AMBASSADOR BIBLE COLLEGE
RESOURCE CENTRE
Welcome to your virtual online Ambassador College. Note: this is the first tentative step toward the online college. It will be developed and improved upon over the months and years.
In this site we provide you with a huge amount of resources and information which was available at Ambassador College. There are other materials that also fit with our beliefs contained within the folders below. Others will be added in due course.
Feel free to print out this material and to pass them on to friends!
SUBJECT
Archaeology & History Lectures (audios) Presented by Richard Paige
Minor Prophets Class Presented by Russell Duke
Ascent to Greatness America's divine history explained by Raymond F McNair
Bible Bowl Fun way to test one's Bible knowledge
Bible Study Papers, Research, Theses on various aspects of God's Word
Booklets Old WCG booklets scanned
Church Materials hymnals, policies etc
Economy and Finances what does the Bible say about economics and finance?
Church of God history The 2,000 year history of Sabbatarians
Church of God History - further resources Huge amount of information on the Giving & Sharing site
Church of God (seventh day) History Hundreds of pages of fascinating information
Environmental & Agricultural Issues What does the Bible teach on environmental issues?
Glen Garry Rupert Church of God pioneer early 1900s
Hebrew Calendar There are about 8 variations of the Hebrew Calendar. Which is the correct one to use?
Herman L Hoeh Papers Most senior WCG pioneer, after HWA
Herman L Hoeh Sermons Fascinating subject matter
Herbert W Armstrong Research Centre (DVD & CD Library and Archives) Preserving the literature and memory of the man God used to revive the Work in these last days
Israel Identity Where are the 'lost' 10 tribes today?
Key to NW European Origins Brilliant 1963 MA thesis by Raymond F McNair
Leroy Neff Papers & Sermons Excellent papers & sermons by a pioneer
Male-Female Roles Countering the politically correct agenda
Miscellaneous Variety of papers which do not fit into other categories
National Identities Biblical identities of certain nations
Origin of Nations Link to a site with a heaps of research on Israel Identity and the nations listed in Genesis 10 (the Table of Nations)
Pre-Adamic World What happened on the earth prior to Adam and Eve?
RCC, Paganism etc Pagan beliefs within Christendom
Saturday Resurrection Research Was Christ really resurrected on a Sunday?
World History Scanned papers bringing a unique perspective to history - perceptions by the Church of God
INDEXES & LISTS
Index of Magazines (PDF) - The Plain Truth Magazine (February 1934 - December 1994)
- The Good News Magazine (April 1951 - December 1990)
- Tomorrow’s World Magazine (June 1969 - April 1972)
Index of Magazines (text) as above
Partial List of old AC papers and theses a member's private collection
Pioneers of the WCG List of the main personalities in the old WCG
Topical Index (cover)
Listing of basic Scriptures by subject
Other websites offering research materials and literature
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
Lion and Lamb plaque Similar to official plaque of WCG
Old AC theses and research papers An online listing of those that are still available
Books published Published by members and former members
Sermons Excellent sermons on a variety of topics
Interesting SDA materials (zip) Sabbatarian history etc
Statement on old theses Comments by Larry Salyer
Assembled by History Research Projects
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Islamic views
SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH ISLAMIC EYES
by Herbert W. Armstrong
It is time to dispel widespread myths and misconceptions about this important religion and to see what the Bible says about Islam and the world's future!
NOT SINCE the days of the Crusades has religion played such a crucial role in world affairs.
From Morocco to Indonesia, Islam is reemerging as a political and religious force that cannot be ignored. Moslems are reasserting their faith—culturally, spiritually and politically.
"God may be Head in the West," one observer has commented, "but He is very much alive in the Middle East!"
Westerners Confused
Few topics have created as much misunderstanding in the Western world as that of Islam. Most Westerners do not begin to comprehend even the most basic tenets of that important faith. They view it largely from a standpoint of ignorance and uninformed impressions.
Yet few topics arc as vital to understand during this momentous last quarter of the 20th century!
Moslems are well aware of how Western cartoonists depict them, how Hollywood portrays them, how Westerners write about them. The exaggerated and misleading stereotype of the robed, hook-nosed camel driver is well known—and widely resented—throughout the Middle East.
Events in the Moslem world are too often interpreted through Western eyes. Western observers often impose their own preconceived notions onto events there and interpret them according to Western criteria. They see the Islamic faith from the vantage point of their own limited Western, largely Judeo-Christian experience.
Here lies the root of the West's gross misunderstanding of the Moslem world.
Proper "Camera Setting"
To properly comprehend the Moslem world, it is necessary to put oneself into Moslem shoes, to think in Moslem terms, to see the world through Moslem eyes. From that perspective one can begin to acquire a deeper insight into Islam and its role in world events today.
A century ago, when Britain was wrestling with troublesome problems in Egypt and the Sudan, Prime Minister Gladstone thought it wise to study the Koran, Islam's Holy Book. Only that way, he asserted, could he really come to know the people and the faith with which he was contending.
Despite the questionable results of his Middle Eastern policies, Gladstone had at least understood in principle the importance of viewing the Moslem world from the proper vantage point, the proper "camera setting."
It is also time to understand what the Bible says about the Moslem faith and about the significance of events in the Moslem world—now and in the tumultuous years just ahead!
Popular Religion
Understand, first, the importance of Islam as a contemporary world force. Islam is a global faith. Nearly one person in five in the world today some 800 million people in more than 75 countries—is a Moslem. This is a sizable bloc and one with great potential power.
Islam is also one of the world's most popular religions, possibly the fastest growing faith on the globe. In sub-Saharan Africa, Islam is reportedly winning 10 times as many converts as traditional Christianity!
It is important to understand, too, that not all Arabs are Moslems (some 10 percent are Christian), nor are all Moslems Arabs.
Introduced among the Arabs in the seventh century, Islam spread swiftly throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Multiple millions of non-Arabs were added to the fold of Islam. Within a century Islam controlled an empire more vast than that of Rome or Alexander the Great.
Submission to Allah
Islam means many things to many Moslems. Literally, the word Islam means "submission to Allah." A Moslem is "one who submits." Moslems, however, have differing ideas of their faith according to their social class, education, political leanings and cultural background.
Like other religions, Islam has become fragmented over the centuries by theological feuds and disagreements. Today, Islam is split into two main branches, the Sunni and Shiite groups. These two branches resulted from a major schism over the issue of who should succeed to Moslem leadership following the death of the Prophet Mohammed, the religion's founder, in A.D. 632.
Mainstream Sunni Islam—accounting for nearly 90 percent of all Moslems—is divided into four "schools" of interpretation. By contrast, the 10 percent of all Moslems who are Shiites—located primarily in Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Oman—are split into dozens of sects, sub sects and offshoots, some of which are considered heretical by Sunni Moslems.
The centuries-long quest for Islamic unity remains a distant dream, due largely to a lack of effective leadership. Disunity and fragmentation have been the general rule within the Islamic ummah, or community. It is therefore difficult to generalize about Islam as if it were a single, coherent bloc.
Nevertheless, all Moslems share certain basic beliefs and outlooks. First and foremost is their one-sentence creed, called the shahadah: "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His Messenger." A solemn recitation of this confession of faith (just eight words in Arabic) is the only requirement for becoming a Moslem.
According to Moslem belief, an archangel—Gabriel — descended to Mohammed, first in A.D. 610, and imparted to him the wisdom of the Koran. At first, Mohammed was afraid he was going insane or was possessed by an evil spirit. But he soon became convinced that his calling was truly from God.
Moslem Holy Book
Moslems consider the Koran's 114 suras or chapters as the literal word of God, superseding all previous revelations (including the Bible) and correcting the alleged "errors" that had crept into Christianity and Judaism. In length, the Koran is somewhat shorter than the New Testament.
Mohammed contended that Jews and Christians had been worshiping Allah all along, but under a different name. The Koran recognizes Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other biblical personalities as genuine prophets through whom God spoke. Mohammed's family lineage is traced to Abraham through the patriarch's grandson Kedar, son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13).
Moslems, however, regard Mohammed as the greatest and the last (or "seal") of the prophets. Moslems deny the divinity of Jesus, as well as his crucifixion and resurrection. "They do blaspheme who say: 'God is Christ the son of Mary,' " the Koran asserts.
Despite the high position they accord to Mohammed, Moslems do not venerate him as a divine being. They take offense at being called "Mohammedans," feeling that that term implies they worship Mohammed.
In addition to the Koran, most Moslems also pay heed to the sunna (the traditions of what Mohammed did) and the hadith (the traditions of what he said).
Compared to other religions, Islam is loosely organized. There is no formal institutional hierarchy of authority—no Moslem pope or cardinals—nor a centralized world headquarters, such as the Vatican. The ulemas, mullahs, mujtahids or ayatollahs, as Islamic scholars and teachers are variously called, are the closest thing Moslems have to a religious clergy.
Way of Life
To see the world through Moslem eyes, it is necessary to understand that to the vast majority of Moslems, Islam is a way of life.
Many Westerners—to whom religion means merely attending church services for an hour or two on Sunday—simply cannot comprehend the all pervasive nature of the Islamic faith in the lives of its followers. Most Westerners have long abandoned the challenge of actually living their professed faith.
Islam, however, is central to every aspect of a Moslem's life. It is far from a Friday-go-to-mosque kind of religion. The average Moslem takes the Koran seriously. He strives diligently to obey its precepts. Islam guides thought and action to a degree virtually without parallel in the West. Religion and life are inseparable.
Western visitors to Islamic countries often make the mistake of assuming that because many upper-class Moslems speak European languages, dress like Westerners and may have been educated in the West, that they also have adopted Western attitudes toward religion.
Not so.
The overwhelming majority of Moslems of all classes and stations diligently follow the precepts of their faith. They pray toward the holy city of Mecca five times each day. On Friday, Moslems observe a special day of public prayer in the mosque.
During the entire holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Moslem year, Moslems refrain from food and drink from dawn ("as soon as you can discern a white thread from a black one") to dusk.
Moslems are also expected to make a hajj or pilgrimage to sacred Mecca at least once in their lifetime, if financially and physically able. Almsgiving to the poor, aged and orphans is also an obligation to Moslems. An annual 2.5 percent zakat tax is levied against one's total assets.
In addition to these major directives, the Koran forbids the eating of pork, the drinking of alcohol and gambling. In more liberal Moslem circles, however, these particular observances are sometimes relaxed.
Church-State Union
But Islam is much more than a set of prescribed ritualistic observances. The Koran contains detailed secular as well as religious injunctions. It lays down standards for a wide range of personal, social, economic and political relationships, and both civil and criminal law. This makes it virtually impossible to confine Islam to spiritual matters alone.
In the Islamic world, separation of church and state is unknown. From its inception, Islam has been a state religion. No distinction is made between "God and Caesar," such as spelled out by Jesus in Matthew 22:21.
Of course, the Islamic revolutionary government in Iran is vastly different from the government in Saudi Arabia. This, in turn, is different from that of Egypt, or Pakistan or Libya. Moslem governments range from semi feudal monarchies to parliamentary democracies.
But regardless of these differences, there is no question among Moslems that religion and government are— and should be— inseparable.
Talk of a "secular Moslem country" is generally considered a contradiction in terms. The ultimate failure of the late Shah's attempt to set up a Western-style state in Iran, minimizing the role of the mullahs, is attributed in part to this deepseated Moslem view of the necessity of church-state union.
Moslems see government as a major vehicle for accomplishing good in this world. Much more than among professing Christians, whose hope often lies primarily in a "next life," Moslems are committed to the monumental mission of taking history into their hands and fashioning it to what it ought to be.
The realization of good, Moslems believe, is possible in this world. They generally do not view this life as an ordeal laden with trials and sorrows through which the faithful must laboriously pass to achieve salvation in the "next world." Instead, the Koran lays out a social and legal order aimed at happiness, prosperity and well-being here and now.
This is not to say that Moslems do not believe in an afterlife as well. Punishment in hell or reward in paradise is vividly described in the Koran.
Eye for an Eye
One of the most publicized aspects of Moslem life is the strict Koranic code of justice, in force in increasing numbers of Moslem countries.
The Sharia. or Koranic canon law, has been condemned in the West as cruel and barbaric. The severity of Koranic punishment shocks most Westerners. For habitual thievery, the penalty may he the loss of a hand. For premarital sex, 100 lashes in public. For false accusation, 80 lashes.
Most Moslems, however, are little concerned with the objections of the West. The Koran sanctions the Sharia law. and that is sufficient. Moreover, Moslems daily read of the growing crime rate in permissive Western society. "How can the crime-ridden West criticize us?" they ask. Moslem countries have considerably lower crime rates than most Western countries.
