Location, Location, Location

Menachem Benyami Zivotofsky has become a controversial figure without trying as the seven year old has been thrown into the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian struggle.

Born in Jerusalem 2002 this young lad cannot have his birth certificate  identified as Israeli in origin because it would interfere with and prejudge Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

A similar issue came up for a Canadian when the Jerusalem born teenager living in Toronto wanted his birth certificate to have Jerusalem, Israel designated as his birth place but received the same response.

I expect nations such as Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the host of other Islamic/Arab European and Asian nations to refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist as a nation.

Certainly I would expect Hezbollah, Hamas, Isalmic Jihad, al Qaeda or other terror groups to deny Israel’s existence as a sovereign nation. Sadly it is the norm.

However, the essence of State Department involvement into such matters lets us realize just how far we have gone away from the original concept of a two-state system in the name of peace! One cannot help but wonder how a two-nation system can work when all but one of the involved parties is interested in it working, and if we cannot agree on passports, how do we then negotiate massive land exchanges?

If there is any nation that should be complaining, it should be the Israelis since their birth in 1948 has done a thousand times more to establish it’s ancient roots than have the Palestinians, and once again, sad to say, peace is still very far away.

When Men Say Peace

If you think the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is ready for the next round of peace talks consider this quote: “I say this clearly; I do not accept the Jewish State.” Thus spoke Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stated, “Netanyahu’s demand that Palestinians recognize the Jewish State is ruining the chance for peace.”

While I could continue to document the hate filled rhetoric of both Palestinian and Arab leaders, I chose the above two examples specifically.

Abbas is the head of the terror group that is reportedly the representative of the Palestinian people, thus if he does not recognize Israel as a legitimate sovereign nation, then the Oslo Accord and all subsequent agreements are null and void.

As the leader of Egypt (a so called moderate Arab nation and a nation supposedly at peace with Israel)  it is clear that peace through a two nation system inclusive of the Israelis and Palestinians is neither a reality nor the ultimate goal.

Israel’s obligation was to exchange land for peace. They gave up the land but have not gained peace. The powers that be refuse to acknowledge their legitimate existence are the same ones doing the killing.

Since Hamas has driven Fatah out of Gaza and is trying to remove Fatah from the Judea-Samaria area,  there is a two nation existence that of Fatah and Hamas with Israel caught in the middle. The apostle Paul wrote of men crying peace and safety being followed by sudden destruction. Today is that very time.

Bible Prophecy

Pastor Don Grosvenor (Senior Pastor and founder of PCA) is preaching on “The Time of the End” on Sunday nights. Last night was very informative. Everyone is welcome, bring a friend next Sunday.

Talk is Cheap

The technology of Twitter, Facebook and You-tube showed the world the turmoil of post election Iran,  but was unable to move the hearts of nations and organizations to the point of intervention. So the essence of the Iranian government’s mentality to negotiate in a meaningful manner was realized to be nonexistent.

President Ahmadinejad’s quest for world war stems from the belief that the Mahdi “Guided One” or messianic figure will return after the apocalypse hastened by Iran’s deeds. This “Guided One” according to Shia belief will destroy all false religions including that of the Sunnis again showing us the intolerance of this nation and also offers no room for real negotiation.

It is these types of realities that let us know that Ahmadinejad’s violent rhetoric and railing against Israel is both a serious threat and negotiation is fruitless. Further, if the Iranian government could be so brutal to the people of their own nation and feel the way they do about their Sunni brothers, where does Israel and the rest of the world stand with this rogue nation.

How sad that the world’s leaders continue to exhaust themselves verbally in a scenario that is leading the world toward destruction as they hope for the best.

Solomon wrote much about the danger of deceitful words bringing death but in this world where talk is cheap it will soon become very expensive.

Stop Worrying

The last two weeks I have found myself stressing about some conflicts I thought I would be facing with people and my stress level had become greatly increased. In fact, I found myself so preoccupied with the possible confrontations I started to despair and was convinced I was going to lose out in every one of the three issues. However, I found with the passage of time all three possible incidents never did occur due to extenuating circumstances i.e. God solving them.

Did you notice my continued use of the personal pronoun I? If you did and you are human, no doubt you have done the same thing, that is, being so focused on one issue that we lose sight of the big picture.

This is Satan’s greatest weapon against us; focus on small singular issues taking our eyes off the Jumbotron so to speak. If this pattern continues, not only do we get distracted but our attitude toward God takes on a negative tone and things go downhill from there.

I won’t say all problems get resolved like the above mentioned problems but it is safe to say God will help us in time of need if we stay focused.

Remember the words of the prophet, “When the enemy comes sin like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will rise up a standard against him.” Isa 59:19 NKJ

Stop worrying, don’t get distracted and trust God, He will work it out!

Q and A

The question of Iran’s potential nuclear threat is a topic that cannot be avoided but are there any answers?

For instance is Iran a threat regionally? If you consider Israel, you would say no but if you consider their support of Hezbollah, a radical Shia terror group, then Lebanon’s existence becomes an issue.

If you consider Iran’s support of radical terror group Hamas a Sunni organization, you not only see a threat to Egypt you see Iran using both Sunni and Shias in a combined effort against Israel.

