More of the Same In Israel--Pull out is Mistake!

I trust you have been following the developments in the Middle East with respect to the pull out of the Jews from the Gaza Strip. I suppose many people are excited believing that finally, the long awaited peace in Israel will now become a reality.

If only that were true, I would at least understand if not support the pull out but unless the leopard has changed its spots, the best that can be hoped for is some kind of very temporal arrangement of the absence of violence.

This pull out by what are called Jewish settlers, I am confident comes only after much coercion from our state department.

I have spoken often about the real story behind the conflict between Jews and Arabs; the Bible tells us a great deal about their history. With all the media distortion and/or ignorance of history, this was inevitable but it is wrong.

If someone was attempting to break into your house one evening with the express plan to not only rob you of everything precious but to leave you dead and then in some quirk of fate, you overpowered them, defeated them, and expelled them from your community; you’d call that a great victory and great justice. Though the rules for community are certainly different than war, the point is till intact.

The Israeli’s won a battle they were never supposed to win and in the process won some land that the Arabs voluntarily abandoned so as to allow the extermination of Israel. But, as I said, Israel won in what was truly a miraculous battle and with it, won the spoils of war. What happened in the middle east is no different than what has happened hundreds of time through history and no has ever been ordered to hand over the spoils of war—especially a war they didn’t even start, as Israel has been ordered to do.

Well, it is done, and already we see the Jew hating Palestinians back tracking on what they supposedly would do in exchange for the Gaza strip. And my prediction is that it will not be long before we hear of another *homicide bombing in Israel.

Still, God is on the throne, and His plan will come to the fore in His timing. Of that, you can be sure.

*Before this was even posted, but after it was written, a homocide bomber with Islamic Jihad had blown himself and of course innocent Jews, away. I HATE being right...

Bioethics and Human Dignity

Part of my break over the past several weeks took me to Chicago where I attended a conference on Genetic and Reproductive Ethics sponsored by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. The line up of presenters was a veritable who’s who in the field of genomic medicine and reproductive technologies. If it was ever fair to say “I heard it from the horses’ mouths,” this was such a time.

The line up included Francis Collins, founder and head of the Human Genome Project; Leon Kaas, Chairman of the President’s Counsel on Bioethics; and so many others too numerous to list. For three days, I listened to the people who are doing the genetic and reproductive research; I listened to numerous papers on subjects probably only of interest to scientific heads yet the repercussions of which have vital impact on the moral fabric of our society. What you need to know is that everyone at this conference are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and not merely because that is what they were taught from childhood.

Francis Collins shared how he was an atheist until his medical pursuits caused him more and more to question his atheism. Setting out to disprove the existence of God once for all, Collins ended up like so many throughout the ages bowing his knee to the Savior of mankind.

So when you hear the talking heads giving the impression that no intelligent person would believe in the fairytales of religion, remember they’re probably just trying to give themselves some sense of assurance.

What was clear after this conference was what I have written about frequently in the past regarding embryonic stem cell research in particular. This experimentation has been going on since 1981 and to date, there has not been one single breakthrough; not one single positive result. So when you hear the Christians being trashed—yet again—for standing in the way of “all these people being cured of just about everything if we’d only keep our morality to ourselves, know that there isn’t a shred of truth to it. You’ll be hearing more on these matters in the days of ahead.

Is Pat Robertson Losing it?

Pat Robertson of the 700 Club and former presidential candidate caused a stir when he advocated assassinating Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela. His exact words were,
“You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it."

I’ve heard he has apologized but sometimes apologies are inadequate. Robertson is a national figure and whether anyone likes it or not, is viewed by many in the secular press as a representative of Bible believing Christians. So when Robertson says something, it is counted to be the position of everyone who wears the name of Jesus claiming fidelity to the inspired, infallible, inerrant, authoritative word of God.

Obviously that is not an appropriate position for the media to take yet appropriate or not, that is their position so when Robertson says something over the top, we are all branded with being of the same mindset. Can’t you hear the hisssss of the snake?

Robertson’s comments, even if you may personally agree with the sentiment he expressed, was definitely over the top. The United States has never advocated a policy of assassination and for good reason. Robertson’s comments bring embarrassment to Christians, disparage the integrity of our nation and cause more turmoil for a President who has his hands full of turmoil.

Robertson is a pretty astute individual and I am sure probably is surprised that his comments were so widely publicized. After all, he really is just a private citizen and host of a T.V. broadcast. It’s not like he has any official clout.

But none of that matters when the devil through his dupes in the press see an opportunity to yet again, paint a picture of Christians as being hateful, horrible people. Satan won another one with this latest gaff from a Christian leader.

Solomon wrote, “He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles.” (Proverbs 21:23)

I have certainly made my share of rash statements and the Biblical counsel is to be careful about what you say. How much more for those of us with a public forum?