The Islamic eye-for-an-eye Sharia law, they also note, is not much different from those civil and criminal laws of the Old Testament given by God to ancient Israel (see Exodus 21-23). Moslems also point out that in their countries, unlike in the "decadent" West, the seriousness of sin is stilt recognized and dealt with accordingly.
Another point must be recognized. Like many Westerners, many Moslems have themselves been horrified by the trials and executions that have taken place in Iran under the Khomeini regime. They point out that those trials and executions are not a true reflection of Islam, but are instead associated with the political turmoil in that country.
Moslems also observe that the taking of hostages—especially diplomatic ones— is clearly forbidden by Islamic tradition "I do not break treaties, nor do I make prisoners of envoys," Mohammed once insisted. Many Moslems saw the Khomeini regime's actions in this regard as an embarrassment and a demeaning of Islam before the world.
Actually, the Koran specifies strict limitations on the power of the Moslem religious courts. Accused persons are considered innocent until proven guilty. In addition, the standards of proof are so exacting that the severe punishments widely publicized in the West can rarely be carried out. In the case of adultery—punishable by death in some Moslem countries— four eyewitnesses are required for conviction.
Another question often asked in the West is whether Islam can be successfully adapted to a modern technological society.
This question is almost always asked by non-Moslems. Moslems themselves do not see Islam as any barrier whatever to modern life. They believe that Islam fits all times and cultures. Moslems are often genuinely surprised that such a question should even be asked.
Let us look at this issue through Moslem eyes. No reading of the Koran could ever produce the notion that Islam is reactionary or tailored only to a primitive desert society. Development and change are not contrary to the spirit of Islam. In fact, the seeking of knowledge and the desirability of progress are heavily stressed in the Koran.
Why, then, the controversy over whether Islam can keep pace with modern times?
"Modernization" or "Westernization"?
Islam itself does not oppose technology and industry. But many Moslems have come to recognize a danger in overemphasis on technology and on "progress" in the Western sense. As one Egyptian government official put it, "Islam is not against modernization. But when modernization aims at fulfilling only materialistic needs while disregarding moral matters, it always ends up breaking down the structure of society."
Moslems contend that science and technology have undermined faith in religion in the West. If wrongly applied, they fear it could do the same for faith in Allah.
Talk of Islam's failure to adjust to modern times is usually based on Western definitions and concepts of "modernization" and "progress." Moslems say that modernization does not have to mean Westernization and secularization. Some Moslems have commented, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that if the West represents the wave of the future, it is better to remain stuck in the past.
Most Moslems do not want to return to some sort of medieval Islamic configuration. They want progress, but they want to proceed cautiously, choosing what is suitable and rejecting what is harmful. This way they hope to avoid reaping the bitter fruits they see as having resulted from the dizzying pace of modernization in the West.
As Saudi Arabia's late King Khalid cautioned in an address to pilgrims at Mecca in 1979, "We Moslems, the more we hold fast to these eminent ideals, the better are our prospects to get up and bring the world under our control. On the other hand, the farther we veer away from our faith, the faster we succumb to factors of decay and start suffering from political and societal ills, and eventually fall an easy prey to the enemies of Islam. . . ."
Moslems Look at Communism
Just as Moslems are disillusioned with the materialism of the West, they likewise deplore the communist alternative. It is not, however, the one-party, dictatorial nature of the communist state that they primarily object to. Many Moslem countries are essentially one-party states, (Moslems often ask, "How can there be other parties besides the party of the righteous?")
It is the atheism of Marxism that they detest. It is no secret among Moslems that Islam has been suppressed in the Soviet Union in the last half century.
"Who can be guilty of a greater wrong," the Koran asks, "than one who forbids Allah's name being glorified in His mosques and seeks to bring about their ruin?"
Moslem countries may cultivate relations with the Soviet Union with a view toward various material benefits such as arms aid. But they have no illusions when it comes to the philosophy and system of communism itself. Islamic states are overwhelmingly anticommunist.
Role of Women
Another sore point to Moslems is the West's concept of the role of women in Islamic society. Many Westerners know, for example, that women in ultra orthodox Saudi Arabia do not drive cars. They also know about the much-publicized veil and of the chador, the head-to-toe black garment worn by women in Iran.
What Moslems wish Westerners would also realize is that the traditions or customs in one Middle Eastern country are not necessarily representative of all Moslem women or necessarily a part of Islam.
As Islam spread from its birthplace in the Arabian Peninsula, the customs of conquered or converted peoples often became entwined with the practices laid down in the Koran. The chador, for example, is a traditional Iranian dress, not specifically required by the Koran. The Koran specifies only modesty, which can he interpreted in many ways. Many Iranian women actually prefer to wear the chador. The veil, too, is not specifically required by the Koran. It was introduced during the period of Ottoman Turkish domination of the Middle East, beginning in the 15th century A.D.—more than 800 years after Mohammed.
Increasing numbers of young women throughout the Middle East are donning the veil and covering themselves up with traditional floor-length robes—to the dismay of many of their progressive mothers who fought for freedom to wear short skirts. To many of these young women it represents a rejection of Western concepts of femininity and is not based on religion at all.
Mohammed actually advanced the status of women significantly, affording them greater honor than most societies of his time. "O men, respect women who have borne you," the Koran admonishes. Moslem women were given civil and property rights—a revolutionary step in the Arab world. Men, however, are still considered "a degree above" women.
Finally, the practice of polygamy has not been as general as is commonly thought by the West. Few Moslems have more than one wife, despite the fact that the Koran allows four— if the husband can afford them and treat them without partiality.
Moslems Look at the Judeo-Christian World
It is important, too, to understand how Moslems see Christianity and Judaism. Moslems have many misconceptions about these two faiths. In one respect, however, it is not the Moslems who are to be blamed.
Moslems, for example, see the virtual "acceptance" by Western nations of porno movies, alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, acid rock, growing crime and so on. Yet these are supposedly Christian societies!
To a Moslem, who views religion as a way of life, this is indeed a paradox. How are these rampant evils, he asks, to be reconciled with the teachings of Christ?
The simple answer, of course, is that they cannot be reconciled, for they represent out-and-out rejection of Christ's teachings! Many Moslems simply do not realize that most Western "Christians" only profess that faith, not practice it. Other Moslems regard Westerners as a species of "pagan."
When it comes to doctrinal questions, Moslems are especially dismayed over the Christian worship of "the triple God." This is a reference to the "Trinity," which Moslems view as bordering on polytheism and sacrilege. The Catholic veneration of Mary is also conceived as idolatry by Moslems.
Here Moslems make the same mistake that Westerners do when they, for example, view the veil as a Koranic requirement. Having generally never read the New Testament for themselves, Moslems fail to realize that the Trinity doctrine was never taught by Christ or the apostles, that it is nowhere to be found in the Bible, that it actually has its roots in ancient paganism, which was later absorbed into professing Christianity! (Request "The God Family and the Holy Spirit" for a clear understanding of the Bible teaching.)
Moslems, for the most part, have never encountered the true Christianity of the Bible!
In general, however, the Moslem attitude toward Christianity and Judaism is not inherently hostile. Mohammed called Christians and Jews "the People of the Book," and accorded them a special protected status and treatment. Islam also permits marriage with Christians and Jews.
What the Bible Says
Some readers will recognize that the Moslem attitude toward religion as a way of life is actually much closer to the attitude Jesus Christ and the apostles intended for true Christians to have toward the Holy Bible. The Bible often refers to true Christianity as "the way" (Acts 18:25, 26; 19.9,23, 22.4, etc.).
Doctrinally, of course, Islam diverges from Christianity in aspects too numerous to detail within the scope of this article. First and foremost is Islam's rejection of Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, of his crucifixion and resurrection, and of forgiveness and salvation through him. To Christians, the apostle Peter left no room for compromise on this point: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
In view of the central nature of this point to Christianity, the strict monotheism of Islam renders any hope of eventual conciliation between the two faiths impossible.
What, then, does the Bible say of the future of Islam?
The New Testament of the Bible was completed more than 500 years before the birth of Mohammed. Yet the Bible does not ignore the future of Islam!
Bible prophecy reveals the coming emergence of an Arab-Moslem confederation in the Middle East. It is referred to in prophecy as "the king of the south" (Dan. 11:40). This confederation will play a crucial role in end-time events.
At the prophesied return of Jesus to this earth at that critical juncture in history to save mankind from self-destruction (see Matt. 24:22) and usher in a millennial rule of peace and prosperity, God's government will be established over the entire earth. All nations will submit to him. Church and State will be united under his rule. There will be one Church—one God—one religion-- ONE SUPREME GOVERNMENT! (Rev. 19:16.)
Many Sunni Moslems look forward to this very event—but they believe that Jesus will descend to Damascus, not Jerusalem as the Bible declares in Zechariah 14.
Shia Moslems also look forward to the return of a Messiah or Mahdi— though not Jesus—in the near future.
Religious confusion will forever come to an end. All eyes will be opened to the truth. All nations and all peoples will come to recognize Jesus as the true Messiah—the Messiah whom, by a variety of names in many religions, they have all long anticipated.
This is the clear testimony of Bible prophecy. The events in the Middle East in the years just ahead will bear witness to its unerring accuracy!
by Herbert W. Armstrong
It is time to dispel widespread myths and misconceptions about this important religion and to see what the Bible says about Islam and the world's future!
NOT SINCE the days of the Crusades has religion played such a crucial role in world affairs.
From Morocco to Indonesia, Islam is reemerging as a political and religious force that cannot be ignored. Moslems are reasserting their faith—culturally, spiritually and politically.
"God may be Head in the West," one observer has commented, "but He is very much alive in the Middle East!"
Westerners Confused
Few topics have created as much misunderstanding in the Western world as that of Islam. Most Westerners do not begin to comprehend even the most basic tenets of that important faith. They view it largely from a standpoint of ignorance and uninformed impressions.
Yet few topics arc as vital to understand during this momentous last quarter of the 20th century!
Moslems are well aware of how Western cartoonists depict them, how Hollywood portrays them, how Westerners write about them. The exaggerated and misleading stereotype of the robed, hook-nosed camel driver is well known—and widely resented—throughout the Middle East.
Events in the Moslem world are too often interpreted through Western eyes. Western observers often impose their own preconceived notions onto events there and interpret them according to Western criteria. They see the Islamic faith from the vantage point of their own limited Western, largely Judeo-Christian experience.
Here lies the root of the West's gross misunderstanding of the Moslem world.
Proper "Camera Setting"
To properly comprehend the Moslem world, it is necessary to put oneself into Moslem shoes, to think in Moslem terms, to see the world through Moslem eyes. From that perspective one can begin to acquire a deeper insight into Islam and its role in world events today.
A century ago, when Britain was wrestling with troublesome problems in Egypt and the Sudan, Prime Minister Gladstone thought it wise to study the Koran, Islam's Holy Book. Only that way, he asserted, could he really come to know the people and the faith with which he was contending.
Despite the questionable results of his Middle Eastern policies, Gladstone had at least understood in principle the importance of viewing the Moslem world from the proper vantage point, the proper "camera setting."
It is also time to understand what the Bible says about the Moslem faith and about the significance of events in the Moslem world—now and in the tumultuous years just ahead!
Popular Religion
Understand, first, the importance of Islam as a contemporary world force. Islam is a global faith. Nearly one person in five in the world today some 800 million people in more than 75 countries—is a Moslem. This is a sizable bloc and one with great potential power.
Islam is also one of the world's most popular religions, possibly the fastest growing faith on the globe. In sub-Saharan Africa, Islam is reportedly winning 10 times as many converts as traditional Christianity!
It is important to understand, too, that not all Arabs are Moslems (some 10 percent are Christian), nor are all Moslems Arabs.
Introduced among the Arabs in the seventh century, Islam spread swiftly throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Multiple millions of non-Arabs were added to the fold of Islam. Within a century Islam controlled an empire more vast than that of Rome or Alexander the Great.
Submission to Allah
Islam means many things to many Moslems. Literally, the word Islam means "submission to Allah." A Moslem is "one who submits." Moslems, however, have differing ideas of their faith according to their social class, education, political leanings and cultural background.
Like other religions, Islam has become fragmented over the centuries by theological feuds and disagreements. Today, Islam is split into two main branches, the Sunni and Shiite groups. These two branches resulted from a major schism over the issue of who should succeed to Moslem leadership following the death of the Prophet Mohammed, the religion's founder, in A.D. 632.
Mainstream Sunni Islam—accounting for nearly 90 percent of all Moslems—is divided into four "schools" of interpretation. By contrast, the 10 percent of all Moslems who are Shiites—located primarily in Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Oman—are split into dozens of sects, sub sects and offshoots, some of which are considered heretical by Sunni Moslems.
The centuries-long quest for Islamic unity remains a distant dream, due largely to a lack of effective leadership. Disunity and fragmentation have been the general rule within the Islamic ummah, or community. It is therefore difficult to generalize about Islam as if it were a single, coherent bloc.