We look at the continual attempts at negotiations; we realize that Hudna, the use of negotiations to continue proliferation while lulling your opponent to sleep is working for Iran and not the world.

Another question is, will Israel attack Iran to eliminate their nuclear threat? The answer is more than likely yes, but probably not until she stands completely isolated and the threat is too great to ignore any longer.

Remember November 4, 1979 after the U.S. Embassy was seized in Tehran and the hostages let into captivity the world received a very chilling message. The Ayatollah Khomeini declared that the war was not between the U.S. and Iran but rather Islam verses the world.

Although the questions about Iran are being focused on Israel as the primary issue, the truth is the answer lets us know Iran’s nuclear threat is a reality, both regionally and globally.

“Q and A”

The question of Iran’s potential nuclear threat is a topic that cannot be avoided, but are there any answers?

For instance, is Iran a threat regionally? If you consider Israel, you would say no, but if you consider their support of Hezbollah, a radical Shia terror group, then Lebanon’s existence becomes an issue.

If you consider Iran’s support of radical terror group Hamas a Sunni organization, you not only see a threat to Egypt you see Iran using both Sunni and Shias in a combined effort against Israel.

We look at the continual attempts at negotiations; we realize that Hudna, the use of negotiations to continue proliferation while lulling your opponent to sleep is working for Iran and not the world.

Another question is, will Israel attack Iran to eliminate their nuclear threat? The answer is more than likely yes, but probably not until she stands completely isolated and the threat is too great to ignore any longer.

Remember November 4, 1979 after the U.S. Embassy was seized in Tehran and the hostages let into captivity the world received a very chilling message. The Ayatollah Khomeini declared that the war was not between the U.S. and Iran but rather Islam verses the world.

Although the questions about Iran are being focused on Israel as the primary issue and answers to these questions but the truth is the answer lets us know Iran’s nuclear threat is a reality both regional and global.

Stop Worrying

The last two weeks I have found myself stressing about some conflicts I thought I would be facing with people, and my stress level had become greatly increased. In fact, as I found myself so preoccupied with the possible confrontations I started to despair and was convinced I was going to lose out in every one of the three issues. However, I found with the passage of time all three possible incidents never did occur due to extenuating circumstances i.e. God solving them.

Did you notice my continued use of the personal pronoun I? If you did and you are human, no doubt you have done the same thing, that is, being so focused on one issue that we lose sight of the big picture.

This is Satan’s greatest weapon against us; focus on small singular issues taking our eyes off the Jumbotron so to speak. If this pattern continues, not only do we get distracted but our attitude toward God takes on a negative tone and things go downhill from there.

I won’t say all problems get resolved like the above mentioned problems but it is safe to say God will help us in time of need if we stay focused.

Remember the words of the prophet, “When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him.” Isa 59:19 NKJ

Stop worrying, don’t get distracted and trust God, He will work it out!

When Men Say Peace

If you think the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is ready for the next round of peace talks, consider this quote, “I say this clearly; I do not accept the Jewish State.” Thus spoke Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stated, “Netanyahu’s demand that Palestinians recognize the Jewish State is ruining the chance for peace.”

While I could continue to document the hate filled rhetoric of both Palestinian and Arab leaders I chose the above two examples specifically.

Abbas is the head of the terror group that is reportedly the representative of the Palestinian people, thus if he does not recognize Israel as a legitimate sovereign nation, then the Oslo Accord and all subsequent agreements are null and void.

As the leader of Egypt a so called moderate Arab nation and a nation supposedly at peace with Israel it is clear that peace through a two nation system inclusive of the Israelis and Palestinians is neither a reality nor the ultimate goal.

Israel’s obligation was to exchange land for peace. They gave up the land but have not gained peace. The powers that be refuse to acknowledge their legitimate existence are the same ones doing the killing.

Since Hamas has driven Fatah out of Gaza and is trying to remove Fatah from the Judea/Samaria area there is a two nation existence that of Fatah and Hamas with Israel caught in the middle. The apostle Paul wrote of men crying peace and safety being followed by sudden destruction. Today is that very time.

Time to Decide

I like Peter Wagner’s evaluation of people wanting to change things when he said, “Indifferent people cannot make a different world.” While indifference seems to be not a very strong indication, remember if indifference goes unchecked, serious problems arise.

Think of Hitler’s Germany, where so many people were indifferent to the government’s treatment of the Jews and before it was over their indifference would lead to joining in the persecution or having to fight against it.

World leaders have been indifferent to Iran’s nuclear proliferation only to now realize just how serious the threat to the world it really is. While the list could go on and on, indifference seems to always be the precursor in history prior to things changing dramatically.

The world as a whole is crying out for, protesting for, even demanding changes be made, yet within this dynamic lies many indifferent people. Christians today certainly are the ones that need not be indifferent to things. Rather we should be found seeking G-d’s will and how we can fill in the gaps and choosing the correct causes.

Prior to Jesus’ ascension He appeared to His eleven closest disciples and in Matthew 28:17 we read that they worshipped as a group but some doubted. Indifference was found even in this great gathering of disciples, but the indifference soon became changed as the Holy Spirit directed lives. May we all be found that way so the right changes can be made.