined the proliferation of free publishing platforms and templates.

Around that time, “social networking” was also making its debut — though, technically, forms of internet “social networking” had been in place (internet bulletin boards, group lists, chatrooms, etc.)  for years.  But networks like Myspace, Facebook, etc., were the next cool thing.

Giant leaps of mind-boggling, technological wonders have dominated the “next cool thing” in the last few years.  And, if you’re over 30-35 years old (or so), I’m going to guess you’re in the “astonished” crowd — astonished, technologically speaking, anyway.  You’re in the crowd that had records, film cameras (the kind you had to pop a flash cube on top to take flash photos), 8-track tapes, tape-recorders, VHS movies, etc., etc.  And if you’re a lot older than that, you still think of carrying money in case you need to pay for gas or groceries, make a phone-call or leave a tip at a restaurant.  You still can’t believe you can drive in your car and talk to someone in, say, India, about your banking or your child in Africa.  In fact, you may still marvel that you can walk around your home talking on the phone instead of having to stand only as far from the permanently attached wall phone as your tangled up, coiled phone-cord would allow.  Maybe you still instantly think money when you hear a reference to: CD’s, you may still prefer/and use paper… paper sacks… subscribe to a daily paper, paper magazines, paper calendars, paper day-planners, paper letters, etc.  You may be like me… wondering what could come next…

And everyday there’s a new latest cool thing!  Not just in the technology/communication sector — but everywhere!  Just think of all the stuff we all *need* now… things we never *needed* before!  Things we now NEED, we never -ever- gave a thought to fifteen years ago.  Or ten years ago.  We never needed as much stuff as we need today.  It’s amazing.  And the need are seemingly exponential — there’s just too much cool stuff!  And, by the way… I’m not limiting needing cool stuff to tangible things. 

Just consider all the *ad-ons* and internet tools!!  Clothing, home decor, books, (per)versions of the Bible, methods for cooking, cleaning, studying, writing, music…

So, if you’re wondering what the latest cool thing is… stay tuned… maybe you and I will discover a new cool thing — or, you can look here: Cool Things.

The Love of the Truth

Can you believe we’re living in these days?  That in the history of the world — His-story — we’re alive in these days!  Remarkable!  Truly remarkable!  These thoughts and more came to me while reading in 2 Thessalonians 2 and elsewhere today.

All over the world there are great surges of sensational events  — and they truly are worldwide; the world is in chaos.  And the catastrophes  are piling up!  The multifaceted cataclysmic tragedy in Japan seems to me to be a great picture of these days — especially within the church.

And a subtle, but similar rumbling is afoot in the church today —  the  resulting conclusion will be the same: mass decimation.  Great spiritual death is occurring as the church succumbs more and more to great delusions (this example is but one).  People are seeking answers  for the  troubling questions they face and all too often are grasping and believing the most detrimental teachings to come along in the church.

 

The church — not separated from the world, believes worldly answers — easy answers given by the smooth teachers (especially when these teachers are well known and “popular” in bookstores and other Christian circles.

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Matthew 16.26

Thus, mainstream preachers teach lies to appease the masses by teaching easy stuff, entertaining the flocks, tickling ears with provocative messages.   Then, selling millions of books, deceiving great multitudes… giving in to the great lies of pride and humanistic thought they lead millions to believe great deceptions.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
2 Thessalonians 2.10

The church is but one example, though,  because, in reality,  it’s seeming as though the whole world’s going completely mad.  Consider the great moral decline, the lack of sanctity of marriage, motherhood and human life.   Add to all that, the duping of America by those elected to lawfully govern — the empty promises, the great fallacy of budgeting by redistributing ill-gotten  funds, the preposterous demands, the assumption of entitlement and the fighting over non-existent  funds. Upside-down…

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” Romans 1.28

Relationships are out of balance —  if you’ve not experienced tension, misunderstandings, disappointment in relationships lately, don’t be surprised if/when you do so.   That cataclysmic tragedy in Japan yesterday is on a greater scale what’s happening in marriages, families, friendships and churches.

More 2 Thessalonians 2.1-5

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3   Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

You can continue reading your own Bible…  as you look at things from a spiritual perspective, you’ll believe you’re reading the front page of the daily newspaper.

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”
Luke 21. 25-26

And now, one of my favourite words in the Bible — beside the word “but” —  is the word, “therefore.”

Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.  Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,  Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”   2 Thess 2.15-17

I pray as I write this that I would be — that we would be — recommitted to “retaining the truth” and that we would increase, cultivate and reaffirm our “love for the Truth” and that the Lord God would be merciful with us all as we rededicate ourselves to the  great calling on our lives, to seek to serve Him more faithfully, to love the brethren and to proclaim His salvation to those who are perishing.

The 2010 State of the Union Address

In light of yesterday’s post regarding the real state of the union… here you go: The State of the Union Address – part one. Listen. if. you. can.

BO: “Our most urgent task upon taking office, was to shore up the same banks that caused this crisis [Wow.]. It was not. easy. to. do. And if there’s one thing that’s unified Democrats and Republicans and everybody in between – is that we all hated the bank bailout! I hated it. (applause) I hated it (chuckle – applause). I hated it (more applause). You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal.”

O wow. Think how many…