Nevertheless, all Moslems share certain basic beliefs and outlooks. First and foremost is their one-sentence creed, called the shahadah: "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His Messenger." A solemn recitation of this confession of faith (just eight words in Arabic) is the only requirement for becoming a Moslem.
According to Moslem belief, an archangel—Gabriel — descended to Mohammed, first in A.D. 610, and imparted to him the wisdom of the Koran. At first, Mohammed was afraid he was going insane or was possessed by an evil spirit. But he soon became convinced that his calling was truly from God.
Moslem Holy Book
Moslems consider the Koran's 114 suras or chapters as the literal word of God, superseding all previous revelations (including the Bible) and correcting the alleged "errors" that had crept into Christianity and Judaism. In length, the Koran is somewhat shorter than the New Testament.
Mohammed contended that Jews and Christians had been worshiping Allah all along, but under a different name. The Koran recognizes Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other biblical personalities as genuine prophets through whom God spoke. Mohammed's family lineage is traced to Abraham through the patriarch's grandson Kedar, son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13).
Moslems, however, regard Mohammed as the greatest and the last (or "seal") of the prophets. Moslems deny the divinity of Jesus, as well as his crucifixion and resurrection. "They do blaspheme who say: 'God is Christ the son of Mary,' " the Koran asserts.
Despite the high position they accord to Mohammed, Moslems do not venerate him as a divine being. They take offense at being called "Mohammedans," feeling that that term implies they worship Mohammed.
In addition to the Koran, most Moslems also pay heed to the sunna (the traditions of what Mohammed did) and the hadith (the traditions of what he said).
Compared to other religions, Islam is loosely organized. There is no formal institutional hierarchy of authority—no Moslem pope or cardinals—nor a centralized world headquarters, such as the Vatican. The ulemas, mullahs, mujtahids or ayatollahs, as Islamic scholars and teachers are variously called, are the closest thing Moslems have to a religious clergy.
Way of Life
To see the world through Moslem eyes, it is necessary to understand that to the vast majority of Moslems, Islam is a way of life.
Many Westerners—to whom religion means merely attending church services for an hour or two on Sunday—simply cannot comprehend the all pervasive nature of the Islamic faith in the lives of its followers. Most Westerners have long abandoned the challenge of actually living their professed faith.
Islam, however, is central to every aspect of a Moslem's life. It is far from a Friday-go-to-mosque kind of religion. The average Moslem takes the Koran seriously. He strives diligently to obey its precepts. Islam guides thought and action to a degree virtually without parallel in the West. Religion and life are inseparable.
Western visitors to Islamic countries often make the mistake of assuming that because many upper-class Moslems speak European languages, dress like Westerners and may have been educated in the West, that they also have adopted Western attitudes toward religion.
Not so.
The overwhelming majority of Moslems of all classes and stations diligently follow the precepts of their faith. They pray toward the holy city of Mecca five times each day. On Friday, Moslems observe a special day of public prayer in the mosque.
During the entire holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Moslem year, Moslems refrain from food and drink from dawn ("as soon as you can discern a white thread from a black one") to dusk.
Moslems are also expected to make a hajj or pilgrimage to sacred Mecca at least once in their lifetime, if financially and physically able. Almsgiving to the poor, aged and orphans is also an obligation to Moslems. An annual 2.5 percent zakat tax is levied against one's total assets.
In addition to these major directives, the Koran forbids the eating of pork, the drinking of alcohol and gambling. In more liberal Moslem circles, however, these particular observances are sometimes relaxed.
Church-State Union
But Islam is much more than a set of prescribed ritualistic observances. The Koran contains detailed secular as well as religious injunctions. It lays down standards for a wide range of personal, social, economic and political relationships, and both civil and criminal law. This makes it virtually impossible to confine Islam to spiritual matters alone.
In the Islamic world, separation of church and state is unknown. From its inception, Islam has been a state religion. No distinction is made between "God and Caesar," such as spelled out by Jesus in Matthew 22:21.
Of course, the Islamic revolutionary government in Iran is vastly different from the government in Saudi Arabia. This, in turn, is different from that of Egypt, or Pakistan or Libya. Moslem governments range from semi feudal monarchies to parliamentary democracies.
But regardless of these differences, there is no question among Moslems that religion and government are— and should be— inseparable.
Talk of a "secular Moslem country" is generally considered a contradiction in terms. The ultimate failure of the late Shah's attempt to set up a Western-style state in Iran, minimizing the role of the mullahs, is attributed in part to this deepseated Moslem view of the necessity of church-state union.
Moslems see government as a major vehicle for accomplishing good in this world. Much more than among professing Christians, whose hope often lies primarily in a "next life," Moslems are committed to the monumental mission of taking history into their hands and fashioning it to what it ought to be.
The realization of good, Moslems believe, is possible in this world. They generally do not view this life as an ordeal laden with trials and sorrows through which the faithful must laboriously pass to achieve salvation in the "next world." Instead, the Koran lays out a social and legal order aimed at happiness, prosperity and well-being here and now.
This is not to say that Moslems do not believe in an afterlife as well. Punishment in hell or reward in paradise is vividly described in the Koran.
Eye for an Eye
One of the most publicized aspects of Moslem life is the strict Koranic code of justice, in force in increasing numbers of Moslem countries.
The Sharia. or Koranic canon law, has been condemned in the West as cruel and barbaric. The severity of Koranic punishment shocks most Westerners. For habitual thievery, the penalty may he the loss of a hand. For premarital sex, 100 lashes in public. For false accusation, 80 lashes.
Most Moslems, however, are little concerned with the objections of the West. The Koran sanctions the Sharia law. and that is sufficient. Moreover, Moslems daily read of the growing crime rate in permissive Western society. "How can the crime-ridden West criticize us?" they ask. Moslem countries have considerably lower crime rates than most Western countries.
The Islamic eye-for-an-eye Sharia law, they also note, is not much different from those civil and criminal laws of the Old Testament given by God to ancient Israel (see Exodus 21-23). Moslems also point out that in their countries, unlike in the "decadent" West, the seriousness of sin is stilt recognized and dealt with accordingly.
Another point must be recognized. Like many Westerners, many Moslems have themselves been horrified by the trials and executions that have taken place in Iran under the Khomeini regime. They point out that those trials and executions are not a true reflection of Islam, but are instead associated with the political turmoil in that country.
Moslems also observe that the taking of hostages—especially diplomatic ones— is clearly forbidden by Islamic tradition "I do not break treaties, nor do I make prisoners of envoys," Mohammed once insisted. Many Moslems saw the Khomeini regime's actions in this regard as an embarrassment and a demeaning of Islam before the world.
Actually, the Koran specifies strict limitations on the power of the Moslem religious courts. Accused persons are considered innocent until proven guilty. In addition, the standards of proof are so exacting that the severe punishments widely publicized in the West can rarely be carried out. In the case of adultery—punishable by death in some Moslem countries— four eyewitnesses are required for conviction.
Another question often asked in the West is whether Islam can be successfully adapted to a modern technological society.
This question is almost always asked by non-Moslems. Moslems themselves do not see Islam as any barrier whatever to modern life. They believe that Islam fits all times and cultures. Moslems are often genuinely surprised that such a question should even be asked.
Let us look at this issue through Moslem eyes. No reading of the Koran could ever produce the notion that Islam is reactionary or tailored only to a primitive desert society. Development and change are not contrary to the spirit of Islam. In fact, the seeking of knowledge and the desirability of progress are heavily stressed in the Koran.
Why, then, the controversy over whether Islam can keep pace with modern times?
"Modernization" or "Westernization"?
Islam itself does not oppose technology and industry. But many Moslems have come to recognize a danger in overemphasis on technology and on "progress" in the Western sense. As one Egyptian government official put it, "Islam is not against modernization. But when modernization aims at fulfilling only materialistic needs while disregarding moral matters, it always ends up breaking down the structure of society."
Moslems contend that science and technology have undermined faith in religion in the West. If wrongly applied, they fear it could do the same for faith in Allah.
Talk of Islam's failure to adjust to modern times is usually based on Western definitions and concepts of "modernization" and "progress." Moslems say that modernization does not have to mean Westernization and secularization. Some Moslems have commented, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that if the West represents the wave of the future, it is better to remain stuck in the past.
Most Moslems do not want to return to some sort of medieval Islamic configuration. They want progress, but they want to proceed cautiously, choosing what is suitable and rejecting what is harmful. This way they hope to avoid reaping the bitter fruits they see as having resulted from the dizzying pace of modernization in the West.
As Saudi Arabia's late King Khalid cautioned in an address to pilgrims at Mecca in 1979, "We Moslems, the more we hold fast to these eminent ideals, the better are our prospects to get up and bring the world under our control. On the other hand, the farther we veer away from our faith, the faster we succumb to factors of decay and start suffering from political and societal ills, and eventually fall an easy prey to the enemies of Islam. . . ."
Moslems Look at Communism
Just as Moslems are disillusioned with the materialism of the West, they likewise deplore the communist alternative. It is not, however, the one-party, dictatorial nature of the communist state that they primarily object to. Many Moslem countries are essentially one-party states, (Moslems often ask, "How can there be other parties besides the party of the righteous?")
It is the atheism of Marxism that they detest. It is no secret among Moslems that Islam has been suppressed in the Soviet Union in the last half century.
"Who can be guilty of a greater wrong," the Koran asks, "than one who forbids Allah's name being glorified in His mosques and seeks to bring about their ruin?"
Moslem countries may cultivate relations with the Soviet Union with a view toward various material benefits such as arms aid. But they have no illusions when it comes to the philosophy and system of communism itself. Islamic states are overwhelmingly anticommunist.
Role of Women
Another sore point to Moslems is the West's concept of the role of women in Islamic society. Many Westerners know, for example, that women in ultra orthodox Saudi Arabia do not drive cars. They also know about the much-publicized veil and of the chador, the head-to-toe black garment worn by women in Iran.
What Moslems wish Westerners would also realize is that the traditions or customs in one Middle Eastern country are not necessarily representative of all Moslem women or necessarily a part of Islam.
As Islam spread from its birthplace in the Arabian Peninsula, the customs of conquered or converted peoples often became entwined with the practices laid down in the Koran. The chador, for example, is a traditional Iranian dress, not specifically required by the Koran. The Koran specifies only modesty, which can he interpreted in many ways. Many Iranian women actually prefer to wear the chador. The veil, too, is not specifically required by the Koran. It was introduced during the period of Ottoman Turkish domination of the Middle East, beginning in the 15th century A.D.—more than 800 years after Mohammed.
Increasing numbers of young women throughout the Middle East are donning the veil and covering themselves up with traditional floor-length robes—to the dismay of many of their progressive mothers who fought for freedom to wear short skirts. To many of these young women it represents a rejection of Western concepts of femininity and is not based on religion at all.
Mohammed actually advanced the status of women significantly, affording them greater honor than most societies of his time. "O men, respect women who have borne you," the Koran admonishes. Moslem women were given civil and property rights—a revolutionary step in the Arab world. Men, however, are still considered "a degree above" women.
Finally, the practice of polygamy has not been as general as is commonly thought by the West. Few Moslems have more than one wife, despite the fact that the Koran allows four— if the husband can afford them and treat them without partiality.
Moslems Look at the Judeo-Christian World
It is important, too, to understand how Moslems see Christianity and Judaism. Moslems have many misconceptions about these two faiths. In one respect, however, it is not the Moslems who are to be blamed.
Moslems, for example, see the virtual "acceptance" by Western nations of porno movies, alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, acid rock, growing crime and so on. Yet these are supposedly Christian societies!
To a Moslem, who views religion as a way of life, this is indeed a paradox. How are these rampant evils, he asks, to be reconciled with the teachings of Christ?
The simple answer, of course, is that they cannot be reconciled, for they represent out-and-out rejection of Christ's teachings! Many Moslems simply do not realize that most Western "Christians" only profess that faith, not practice it. Other Moslems regard Westerners as a species of "pagan."
When it comes to doctrinal questions, Moslems are especially dismayed over the Christian worship of "the triple God." This is a reference to the "Trinity," which Moslems view as bordering on polytheism and sacrilege. The Catholic veneration of Mary is also conceived as idolatry by Moslems.
Here Moslems make the same mistake that Westerners do when they, for example, view the veil as a Koranic requirement. Having generally never read the New Testament for themselves, Moslems fail to realize that the Trinity doctrine was never taught by Christ or the apostles, that it is nowhere to be found in the Bible, that it actually has its roots in ancient paganism, which was later absorbed into professing Christianity! (Request "The God Family and the Holy Spirit" for a clear understanding of the Bible teaching.)
Moslems, for the most part, have never encountered the true Christianity of the Bible!
In general, however, the Moslem attitude toward Christianity and Judaism is not inherently hostile. Mohammed called Christians and Jews "the People of the Book," and accorded them a special protected status and treatment. Islam also permits marriage with Christians and Jews.
What the Bible Says
Some readers will recognize that the Moslem attitude toward religion as a way of life is actually much closer to the attitude Jesus Christ and the apostles intended for true Christians to have toward the Holy Bible. The Bible often refers to true Christianity as "the way" (Acts 18:25, 26; 19.9,23, 22.4, etc.).
Doctrinally, of course, Islam diverges from Christianity in aspects too numerous to detail within the scope of this article. First and foremost is Islam's rejection of Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, of his crucifixion and resurrection, and of forgiveness and salvation through him. To Christians, the apostle Peter left no room for compromise on this point: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
In view of the central nature of this point to Christianity, the strict monotheism of Islam renders any hope of eventual conciliation between the two faiths impossible.
What, then, does the Bible say of the future of Islam?
The New Testament of the Bible was completed more than 500 years before the birth of Mohammed. Yet the Bible does not ignore the future of Islam!
Bible prophecy reveals the coming emergence of an Arab-Moslem confederation in the Middle East. It is referred to in prophecy as "the king of the south" (Dan. 11:40). This confederation will play a crucial role in end-time events.
At the prophesied return of Jesus to this earth at that critical juncture in history to save mankind from self-destruction (see Matt. 24:22) and usher in a millennial rule of peace and prosperity, God's government will be established over the entire earth. All nations will submit to him. Church and State will be united under his rule. There will be one Church—one God—one religion-- ONE SUPREME GOVERNMENT! (Rev. 19:16.)
Many Sunni Moslems look forward to this very event—but they believe that Jesus will descend to Damascus, not Jerusalem as the Bible declares in Zechariah 14.
Shia Moslems also look forward to the return of a Messiah or Mahdi— though not Jesus—in the near future.
Religious confusion will forever come to an end. All eyes will be opened to the truth. All nations and all peoples will come to recognize Jesus as the true Messiah—the Messiah whom, by a variety of names in many religions, they have all long anticipated.
This is the clear testimony of Bible prophecy. The events in the Middle East in the years just ahead will bear witness to its unerring accuracy!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Truth
"All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed;
Second, it is violently opposed; and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
First, it is ridiculed;
Second, it is violently opposed; and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
The Intelligence Summit
Greetings to one and all, in the name and memory of Herbert W. Armstrong who visited and addressed many leaders of the nations you represent here today. Mr. Armstrong, ambassador for world peace without political portfolio, was a man sent by the Great Creator God (who made all men and determined the boundaries and languages of each nation) to deliver a bittersweet message.
I shall also deliver that bittersweet message, standing before you, facing the nations, dressed in a black t shirt, jeans and sackcloth -- not your typical attire for such important affairs, but these are not normal times and business as usual will soon be history, as you all very much know and express your concern by gathering here in the United States of America to address these issues that threaten all mankind.
The world waits with bated breath to hear the recording of the former tyrant Saddam Hussein and questions whether they will confirm his weapons of mass destruction program and justify President George W. Bush's decision to launch his preemptive attack against belligerent Iraq. Regardless, our American troops have already been dispatched, they have bravely fought and deposed the proud dictator who imagined himself a modern Nebuchadnezzar driven to destroy the Jews, and free elections have now been held in that liberated country - not that democracy alone is the message God has ordained our British-Israelite nations to spread. But I share with you a greater recording that will directly affect each and every one of you, and trouble your nations and bring mankind to the brink of extinction unless that "Strong Unseen Hand from Someplace" intervenes and saves us from ourselves.
From reading Ryan Mauro's book, Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq -- it was impressed upon my mind how mad some Muslims are driven by the jinns of jihad and insanely seek to wreak havoc and destruction upon all the world who rejects their false vision. I gladly testify that not all Muslims share their perverted passion, as is evident in noble men like Sheik Abdul Hadi Palazzi of Rome, Italy.
However, I do solemnly affirm that such spiritual sickness does not only afflict the Muslim world, but that such religious fanaticism is again to rear its ugly head in blood-soaked Europe. Europe's rapid response to jihad will be a new crusade that will slaughter both Arabs and Jews and every Christian who doesn't agree with the Roman Catholic Church!
The Prophet Daniel records some great provocation, an Islamic confederation or network of sorts that is soon to butt heads with Catholic Europe (Daniel 11:40-45), resulting in a blitzkrieg operation that will strike them dead in the Middle East, taking out countries like Egypt and subduing Libya and Ethiopia and undoubtedly overwhelming Iran.
That is good news. Europe -- not America -- will neutralize the Nazi-Muslim threat. However, the bad news is that it will bring out the beast in Europe and only whet their appetite for more blood. Europe will morph into the final revival of the unholy Roman Empire of the German Nation, and demand Jerusalem become an "international city," as called for by the accursed UN Resolution 181. The Germans and Jesuits have been the major influence behind this strategic move and have their evil eyes on the prize of Jerusalem, especially the coveted Temple Mount.
The whole world has been focusing on Islamic terrorism, as is understandable, but the greatest threat to world peace is the German-dominated European Union! The United States has foolishly been helping to create such a Frankenstein Monster that will brutally betray both the American, British and Jewish peoples. Herbert W. Armstrong warned of this clear and present danger -- as an early warning system -- for years. The weapons of mass destruction that the increasingly fascist EU possess will unleash nuclear terror upon our major cities and rain down death and destruction upon us and those who survive will suffer deportation due to our idolatry and immorality.
These biblical warnings, based upon reliable information obtained from Daniel and the Book of Revelation, are the greatest recording all mankind must hear and heed -- if we're to be spared from WWIII. I'm here to announce this plain truth as a witness and a warning and share it within Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. What you do with it is between you and your Maker, but I encourage you to take it seriously and choose life and help save your respective nations.
I shall also deliver that bittersweet message, standing before you, facing the nations, dressed in a black t shirt, jeans and sackcloth -- not your typical attire for such important affairs, but these are not normal times and business as usual will soon be history, as you all very much know and express your concern by gathering here in the United States of America to address these issues that threaten all mankind.
The world waits with bated breath to hear the recording of the former tyrant Saddam Hussein and questions whether they will confirm his weapons of mass destruction program and justify President George W. Bush's decision to launch his preemptive attack against belligerent Iraq. Regardless, our American troops have already been dispatched, they have bravely fought and deposed the proud dictator who imagined himself a modern Nebuchadnezzar driven to destroy the Jews, and free elections have now been held in that liberated country - not that democracy alone is the message God has ordained our British-Israelite nations to spread. But I share with you a greater recording that will directly affect each and every one of you, and trouble your nations and bring mankind to the brink of extinction unless that "Strong Unseen Hand from Someplace" intervenes and saves us from ourselves.
From reading Ryan Mauro's book, Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq -- it was impressed upon my mind how mad some Muslims are driven by the jinns of jihad and insanely seek to wreak havoc and destruction upon all the world who rejects their false vision. I gladly testify that not all Muslims share their perverted passion, as is evident in noble men like Sheik Abdul Hadi Palazzi of Rome, Italy.
However, I do solemnly affirm that such spiritual sickness does not only afflict the Muslim world, but that such religious fanaticism is again to rear its ugly head in blood-soaked Europe. Europe's rapid response to jihad will be a new crusade that will slaughter both Arabs and Jews and every Christian who doesn't agree with the Roman Catholic Church!
The Prophet Daniel records some great provocation, an Islamic confederation or network of sorts that is soon to butt heads with Catholic Europe (Daniel 11:40-45), resulting in a blitzkrieg operation that will strike them dead in the Middle East, taking out countries like Egypt and subduing Libya and Ethiopia and undoubtedly overwhelming Iran.
That is good news. Europe -- not America -- will neutralize the Nazi-Muslim threat. However, the bad news is that it will bring out the beast in Europe and only whet their appetite for more blood. Europe will morph into the final revival of the unholy Roman Empire of the German Nation, and demand Jerusalem become an "international city," as called for by the accursed UN Resolution 181. The Germans and Jesuits have been the major influence behind this strategic move and have their evil eyes on the prize of Jerusalem, especially the coveted Temple Mount.
The whole world has been focusing on Islamic terrorism, as is understandable, but the greatest threat to world peace is the German-dominated European Union! The United States has foolishly been helping to create such a Frankenstein Monster that will brutally betray both the American, British and Jewish peoples. Herbert W. Armstrong warned of this clear and present danger -- as an early warning system -- for years. The weapons of mass destruction that the increasingly fascist EU possess will unleash nuclear terror upon our major cities and rain down death and destruction upon us and those who survive will suffer deportation due to our idolatry and immorality.
These biblical warnings, based upon reliable information obtained from Daniel and the Book of Revelation, are the greatest recording all mankind must hear and heed -- if we're to be spared from WWIII. I'm here to announce this plain truth as a witness and a warning and share it within Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. What you do with it is between you and your Maker, but I encourage you to take it seriously and choose life and help save your respective nations.
Friday, February 10, 2006
A Higher Calling: Quest for the Kingdom of God
Jesus clearly said, "No man can come to Me, except the Father who has sent me draw him..."(John 6:44). Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Christian calling includes recognizing Jesus is the only way to the Father, learning all about Him as the Incarnate Word of God and walking in that light as a way of life, following Jesus by the lead of the Holy Spirit, the power and influence of God (Romans 8:14, 1 John 2:6).
Jesus instructs us to "Repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15). What good news? The gospel of the Kingdom of God. Repent of what? Repent of breaking any of the holy commandments, whether in attitude or action, word or works, in the letter or the spirit of the Law (Matt. 5:17-20, 1 John 3:4).
Jesus didn't just say to believe the good news, He calls upon us to repent: to have a change of heart, a renewing of the mind; to experience a new attitude and go in a different direction, confessing and forsaking those thoughts and ways that aren't in peace and harmony with God's Word and Will (Isa. 55:7-9, 2 Cor. 10:5).
We're to have an attitude of gratitude for the Passover Lamb of God's ultimate sacrifice for us, by living out our lives in loving obedience, living sacrifices, receiving the pardon and the power to go and increasingly sin no more (to the degree we exercise the Holy Spirit and receive help from the Throne of Grace), knowing we must overcome sin through Christ, not be overcome by it, unlike those rebels who preach the dangerous religious lie that overcoming isn't important (2 Pet. 1:9, 1 John 2:4, Rev. 2:26).
This holy process is called conversion (Heb. 8:10). God will add the finishing touch at the resurrection to divine perfection. Those presently partaking of the divine nature are God-beings in the making! (2 Pet. 1:4).
Around 15 a girl I knew had stopped using drugs and sleeping around and classmates were mocking her as a "Jesus freak." I was impressed and admired how she wasn't ashamed to carry her Bible to school.
Soon I began attending Bible studies with her group. It was there that I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I now recognize they're a cult, but I'm confident God permitted that experience to insure my familiarity with His Word, which is what caused me to separate from them later.
I backslid into the teenage wasteland but had hope God would ultimately straighten me out, especially after once praying, "The harder I try, the more I fall on my face." Then Isaiah 45:1-2 glistened before me, God emphasizing that He would go before me, and that He would break my bonds. I was given a quiet confidence and calm assurance that God has the ability to set us free; that God is stronger than our weaknesses. After all, "in the LORD have I righteousness and strength" (Isa. 45:6).
Around 17, after flirting with foreign gods, I was miraculously called out of that deception by our Great Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Israel who didn't let Christ die in vain as my Savior.
Later, unexpectedly, I was given a vision, a sneak preview of God's Kingdom where I saw myself as a brilliant Spirit-being teaching two humans. Only after reading literature from the Worldwide Church of God and getting baptized at 19, did I see they confirmed what I saw to be true: the Kingdom is God's Family and we're to become divine Priest-Kings ruling with but under Christ; the Kingdom of God-Beings are to rule Earth from Jerusalem!
Truly this spiritual journey is the adventure of a lifetime! It's a daily quest for God's Kingdom and righteousness, living and learning, so help us God.
Jesus instructs us to "Repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15). What good news? The gospel of the Kingdom of God. Repent of what? Repent of breaking any of the holy commandments, whether in attitude or action, word or works, in the letter or the spirit of the Law (Matt. 5:17-20, 1 John 3:4).
Jesus didn't just say to believe the good news, He calls upon us to repent: to have a change of heart, a renewing of the mind; to experience a new attitude and go in a different direction, confessing and forsaking those thoughts and ways that aren't in peace and harmony with God's Word and Will (Isa. 55:7-9, 2 Cor. 10:5).
We're to have an attitude of gratitude for the Passover Lamb of God's ultimate sacrifice for us, by living out our lives in loving obedience, living sacrifices, receiving the pardon and the power to go and increasingly sin no more (to the degree we exercise the Holy Spirit and receive help from the Throne of Grace), knowing we must overcome sin through Christ, not be overcome by it, unlike those rebels who preach the dangerous religious lie that overcoming isn't important (2 Pet. 1:9, 1 John 2:4, Rev. 2:26).
This holy process is called conversion (Heb. 8:10). God will add the finishing touch at the resurrection to divine perfection. Those presently partaking of the divine nature are God-beings in the making! (2 Pet. 1:4).
Around 15 a girl I knew had stopped using drugs and sleeping around and classmates were mocking her as a "Jesus freak." I was impressed and admired how she wasn't ashamed to carry her Bible to school.
Soon I began attending Bible studies with her group. It was there that I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I now recognize they're a cult, but I'm confident God permitted that experience to insure my familiarity with His Word, which is what caused me to separate from them later.
I backslid into the teenage wasteland but had hope God would ultimately straighten me out, especially after once praying, "The harder I try, the more I fall on my face." Then Isaiah 45:1-2 glistened before me, God emphasizing that He would go before me, and that He would break my bonds. I was given a quiet confidence and calm assurance that God has the ability to set us free; that God is stronger than our weaknesses. After all, "in the LORD have I righteousness and strength" (Isa. 45:6).
Around 17, after flirting with foreign gods, I was miraculously called out of that deception by our Great Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Israel who didn't let Christ die in vain as my Savior.
Later, unexpectedly, I was given a vision, a sneak preview of God's Kingdom where I saw myself as a brilliant Spirit-being teaching two humans. Only after reading literature from the Worldwide Church of God and getting baptized at 19, did I see they confirmed what I saw to be true: the Kingdom is God's Family and we're to become divine Priest-Kings ruling with but under Christ; the Kingdom of God-Beings are to rule Earth from Jerusalem!
Truly this spiritual journey is the adventure of a lifetime! It's a daily quest for God's Kingdom and righteousness, living and learning, so help us God.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
The United States and Britain in Prophecy by HWA
By Herbert W. Armstrong
People of the Western world would be stunned—dumbfounded—if they knew! The governments of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australasia, South Africa would set in motion gigantic crash programs—if they knew! They could know! But they don’t! Why?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Lost Master Key Has Been Found
Chapter 2 Prophecies Closed Until Now!
Chapter 3 National Greatness Promised Israel—Yet the Jews Never Received It—Why?
Chapter 4 The Separation of the Birthright and the Sceptre
Chapter 5 The Davidic Covenant
Chapter 6 Children of Israel Become Two Nations
Chapter 7 Jeremiah's Mysterious Commission
Chapter 8 The Mysterious Breach
Chapter 9 Israel's New Land
Chapter 10 Birthright Withheld 2520 Years!
Chapter 11 Why Israel Lost Identity
Chapter 12 The Birthright—At Its Zenith—And Now!
Chapter 13 And Now What? The Prophecies for the Immediate Future
Chapter 14 What's Prophesied to Happen, Now—To America and Britain
Appendix
People of the Western world would be stunned—dumbfounded—if they knew! The governments of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australasia, South Africa would set in motion gigantic crash programs—if they knew! They could know! But they don’t! Why?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Lost Master Key Has Been Found
Chapter 2 Prophecies Closed Until Now!
Chapter 3 National Greatness Promised Israel—Yet the Jews Never Received It—Why?
Chapter 4 The Separation of the Birthright and the Sceptre
Chapter 5 The Davidic Covenant
Chapter 6 Children of Israel Become Two Nations
Chapter 7 Jeremiah's Mysterious Commission
Chapter 8 The Mysterious Breach
Chapter 9 Israel's New Land
Chapter 10 Birthright Withheld 2520 Years!
Chapter 11 Why Israel Lost Identity
Chapter 12 The Birthright—At Its Zenith—And Now!
Chapter 13 And Now What? The Prophecies for the Immediate Future
Chapter 14 What's Prophesied to Happen, Now—To America and Britain
Appendix
Correspondence Course
mail us at : thechurch@cog-ff.com
32 Lessons
Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course
32 Lessons
These lessons have been formatted for study on the Internet. They are connected to an online bible and the verses are hotlinked so that you can read along in the word as you study online.
Lesson 1: Why Study the Bible in the Space Age?
Lesson 2: WORLD PEACE--Really?
Lesson 3: The Sensational Return of Jesus Christ!
Lesson 4: The Coming Utopia...Wonderful World Ahead
Lesson 5: Just What is Man?
Lesson 6: What is "Hell"?
Lesson 7: Will You Go To Heaven When You Die?
Lesson 8: What it Means to be Born Again
Lesson 9: What is Real Repentance?
Lesson 10: Should You Be Baptized?
Lesson 11: Why You Need The Holy Spirit
Lesson 12: Christianity Is A Way Of Life
Lesson 13: Who and What is God?
Lesson 14: Angels
Lesson 15: Why is Man Different from Any other living Creature?
Lesson 16: Why is Ancient Israel Gods "Chosen People"
Lesson 17: The Simple Truth About the Old and New Covenants
Lesson 18: What is the True Gospel?
Lesson 19: What and Why the Church?
Lesson 20: In Training For Rulership
Lesson 21: Is This The Only Day Of Salvation?
Lesson 22: What Is God's Purpose for Mankind?
Lesson 23: Why Christians Should Keep God's Holy Days
Lesson 24: The Plain Truth About God's Holy Sabbath
Lesson 25: Passover
Lesson 26: Feast of Unleavened Bread
Lesson 27: Pentecost
Lesson 28: Feast of Trumpets
Lesson 29: Day of Atonement
Lesson 30: Feast of Tabernacles
Lesson 31: Last Great Day
Lesson 32: A New Beginning
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Germany is Nuclear!
Germany already has a nuclear arsenal and is getting ready to come out of their nuclear closet. Germany promised not to develop nuclear weapons as long as the United States and NATO protected them, as part of their deceptive Grand Design.
Would Germany tolerate such a vulnerable position? Never! Hitler wasn't supposed to rearm and the rest is history. What have we learned from it?
David Ben-Ariel
Germany 'needs a nuclear arsenal of its own'
By Kate Connolly in Berlin
(Filed: 27/01/2006)
A former defence minister has provoked outrage and broken a major taboo by suggesting that Germany should have its own nuclear arsenal.
Rupert Scholz argued that Berlin needed to embrace the idea of a nuclear deterrent in the light of threats from terrorists and the Middle East.
"We need to ask ourselves how we could react in an appropriate manner to a nuclear threat from a terror state, and if needs be, even by using our own nuclear weapons," he said.
Mr Scholz, 68, who was the defence minister in Helmut Kohl's government in 1988 and 1989, said he doubted whether other nations' guarantees, made during the Cold War, to keep Germany safe in the face of a nuclear threat, could still be trusted.
"Without the appropriate guarantees of protection by our partners, the question of our own nuclear deterrent needs to be discussed openly," he said.
"I am aware that I am addressing a taboo. But in the light of the dangers that weapons of mass destruction could end up in the hands of terrorists, this is a question which deserves serious debate."
Germany agreed not to develop nuclear weapons after the Second World War in return for protection from the United States and Nato.
Mr Scholz's comments came under attack yesterday.
The security spokesman for the opposition Free Democrats, Rainer Stinner, accused him of "throwing oil on the fire" of the tension between Iran and the West.
Rainer Arnold, the defence spokesman for the Social Democrats, part of the governing coalition, said Mr Scholz's remarks would not be taken seriously.
Would Germany tolerate such a vulnerable position? Never! Hitler wasn't supposed to rearm and the rest is history. What have we learned from it?
David Ben-Ariel
Germany 'needs a nuclear arsenal of its own'
By Kate Connolly in Berlin
(Filed: 27/01/2006)
A former defence minister has provoked outrage and broken a major taboo by suggesting that Germany should have its own nuclear arsenal.
Rupert Scholz argued that Berlin needed to embrace the idea of a nuclear deterrent in the light of threats from terrorists and the Middle East.
"We need to ask ourselves how we could react in an appropriate manner to a nuclear threat from a terror state, and if needs be, even by using our own nuclear weapons," he said.
Mr Scholz, 68, who was the defence minister in Helmut Kohl's government in 1988 and 1989, said he doubted whether other nations' guarantees, made during the Cold War, to keep Germany safe in the face of a nuclear threat, could still be trusted.
"Without the appropriate guarantees of protection by our partners, the question of our own nuclear deterrent needs to be discussed openly," he said.
"I am aware that I am addressing a taboo. But in the light of the dangers that weapons of mass destruction could end up in the hands of terrorists, this is a question which deserves serious debate."
Germany agreed not to develop nuclear weapons after the Second World War in return for protection from the United States and Nato.
Mr Scholz's comments came under attack yesterday.
The security spokesman for the opposition Free Democrats, Rainer Stinner, accused him of "throwing oil on the fire" of the tension between Iran and the West.
Rainer Arnold, the defence spokesman for the Social Democrats, part of the governing coalition, said Mr Scholz's remarks would not be taken seriously.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Ten Tribes
I'm happy to announce a new Ten Tribes site to help shine the light on Brit Am Israel, the Origin of Nations and the United States and Britain in Prophecy, etc.
Ten Tribes
The Ten Tribes site seeks to add to the treasure trove of information
about the Israelite origins of the West, prophesied to greatly
increase and culminate in the reconciliation and restoration of Judah with
Israel, becoming "One Nation Under God," a truly United Kingdom!
We announce Israel's imminent FAMILY REUNION destined to occur.
If you please, pay a visit to the Ten Tribes today and see what us pioneers are busy doing in preparation for that glorious Day!
Ten Tribes
The Ten Tribes site seeks to add to the treasure trove of information
about the Israelite origins of the West, prophesied to greatly
increase and culminate in the reconciliation and restoration of Judah with
Israel, becoming "One Nation Under God," a truly United Kingdom!
We announce Israel's imminent FAMILY REUNION destined to occur.
If you please, pay a visit to the Ten Tribes today and see what us pioneers are busy doing in preparation for that glorious Day!
Slovakia resists papal pressure
Slovak cabinet falls over controversial Vatican Treaty
07.02.2006 - 10:46 CET | By Renata Goldirova
EUOBSERVER / BRATISLAVA - The Slovak government is on the verge of collapse due to a dispute among ruling coalition parties over a Vatican treaty criticised also by the EU...
The document disadvantages non-Catholics, while the Catholic Church would gain a large area of influence and be able to interfere in civil matters, said Mr Dzurinda.
****************
This is merely the tip of the iceberg: the Vatican intends on escorting select politicians to power and reviving dormant thrones who will in exchange for services rendered enforce the bloody Roman Catholic Church position on everything from employment to worship. This ought to set off alarm bells to those who don't want to be subject to a new inquisition! Watch Slovakia fall into line and the rest will follow.
Germany and the Holy Roman Empire
Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall.
07.02.2006 - 10:46 CET | By Renata Goldirova
EUOBSERVER / BRATISLAVA - The Slovak government is on the verge of collapse due to a dispute among ruling coalition parties over a Vatican treaty criticised also by the EU...
The document disadvantages non-Catholics, while the Catholic Church would gain a large area of influence and be able to interfere in civil matters, said Mr Dzurinda.
****************
This is merely the tip of the iceberg: the Vatican intends on escorting select politicians to power and reviving dormant thrones who will in exchange for services rendered enforce the bloody Roman Catholic Church position on everything from employment to worship. This ought to set off alarm bells to those who don't want to be subject to a new inquisition! Watch Slovakia fall into line and the rest will follow.
Germany and the Holy Roman Empire
Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall.
Valentine
St. Valentine's Day Christian Custom? -- or Pagan Holiday
by Herman L. Hoeh
Isn't it time we examined why we encourage our children to celebrate St. Valentine's Day - when it is never mentioned in the Bible as a practice of the New Testament Church?
Let's stop teaching our children these pagan customs in memory of Baal the sun god - the original St. Valentine - and teach them instead what the Bible really says!
The Silence of Educators
(Valentine's Day float sponsored by a school)
Teachers are all too often silent about the origin of the customs they are forced to teach in today's schools! If they were to speak out, many would lose their jobs!
Isn't it time we examined why we encourage our children to celebrate St. Valentine's Day - when it is never mentioned in the Bible as a practice of the New Testament Church?
Today, candymakers unload tons of heart-shaped red boxes for February 14, while millions of the younger set are annually exchanging valentines. Florists consider February 14 - St. Valentine's Day - as one of their best business days. And young lovers pair off - at least for a dance or two - at St. Valentine's balls.
Why? Where did these customs originate? Where do we find any such practices in the Bible?
How did we come to inherit these customs?
A Christian Custom?
Did you know that centuries before Christ, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15 and the evening of February 14 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in honor of Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves"?
The Romans called the festival the "Lupercalia." The custom of exchanging valentines and all the other traditions in honor of Lupercus - the deified hero-hunter of Rome- was also linked anciently with the pagan practice of teen-agers "going steady." It usually led to fornication. Today, the custom of "going steady" is thought very modern. It isn't. It is merely a rebirth of an old custom "handed down from the Roman festival of the Lupercalia, celebrated in the month of February, when names of young women were put into a box and drawn out by men as chance directed." That's the admission of the Encyclopedia Americana, article, "St. Valentine's Day."
(Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves")
When Constantine made "Christianity" the official religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.
It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a "Christian" custom. "As far back as 496, Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on February 15 to St. Valentine's Day on February 14." (p. 172 of Customs and Holidays Around the World by Lavinia Dobler).
(Pope Gelasius)
But how did this pagan festival acquire the name of "St. Valentine's Day"? And why is the little naked Cupid of the pagan Roman so often associated today with February 14? And why do little children and young people still cut out hearts and send them on a day in honor of Lupercus the hunter of wolves? Why have we supposed these pagan customs in honor of a false god are Christians?
Who Was the Original "St. Valentine"?
(Nimrod the Mighty Hunter)
Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents often gave the name of their children in honor of the famous man who was first called Valentine in antiquity. That famous man was Lupercus, the hunter. But who was Lupercus? - and why should he have also borne the name Valentine among the heathen Romans?
The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of "Pan". The Semites called Pan "Baul," according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal - mentioned so often in the Bible - was merely another name for Nimrod, "the mighty hunter" (Genesis 10:9) It was a common proverb of ancient time that Nimrod was "the MIGHTY hunter before the Lord." Nimrod was their hero - their strong man - their VALENTINE!
How plain that the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was "Sanctuc" or "Santa", meaning "Saint'. It was a common title of any hero-god. No wonder that the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!
But why do we associate HEARTS on a day in honor of Nimrod - the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?
The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was "bal" (see Young's or Strong's Concordance). The heart - bal - was merely a symbol of Nimrod - the Baal! or Lord of the Babylonians!
Executed at Rome
Nimrod - the original St. Valentine - was also known as Saturn, the Roman-Babylonian god who hid from his pursuers in a secret place. The Latin word Saturn is derived from the Semitic speaking Babylonians. It means "be hid," "hide self," "secret," "conceal." The original Semitic (Hebrew) word, from which the Latin Saturn is derived, is used 83 times in the Old Testament (see Young's Concordance under "Sathar," also "sether").
According to ancient tradition, Saturn (Nimrod) fled from his pursuers to Italy. The Apenine mountains of Italy were anciently named the mountains of Nembrod or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid out at the site where Rome was later built. The ancient name of Rome, before it was rebuilt in 753 B.C., was Saturnia - the site of Saturn's (Nimrod's) hiding. There he was found and slain for his crimes. Later, professing Christians in Constantine's day made Nimrod - the St. Valentine of the heathen- a Saint of the Church and continued to honor him under the name of a Christian martyr.
Why February 14?
But why should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the evening of February 14 to honor Lupercus - the Nimrod of the Bible? (Remember that day in ancient times began at sunset the evening before.)
Nimrod - Baal or sun god of the ancient pagans - was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In ancient time the solstice occurred on January 6 and his birthday therefore was celebrated on December 25 and now called Christmas. It was the custom of antiquity for, the mother of a male child to present herself for purification on the fortieth day after January 6 - Nimrod's original birthdate - takes us to February 15, the celebration of which began on the evening of February 14 - the Lupercalia or St. Valentine's Day.
(Semiramis the "Queen of Heaven," and Nimrod the "divine son of heaven.")
On this day in February, Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to have been purified and to have appeared for the first time in public with her son as the original "mother and child."
The Roman month February, in fact, derives its name from the februa which the Roman priests used in the rites celebrated on St. Valentine's Day. The febru were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14.
Cupid Makes His Appearance
(Isis and Osiris)
Another name for the child Nimrod was "Cupid" - meaning "desire" (Encyclopedia Britannica, art., "Cupid"). It is said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after him - she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid - her desired one - and later her Valentine! So evil was Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son! Inscribed on the monuments of ancient Egypt are inscriptions that Nimrod (the Egyptians called him Osiris) was "the husband of his mother."
As Nimrod grew up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired him. He was their Cupid! In the Book of Daniel he is called the "desire of women" (Dan. 11:37). Moffatt translates the word as Tammuz - a babylonian name of Nimrod. He provoked so many women to jealousy that an idol of him was often called the "image of jealousy" (Ezekiel 8:5). Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine - their strong or mighty her! No wonder the pagans commemorated their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heartshaped love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14 as a symbol of him.
Nimrod, the mulatto son of Cush the Ethiopian, was later a source of embarrassment to the pagans of Europe. They didn't want an African to worship. Consequently, they substituted a supposed son of Nimrod, a white child name Horus, born after the death of Nimrod. This white child then became a "fair Cupid" of European tradition.
It is about time we examined these foolish customs of the pagans now falsely labeled Christian. It is time we quit this Roman and Babylonian foolishness - this idolatry - and get back to the faith of Christ delivered once for all time.
Let's stop teaching our children these pagan customs in memory of Baal the sun god - the original St. Valentine - and teach them instead what the Bible really says!
by Herman L. Hoeh
Isn't it time we examined why we encourage our children to celebrate St. Valentine's Day - when it is never mentioned in the Bible as a practice of the New Testament Church?
Let's stop teaching our children these pagan customs in memory of Baal the sun god - the original St. Valentine - and teach them instead what the Bible really says!
The Silence of Educators
(Valentine's Day float sponsored by a school)
Teachers are all too often silent about the origin of the customs they are forced to teach in today's schools! If they were to speak out, many would lose their jobs!
Isn't it time we examined why we encourage our children to celebrate St. Valentine's Day - when it is never mentioned in the Bible as a practice of the New Testament Church?
Today, candymakers unload tons of heart-shaped red boxes for February 14, while millions of the younger set are annually exchanging valentines. Florists consider February 14 - St. Valentine's Day - as one of their best business days. And young lovers pair off - at least for a dance or two - at St. Valentine's balls.
Why? Where did these customs originate? Where do we find any such practices in the Bible?
How did we come to inherit these customs?
A Christian Custom?
Did you know that centuries before Christ, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15 and the evening of February 14 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in honor of Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves"?
The Romans called the festival the "Lupercalia." The custom of exchanging valentines and all the other traditions in honor of Lupercus - the deified hero-hunter of Rome- was also linked anciently with the pagan practice of teen-agers "going steady." It usually led to fornication. Today, the custom of "going steady" is thought very modern. It isn't. It is merely a rebirth of an old custom "handed down from the Roman festival of the Lupercalia, celebrated in the month of February, when names of young women were put into a box and drawn out by men as chance directed." That's the admission of the Encyclopedia Americana, article, "St. Valentine's Day."
(Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves")
When Constantine made "Christianity" the official religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.
It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a "Christian" custom. "As far back as 496, Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on February 15 to St. Valentine's Day on February 14." (p. 172 of Customs and Holidays Around the World by Lavinia Dobler).
(Pope Gelasius)
But how did this pagan festival acquire the name of "St. Valentine's Day"? And why is the little naked Cupid of the pagan Roman so often associated today with February 14? And why do little children and young people still cut out hearts and send them on a day in honor of Lupercus the hunter of wolves? Why have we supposed these pagan customs in honor of a false god are Christians?
Who Was the Original "St. Valentine"?
(Nimrod the Mighty Hunter)
Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents often gave the name of their children in honor of the famous man who was first called Valentine in antiquity. That famous man was Lupercus, the hunter. But who was Lupercus? - and why should he have also borne the name Valentine among the heathen Romans?
The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of "Pan". The Semites called Pan "Baul," according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal - mentioned so often in the Bible - was merely another name for Nimrod, "the mighty hunter" (Genesis 10:9) It was a common proverb of ancient time that Nimrod was "the MIGHTY hunter before the Lord." Nimrod was their hero - their strong man - their VALENTINE!
How plain that the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was "Sanctuc" or "Santa", meaning "Saint'. It was a common title of any hero-god. No wonder that the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!
But why do we associate HEARTS on a day in honor of Nimrod - the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?
The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was "bal" (see Young's or Strong's Concordance). The heart - bal - was merely a symbol of Nimrod - the Baal! or Lord of the Babylonians!
Executed at Rome
Nimrod - the original St. Valentine - was also known as Saturn, the Roman-Babylonian god who hid from his pursuers in a secret place. The Latin word Saturn is derived from the Semitic speaking Babylonians. It means "be hid," "hide self," "secret," "conceal." The original Semitic (Hebrew) word, from which the Latin Saturn is derived, is used 83 times in the Old Testament (see Young's Concordance under "Sathar," also "sether").
According to ancient tradition, Saturn (Nimrod) fled from his pursuers to Italy. The Apenine mountains of Italy were anciently named the mountains of Nembrod or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid out at the site where Rome was later built. The ancient name of Rome, before it was rebuilt in 753 B.C., was Saturnia - the site of Saturn's (Nimrod's) hiding. There he was found and slain for his crimes. Later, professing Christians in Constantine's day made Nimrod - the St. Valentine of the heathen- a Saint of the Church and continued to honor him under the name of a Christian martyr.
Why February 14?
But why should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the evening of February 14 to honor Lupercus - the Nimrod of the Bible? (Remember that day in ancient times began at sunset the evening before.)
Nimrod - Baal or sun god of the ancient pagans - was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In ancient time the solstice occurred on January 6 and his birthday therefore was celebrated on December 25 and now called Christmas. It was the custom of antiquity for, the mother of a male child to present herself for purification on the fortieth day after January 6 - Nimrod's original birthdate - takes us to February 15, the celebration of which began on the evening of February 14 - the Lupercalia or St. Valentine's Day.
(Semiramis the "Queen of Heaven," and Nimrod the "divine son of heaven.")
On this day in February, Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to have been purified and to have appeared for the first time in public with her son as the original "mother and child."
The Roman month February, in fact, derives its name from the februa which the Roman priests used in the rites celebrated on St. Valentine's Day. The febru were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14.
Cupid Makes His Appearance
(Isis and Osiris)
Another name for the child Nimrod was "Cupid" - meaning "desire" (Encyclopedia Britannica, art., "Cupid"). It is said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after him - she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid - her desired one - and later her Valentine! So evil was Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son! Inscribed on the monuments of ancient Egypt are inscriptions that Nimrod (the Egyptians called him Osiris) was "the husband of his mother."
As Nimrod grew up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired him. He was their Cupid! In the Book of Daniel he is called the "desire of women" (Dan. 11:37). Moffatt translates the word as Tammuz - a babylonian name of Nimrod. He provoked so many women to jealousy that an idol of him was often called the "image of jealousy" (Ezekiel 8:5). Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine - their strong or mighty her! No wonder the pagans commemorated their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heartshaped love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14 as a symbol of him.
Nimrod, the mulatto son of Cush the Ethiopian, was later a source of embarrassment to the pagans of Europe. They didn't want an African to worship. Consequently, they substituted a supposed son of Nimrod, a white child name Horus, born after the death of Nimrod. This white child then became a "fair Cupid" of European tradition.
It is about time we examined these foolish customs of the pagans now falsely labeled Christian. It is time we quit this Roman and Babylonian foolishness - this idolatry - and get back to the faith of Christ delivered once for all time.
Let's stop teaching our children these pagan customs in memory of Baal the sun god - the original St. Valentine - and teach them instead what the Bible really says!
Monday, February 06, 2006
Europe to unite against Islam
An excerpt from the European Observer article:
EU hesitates on Mohammed cartoon reaction
06.02.2006 - 10:26 CET | By Teresa Küchler
...Seven EU leaders meeting in the German city of Dresden also called for a joint EU approach to the problem.
"Violence and threats are not acceptable under any circumstances," the German head of state, Horst Koehler, said speaking for colleagues from Finland, Italy, Latvia, Austria, Portugal and Hungary.
"It is important that we speak with one voice on this issue in the European Union, uphold our common values but also make an effort toward de-escalation," said president Heinz Fischer of Austria.
*****************
Based upon the two witnesses of the Bible and history, I can testify that the barbaric situation will only get worse and bring non-Muslim Europe together against them; that Catholic Europe is destined to strike at the Islamofascist threat growing to the south and will be most victorious, a smashing success!
Islam will rue the day they provoked the EU to rage, bringing out the beast within them that will devour the whole world.
EU hesitates on Mohammed cartoon reaction
06.02.2006 - 10:26 CET | By Teresa Küchler
...Seven EU leaders meeting in the German city of Dresden also called for a joint EU approach to the problem.
"Violence and threats are not acceptable under any circumstances," the German head of state, Horst Koehler, said speaking for colleagues from Finland, Italy, Latvia, Austria, Portugal and Hungary.
"It is important that we speak with one voice on this issue in the European Union, uphold our common values but also make an effort toward de-escalation," said president Heinz Fischer of Austria.
*****************
Based upon the two witnesses of the Bible and history, I can testify that the barbaric situation will only get worse and bring non-Muslim Europe together against them; that Catholic Europe is destined to strike at the Islamofascist threat growing to the south and will be most victorious, a smashing success!
Islam will rue the day they provoked the EU to rage, bringing out the beast within them that will devour the whole world.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Mystery of the Ages
Those interested in the plain truth about what Herbert Armstrong taught are encouraged to see and read and come to their own prayerful conclusions:
Mystery of the Ages.
Mystery of the Ages.
Bloodbath in Amona stains Ehud Olmert!
From IsraelNationalNews.com
Still More Videos and Testimonies of Amona Police Brutality
By Hillel Fendel
More stories and video clips of police violence against unarmed protestors at Amona.
A list of videos showing police brutality at Amona:
media.a7.org/inntv/06/feb/amona-alimut.wmv - a two-part video, first showing a horse trampling a protestor, and then the infamous scenes of a brutal beating inside one of the houses
news.walla.co.il/?w=/3850/852627 - a wounded protestor cursing the army and telling how the Border Guardsmen, with rocks in their hands, smashed the protestors: "I said I want to go out peacefully, but they kept clubbing me in my back, neck, legs..." MK Effie Eitam is seen with an infusion telling how was first felled by a police horse, then hit by a policeman, and then lost consciousness. Yaakov Tessler, age 17, is seen with the area below his eye swollen to tangerine-size, explaining how he was beaten despite his pleas.
216.86.150.60/videos/0/359875_53c30.wmv - with German music in the background; at 1:50, horse runs over one or two people; at 2:06, a mounted policeman whips protestors
http://news.walla.co.il/?w=//852618 - Channel Ten scenes
yeshanews.com/?id=47029 - assorted scenes
mms://s39wm.castup.net - more of the same
Neriah Zamir, 19, a student in Yeshivat Elon Moreh, a resident of Moreshet in the Galilee, who was evacuated by helicopter to the hospital:
"I was sitting in the kitchen of house number 9, the last house in the line. I couldn't see anything outside, but I heard my friends saying how the police were beating one boy, and grabbing another one by the testicles, and the like...
"We heard the Yassamnikim breaking the windows in one of the other rooms and starting to come in. When they came towards us, we threw cottage cheese and chocolate cups at them, as our way of protesting. They came into the living room and started hitting without discrimination, without mercy. I saw one policeman lifting up his club and smashing it down again and again and again, seemingly without end... Then they jumped over to another group and started hitting there as well... I remember scenes of them screaming, 'Get out!' - and then Boom!, they would smash someone...
"We started trying to crawl out towards the hall, and when I got there, one policeman gave me a terrific blow to the head and then to my eye. I passed out for a short time and the next thing I remember was being near the door, and that everything looked blurred from my left eye...
"Once outside, the police refused to let me go towards the army medics, even though people were being treated there and even though I heard people saying, 'He's hurt!' Finally I made my way up to the Amona makeshift clinic, and from there I was flown to the hospital in Jerusalem, where they found that the wound was, thank G-d, would not cause permanent damage. I was released two days later, on Friday..."
Aharon Tebger, 23, Givat Ze'ev, a student at Bar Ilan University:
"I was in the salon of house #8, together with some expellees from Shirat HaYam [in Gush Katif] and others. The other two rooms were full, and the police first broke into those room. We heard screaming, and we saw a lot of boys running away from those rooms towards the kitchen; they were very scared and some were already bleeding. But everything was happening at once, so we still didn't realize exactly what was going on.
"At the same time, the police were trying to break into our room, and soon they came upon us from both sides. We screamed that they should put away their clubs, that we were not fighting with them, but they said that rocks were thrown at them... Then one said, 'you have until a count of three to leave through the window,' and then he counted quickly 1,2,3 and then they started beating and pushing, while the other police came from the other direction. First they started hitting us on the legs, and then on our heads.
"I was one of the last ones in the room, and one policeman told me to go one way, but then two others hit me hard in my head. I fell down, and then - five of them were on top of me, hitting me in head and kicking me all over my body. Five on one, and I was on the floor!
"Then they brought me to another room, where I got out through the window; I had no choice, because if I stayed there, they would smash me again. Someone helped me get to the road, and only then did I realize that I was full of blood. They took me on a stretcher to the clinic, and from there by ambulance to Ein Karem Hospital, where I received stitches in three places: near my eye and on my head. I also was hit on my limbs, and I still have trouble walking."
Still More Videos and Testimonies of Amona Police Brutality
By Hillel Fendel
More stories and video clips of police violence against unarmed protestors at Amona.
A list of videos showing police brutality at Amona:
media.a7.org/inntv/06/feb/amona-alimut.wmv - a two-part video, first showing a horse trampling a protestor, and then the infamous scenes of a brutal beating inside one of the houses
news.walla.co.il/?w=/3850/852627 - a wounded protestor cursing the army and telling how the Border Guardsmen, with rocks in their hands, smashed the protestors: "I said I want to go out peacefully, but they kept clubbing me in my back, neck, legs..." MK Effie Eitam is seen with an infusion telling how was first felled by a police horse, then hit by a policeman, and then lost consciousness. Yaakov Tessler, age 17, is seen with the area below his eye swollen to tangerine-size, explaining how he was beaten despite his pleas.
216.86.150.60/videos/0/359875_53c30.wmv - with German music in the background; at 1:50, horse runs over one or two people; at 2:06, a mounted policeman whips protestors
http://news.walla.co.il/?w=//852618 - Channel Ten scenes
yeshanews.com/?id=47029 - assorted scenes
mms://s39wm.castup.net - more of the same
Neriah Zamir, 19, a student in Yeshivat Elon Moreh, a resident of Moreshet in the Galilee, who was evacuated by helicopter to the hospital:
"I was sitting in the kitchen of house number 9, the last house in the line. I couldn't see anything outside, but I heard my friends saying how the police were beating one boy, and grabbing another one by the testicles, and the like...
"We heard the Yassamnikim breaking the windows in one of the other rooms and starting to come in. When they came towards us, we threw cottage cheese and chocolate cups at them, as our way of protesting. They came into the living room and started hitting without discrimination, without mercy. I saw one policeman lifting up his club and smashing it down again and again and again, seemingly without end... Then they jumped over to another group and started hitting there as well... I remember scenes of them screaming, 'Get out!' - and then Boom!, they would smash someone...
"We started trying to crawl out towards the hall, and when I got there, one policeman gave me a terrific blow to the head and then to my eye. I passed out for a short time and the next thing I remember was being near the door, and that everything looked blurred from my left eye...
"Once outside, the police refused to let me go towards the army medics, even though people were being treated there and even though I heard people saying, 'He's hurt!' Finally I made my way up to the Amona makeshift clinic, and from there I was flown to the hospital in Jerusalem, where they found that the wound was, thank G-d, would not cause permanent damage. I was released two days later, on Friday..."
Aharon Tebger, 23, Givat Ze'ev, a student at Bar Ilan University:
"I was in the salon of house #8, together with some expellees from Shirat HaYam [in Gush Katif] and others. The other two rooms were full, and the police first broke into those room. We heard screaming, and we saw a lot of boys running away from those rooms towards the kitchen; they were very scared and some were already bleeding. But everything was happening at once, so we still didn't realize exactly what was going on.
"At the same time, the police were trying to break into our room, and soon they came upon us from both sides. We screamed that they should put away their clubs, that we were not fighting with them, but they said that rocks were thrown at them... Then one said, 'you have until a count of three to leave through the window,' and then he counted quickly 1,2,3 and then they started beating and pushing, while the other police came from the other direction. First they started hitting us on the legs, and then on our heads.
"I was one of the last ones in the room, and one policeman told me to go one way, but then two others hit me hard in my head. I fell down, and then - five of them were on top of me, hitting me in head and kicking me all over my body. Five on one, and I was on the floor!
"Then they brought me to another room, where I got out through the window; I had no choice, because if I stayed there, they would smash me again. Someone helped me get to the road, and only then did I realize that I was full of blood. They took me on a stretcher to the clinic, and from there by ambulance to Ein Karem Hospital, where I received stitches in three places: near my eye and on my head. I also was hit on my limbs, and I still have trouble walking."
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Keeping an Eye on Germany
From: HawaiianKane (Manager of A FORUM ON THE MIDDLE EAST)
Let me point out, although David Ben Ariel may not hold exactly the same opinions that we personally hold, we believe his aptitude and insight has always been unique and worthy of examining in detail. His rectitude has always been admirable and his concern for Israel unquestioned.
Because of his outstanding interest and admiration of Israel, we made him part of our Management Team and held him responsible for alerting us to any shifts in European covert actions against Eretz Yisroel.
Many Jews still hold strongly to David's insistence regarding innate Germanic attitudes regarding dominance of all other states and having a secret agenda directly ultimately against Jews and the rest of Mankind. Although I may not entirely agree, honestly I can't definitely believe he is wrong. My instinct believes he is really "onto" something, which none of us can ignore.
Let me point out, although David Ben Ariel may not hold exactly the same opinions that we personally hold, we believe his aptitude and insight has always been unique and worthy of examining in detail. His rectitude has always been admirable and his concern for Israel unquestioned.
Because of his outstanding interest and admiration of Israel, we made him part of our Management Team and held him responsible for alerting us to any shifts in European covert actions against Eretz Yisroel.
Many Jews still hold strongly to David's insistence regarding innate Germanic attitudes regarding dominance of all other states and having a secret agenda directly ultimately against Jews and the rest of Mankind. Although I may not entirely agree, honestly I can't definitely believe he is wrong. My instinct believes he is really "onto" something, which none of us can ignore.
Herbert Armstrong: a Diamond among Coal
Worth repeating:
A new comment has been posted on your blog entry:
Germany Behind the Mask: Monster or Marshmallow?
From Name: Ruvy in Jerusalem
Comments: Didn't see this till now (21:40 Israel time, Motzaei Shabbat)
First of all, David, this is an excellent piece. We don't track on everything, but on keeping a close eye on Germany, we most assuredly do.
So, I have a question for you. Have you seen any machinations behind Chancellor Merkel? Evidences of the Social Christian party of Bayern in action?
Finally, for Dave Nalle and others reading this article.
I've noticed that looking behind the conventional and comfortable sources of data, news and ideas is very difficult for you, to put it politely. It is for most people. But survival in the future will depend on being able to look beyond what is your comfortable source of news, data and ideas.
A future that you do not understand at all is rushing at you with gathering speed. The riots in Damesek, the burning of two Danish embassies are just small signs of this.
While I am not a Christian and do not agree with everything that David ben Ariel's church believes in, the Philadelphia Trumpet has had a habit of calling events before they've occurred. That is something worth paying attention to.
Occasionally, I would listen to some of the Christian preachers on TV while I lived in the States. Curiosity would draw me there. The majority were just hucksters with only garbage on their tongues. Herbert Armstrong stood out as one man making sense, a diamond amongst a pile of coal. He actually provided analyses, where the other preachers provided nothing but thin air.
Again, I point out that I am no Christian and never will be. But David is worth paying careful attention to.
A new comment has been posted on your blog entry:
Germany Behind the Mask: Monster or Marshmallow?
From Name: Ruvy in Jerusalem
Comments: Didn't see this till now (21:40 Israel time, Motzaei Shabbat)
First of all, David, this is an excellent piece. We don't track on everything, but on keeping a close eye on Germany, we most assuredly do.
So, I have a question for you. Have you seen any machinations behind Chancellor Merkel? Evidences of the Social Christian party of Bayern in action?
Finally, for Dave Nalle and others reading this article.
I've noticed that looking behind the conventional and comfortable sources of data, news and ideas is very difficult for you, to put it politely. It is for most people. But survival in the future will depend on being able to look beyond what is your comfortable source of news, data and ideas.
A future that you do not understand at all is rushing at you with gathering speed. The riots in Damesek, the burning of two Danish embassies are just small signs of this.
While I am not a Christian and do not agree with everything that David ben Ariel's church believes in, the Philadelphia Trumpet has had a habit of calling events before they've occurred. That is something worth paying attention to.
Occasionally, I would listen to some of the Christian preachers on TV while I lived in the States. Curiosity would draw me there. The majority were just hucksters with only garbage on their tongues. Herbert Armstrong stood out as one man making sense, a diamond amongst a pile of coal. He actually provided analyses, where the other preachers provided nothing but thin air.
Again, I point out that I am no Christian and never will be. But David is worth paying careful attention to.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Ariel Sharon failed to read Beyond Babylon
Amazon.com review of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall.
Times of truth., February 2, 2006
Reviewer: Jewish Patriot "SHmuel" (Eretz Israel) - See all my reviews
I obtined two copies of the Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall and as a LIKUD Central Council Member attempted to deliver one to Mr. Sharon due to my excellent opinion of the book. He would not accept it.
Eventually I understood why. And I am sorry to say he not longer could reconsider his refusal.
Miss Rice declared not long ago in fact days ago the "we did not have a pulse"... She was wrong in more than way.
One has to have a soul and heart and brain in good working order to pick up THE PULSE.
This book leads the reader to, even if not Christian such as I am, understand the deep roots of the critical situations we confront. And to THE PULSE...
Times of truth., February 2, 2006Reviewer: Jewish Patriot "SHmuel" (Eretz Israel) - See all my reviews
I obtined two copies of the Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall and as a LIKUD Central Council Member attempted to deliver one to Mr. Sharon due to my excellent opinion of the book. He would not accept it.
Eventually I understood why. And I am sorry to say he not longer could reconsider his refusal.
Miss Rice declared not long ago in fact days ago the "we did not have a pulse"... She was wrong in more than way.
One has to have a soul and heart and brain in good working order to pick up THE PULSE.
This book leads the reader to, even if not Christian such as I am, understand the deep roots of the critical situations we confront. And to THE PULSE...
Germany Behind the Mask: Monster or Marshmallow?
For over 50 years, Herbert W. Armstrong warned that a German-led European combine would thresh the nations. When Germany lay in ashes after WWII, Mr. Armstrong had no doubt Germany would be back with a vengeance and he pounded this theme home through the pages of The Plain Truth magazine read by millions worldwide.
Are We Wrong About Europe? by Ryan Malone of The Philadelphia Trumpet magazine, reveals how they continue in Armstrong's tradition.
Konrad Adenauer said the West was "taking a calculated risk" when they started rebuilding Germany after the Holocaust. Before that President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill agreed: "It is our inflexible purpose to destroy German militarism and Nazism and to ensure Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world."
Nevertheless, Helmut Schmidt reported Germany was again putting on "imperial airs," and author Bernard Conally wrote that France was struggling to "hold the old demons of Germany's character in check." Margaret Thatcher warned her deaf audience that "Germany is very powerful now - her national character is to dominate." Are they all just crying wolf? Or is the German beast about to devour again?
Robert Locke is opposed to the increasingly fascist Europe (but doesn't believe Germany dominates it) stated: "I can't agree with you about Germany. It is a castrated PC marshmallow of a country, not a lion preparing to rule the world."
Consider Luigi Barzini's reference to "The mutable Germans" in The Europeans where he questions: "Which is the shape of the German Proteus this morning? Which will be its shape tomorrow? Johannes Gross thinks his countrymen wear a mask. 'But the day may come when someone lifts the mask," he wrote. "The face that appears may be less full-cheeked and rosy than today's... So long as we wear the mask, we remain hidden and continue to conceal the situation from ourselves.'"
Ron Fraser (Is a World Dictator About to Appear?) exposes: "Although Germany is the prime mover in all these [European unification] efforts, in order to dispel any idea that the country may have expansionist intentions, these initiatives have generally been made under the cloak of being for the common good of the European Union."
This sentiment concurs with Bismarck, who wrote in his diary (Nov. 1876): "I have always heard politicians use the word "Europe" when they were making requests to other powers which they did not dare formulate in the name of their own country."
What is Germany hiding? Nuclear weapons? Who would be so foolish to imagine Germany without their own nuclear weapons when they were ahead of us in developing them? Certainly the grand design Franz Josef Strauss had in mind (with much at his disposal as Federal Minister of Nuclear Energy, and later Defense Minister) demanded independence from the United States. And Germany's Dolphin submarines delivered to Israel, equipped to handle nuclear weapons, underscore German military capabilities, yet the United States continues to blindly promote their control of the European continent, oblivious to The Dangers in US-German European Policy.
How many German plants in America are serving the interests of Germany's budding Fourth Reich? It's not only German factories and German businesses in America proving "that basic thoroughness of the orderly German" (Johannes Gross), since the secret Nazis had predetermined such a strategy, but bought and paid for American prostitutes in diverse and perverse positions of power aid and abet them! They expose our country to danger and will leave us infected as a nuclear wasteland!
What is Germany hiding behind the mask? Even if skeptics dismiss the mystic relationship between Germany and the Vatican (both forging Europe into their image believing "the German spirit will heal the world" -Emanuel Geibel), and doubt the Bavarian pope is soon going to promote a particular strong man and platform to save Europe and the world from the threat of Islam, shouldn't those responsible for our national security seriously consider the scenario of a United States of Europe betraying us? Shouldn't the intelligence experts consider that possibility and prepare for it? Why suffer the element of surprise that Germany is infamous for? "The German is acquainted with the hidden paths to chaos..." (Nietzche).
"...it is once again important to keep an eye on the German Proteus in an attempt to fathom the probable shape of things to come. What form will he assume next? After all, Germany is still le coeur de l'Europe" (Barzini). Is the German marshmallow about to mutate into the German monster? Will the EU mask come off and expose the beast? Will the heart be healthy for Europe or dark and dangerous?
Are We Wrong About Europe? by Ryan Malone of The Philadelphia Trumpet magazine, reveals how they continue in Armstrong's tradition.
Konrad Adenauer said the West was "taking a calculated risk" when they started rebuilding Germany after the Holocaust. Before that President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill agreed: "It is our inflexible purpose to destroy German militarism and Nazism and to ensure Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world."
Nevertheless, Helmut Schmidt reported Germany was again putting on "imperial airs," and author Bernard Conally wrote that France was struggling to "hold the old demons of Germany's character in check." Margaret Thatcher warned her deaf audience that "Germany is very powerful now - her national character is to dominate." Are they all just crying wolf? Or is the German beast about to devour again?
Robert Locke is opposed to the increasingly fascist Europe (but doesn't believe Germany dominates it) stated: "I can't agree with you about Germany. It is a castrated PC marshmallow of a country, not a lion preparing to rule the world."
Consider Luigi Barzini's reference to "The mutable Germans" in The Europeans where he questions: "Which is the shape of the German Proteus this morning? Which will be its shape tomorrow? Johannes Gross thinks his countrymen wear a mask. 'But the day may come when someone lifts the mask," he wrote. "The face that appears may be less full-cheeked and rosy than today's... So long as we wear the mask, we remain hidden and continue to conceal the situation from ourselves.'"
Ron Fraser (Is a World Dictator About to Appear?) exposes: "Although Germany is the prime mover in all these [European unification] efforts, in order to dispel any idea that the country may have expansionist intentions, these initiatives have generally been made under the cloak of being for the common good of the European Union."
This sentiment concurs with Bismarck, who wrote in his diary (Nov. 1876): "I have always heard politicians use the word "Europe" when they were making requests to other powers which they did not dare formulate in the name of their own country."
What is Germany hiding? Nuclear weapons? Who would be so foolish to imagine Germany without their own nuclear weapons when they were ahead of us in developing them? Certainly the grand design Franz Josef Strauss had in mind (with much at his disposal as Federal Minister of Nuclear Energy, and later Defense Minister) demanded independence from the United States. And Germany's Dolphin submarines delivered to Israel, equipped to handle nuclear weapons, underscore German military capabilities, yet the United States continues to blindly promote their control of the European continent, oblivious to The Dangers in US-German European Policy.
How many German plants in America are serving the interests of Germany's budding Fourth Reich? It's not only German factories and German businesses in America proving "that basic thoroughness of the orderly German" (Johannes Gross), since the secret Nazis had predetermined such a strategy, but bought and paid for American prostitutes in diverse and perverse positions of power aid and abet them! They expose our country to danger and will leave us infected as a nuclear wasteland!
What is Germany hiding behind the mask? Even if skeptics dismiss the mystic relationship between Germany and the Vatican (both forging Europe into their image believing "the German spirit will heal the world" -Emanuel Geibel), and doubt the Bavarian pope is soon going to promote a particular strong man and platform to save Europe and the world from the threat of Islam, shouldn't those responsible for our national security seriously consider the scenario of a United States of Europe betraying us? Shouldn't the intelligence experts consider that possibility and prepare for it? Why suffer the element of surprise that Germany is infamous for? "The German is acquainted with the hidden paths to chaos..." (Nietzche).
"...it is once again important to keep an eye on the German Proteus in an attempt to fathom the probable shape of things to come. What form will he assume next? After all, Germany is still le coeur de l'Europe" (Barzini). Is the German marshmallow about to mutate into the German monster? Will the EU mask come off and expose the beast? Will the heart be healthy for Europe or dark and dangerous?
Monday, January 30, 2006
Flurry's Folly: Carrying on "Business as Usual"
Gerald Flurry, Pastor General of the Philadelphia Church of God:
If you truly saw what is coming on this Earth, and had a vision of tomorrow, you would know that the Gathering Storm darkens as you sip champagne and boast that you're rich and in need of nothing, woefully ignorant that the Two Witnesses will soon be wearing sackcloth and fasting, not wining and dining at black tie dinners!
You've proven you've lost the zeal you once expressed, now exposing your dangerous attitude of "my Lord delays His coming" and you find time to build vain structures and name them after men that will soon be left in ruins, abandoned, desolate like our Israelite countries who carry on business as usual when these are not normal times and our days are numbered!
Gerald Flurry, you will be held accountable for all the time and money wasted, tithes that should have gone toward warning the nations that the German BEAST is about to devour, and the EU jackboot to stomp Jerusalem and occupy Israel and pollute the Temple. Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall was made available to you for God's Church to mightily use to get this Word out.
God meant for you to raise up the Work of WARNING - to sound the alarm, to blow the trumpet - not to get fat and lazy and listen to music and fiddle while the world is about to burn! (Amos 6:1-8). This is the prophesied work of restoration: preserving and promoting the plain truth - not pretty buildings and outdated thinking! That era is over!
You're the leader of Laodicea and you further prove it. You're looking backwards towards an administration GOD destroyed and a campus that GOD left in ruins. Is God impressed with your buildings? Is God impressed with your ratings when the average man on the street has never heard of you and remains oblivious to the warning message? His blood will be on your head!
If you were looking forward, if you had a frightening vision of tomorrow, you would launch an ad campaign in major newspapers to warn them about the fascist Europe, and warn them in such a way that each ad is sufficient warning if it's the only one they read. But they would read and debate and argue about it - a national debate and an international controversy - if you would seek God's glory and not a man's - whether your own or Herbert Armstrong's.
Jeremiah 45:4-5
4 The LORD said, "Say this to him: 'This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. 5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD....' "
Zephaniah 1:14-18
14 The great day of the LORD is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.
17 “ I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the LORD;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the LORD’s wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
For Zion's sake,
David Ben-Ariel
If you truly saw what is coming on this Earth, and had a vision of tomorrow, you would know that the Gathering Storm darkens as you sip champagne and boast that you're rich and in need of nothing, woefully ignorant that the Two Witnesses will soon be wearing sackcloth and fasting, not wining and dining at black tie dinners!
You've proven you've lost the zeal you once expressed, now exposing your dangerous attitude of "my Lord delays His coming" and you find time to build vain structures and name them after men that will soon be left in ruins, abandoned, desolate like our Israelite countries who carry on business as usual when these are not normal times and our days are numbered!
Gerald Flurry, you will be held accountable for all the time and money wasted, tithes that should have gone toward warning the nations that the German BEAST is about to devour, and the EU jackboot to stomp Jerusalem and occupy Israel and pollute the Temple. Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall was made available to you for God's Church to mightily use to get this Word out.
God meant for you to raise up the Work of WARNING - to sound the alarm, to blow the trumpet - not to get fat and lazy and listen to music and fiddle while the world is about to burn! (Amos 6:1-8). This is the prophesied work of restoration: preserving and promoting the plain truth - not pretty buildings and outdated thinking! That era is over!
You're the leader of Laodicea and you further prove it. You're looking backwards towards an administration GOD destroyed and a campus that GOD left in ruins. Is God impressed with your buildings? Is God impressed with your ratings when the average man on the street has never heard of you and remains oblivious to the warning message? His blood will be on your head!
If you were looking forward, if you had a frightening vision of tomorrow, you would launch an ad campaign in major newspapers to warn them about the fascist Europe, and warn them in such a way that each ad is sufficient warning if it's the only one they read. But they would read and debate and argue about it - a national debate and an international controversy - if you would seek God's glory and not a man's - whether your own or Herbert Armstrong's.
Jeremiah 45:4-5
4 The LORD said, "Say this to him: 'This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. 5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD....' "
Zephaniah 1:14-18
14 The great day of the LORD is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.
17 “ I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the LORD;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the LORD’s wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
For Zion's sake,
David Ben-Ariel
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