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The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

 

Russian President Putin pushing agenda on Mideast tour

Source:  YAHOO NEWS!

 

February 14, 2007 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to find quick success on a historic Mideast tour that saw the leader of energy-rich Russia forging oil diplomacy in Saudi Arabia and backing a natural gas cartel Monday with neighboring Qatar.

 

Putin's Middle East tour comes as Washington's stature in the Gulf is slipping and Arab monarchies are busy boosting ties outside the region, particularly in Asia. Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia have welcomed Putin despite being traditional U.S. allies.

 

Putin and Qatari Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani announced they would explore the creation of a natural gas cartel to represent the interests of producer countries to influence the global market.

 

"We do not reject the idea of creating a gas cartel," Putin said just hours after arriving in the tiny Gulf state after his two-day Saudi visit. "But this initiative requires more study."

 

Putin also said he planned to host a Mideast peace conference but gave no details.

 

Comments:  Gog (Russian president) is as busy as a 1-tooth beaver these days making the rounds in the Middle East Arab countries securing new business (no doubt some hefty defence agreements although not reported here) and shooting the breeze with old friends and prying some away from the complacent Americans.  The oil rich Saudi sheiks may never have entertained a Russian leader with caviar, Maine lobsters, Beef Wellington and New York Cheesecake, but they’re making up for lost time with Putin.

 

Russia already has a large pool of oil and gas, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be greedy by securing more from the oil saturated Saudis.  You can never have too much oil and gas.  In this day and age of supply and demand, if the demand is great and you have the largest supply, guess what happens to your projected profits?  They’ll be higher than a hippie smoking pot at the 1969 Woodstock Rock Festival.  The country that controls the oil and gas becomes the power broker in the region when surrounding nations clamor for more energy supplies.  They will become hostages to Russia’s demands that they stay out of any future conflict between Russia and its Muslim allies’ beef against the U.S. and Israel.  Make no mistake about it; Russia intends to control the flow of Middle East oil.

 

It’s as plain as the pimple on the end of your nose that Russia has designs on securing warm Mediterranean seaports and the elimination of the nation of Israel would accomplish that goal.  By having the Saudis on their side, that will anger the Americans and places Israel in harm’s way.  The Saudis have no love for Jews and it has been America’s placating of the Saudis that had relegated the Saudis to the sidelines in recent Arab-Israeli conflicts.  With this Russian ploy to wean the Saudis from American influence, the Saudis might step up their assistance to Israel’s numerous enemies and that can’t be good no matter how you cut the deck of cards.

 

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Upstate pastors unhappy with Christian Exodus

Source:  Aiken Today

 

February 14, 2007 -- Several Upstate pastors say they are concerned about a group that wants conservative Christians to move to the area so they can take over local politics.

 

Christian Exodus began about four years ago, and founder Cory Burnell says 15 families have actually made the move to South Carolina and another dozen are planning to relocate.

 

Some are worried about Christian Exodus' suggestion that the church should use the power of the state to enforce biblical morality, said Dan Olinger, a professor in the seminary at Bob Jones University in Greenville.

 

"We want to be good citizens and participants, but we're not really interested in using the iron fist of the law to compel people to everything Christians should do," Olinger said.

 

Tom Ritchie, pastor at Young Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, said he has difficulty finding scripture that suggests Christians should take over government. 

 

Comments:  Christians have more or so given up on the notion of the Rapture of the Church and instead are expending time, effort and energy in Christianizing this sin sick world.  To accomplish that, believers are exhorted to run for political office for that is the most effective way to bring about changes to society.  They forget or marginalize the fact that people’s heart can’t be changed because of some man made law or even God’s laws, but by the transformation of the heart by Jesus through the new birth brought about by repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior.  Nothing else will do.  The noble intentions of those adhering to Dominion Theology lead to unsaved people who observe God’s law outwardly because there will be dire consequences for breaking them, but inwardly, they’re cussing under their breath in covert rebellion.  This will be the identical scenario in Christ’s millennial reign where open sin will reap instant judgment by Jesus.  At the end of the millennium, Satan is loosed and he leads a vast army of unbelievers in the final battle of Gog/Magog against Christ and will be utterly defeated.  Dominion Theology is a false doctrine that derails true believers from the right path pertaining to service for the Lord.

 

From http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/cor/dominion.htm, we get the following:

 

More specifically, what does Dominion Theology (DT) teach? Here are the highlights:

 

(a) The Old Testament (OT) Law is our rule of life for today. Although DT teaches that keeping of the Law is not a condition for salvation, it is a condition for sanctification. (However, some of the COR's official statements appear to specifically condition salvation upon OT Law-keeping!);

 

(b) In addition, the OT Law is to govern over society as well. Since we are called to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28), DT teaches that God's Law should rule (or dominate) all aspects of society. This view is known as Theonomy (or God's law), and is described by Greg Bahnsen as: "The Christian is obligated to keep the whole law of God as a pattern for sanctification and that this law is to be enforced by the civil magistrate" (Theonomy, p. 34). This would mean that Christians would be obligated to keep the whole OT Law except in a case in which the New Testament (NT) explicitly cancels a command, such as the sacrificial system;

 

(c) A central piece of DT is its belief in covenant theology. As a result, it makes no distinction between the church and Israel (i.e., the church has become "spiritual Israel"). However, DT goes beyond traditional covenant theology and teaches that the church is to be governed by the same laws, is subject to the same curses, and is promised the same blessings as Israel;

 

(d) DT teaches a high level of social and political activism. If the Kingdom of God is to gradually take dominion over the earth, it only makes sense that Christians should be attempting to change society through the changing of laws and through social action;

 

(e) Followers of DT, like many charismatics, especially the Latter Rain Movement, look for a great end time revival in which the masses will turn to Christ. As a result, DT does not believe in the rapture of the church. According to DT, the world should be, and is becoming, a better place through the efforts of Christians (cf. 2 Thes. 2:1-12);

 

(f) As with many others who follow the teachings of George Ladd, DT believes that we are in the Kingdom age, but the Kingdom in another sense is yet to come. We are in the Kingdom, and have Kingdom authority, but on the other hand, we are ushering in the Kingdom through our efforts. "The Kingdom is now, but not yet," is a popular DT slogan;

 

(g) DT is postmillennial in its eschatology. It is believed that as a result of the reconstruction of society by Biblical principals, that the final aspect of the Kingdom of God will be established on earth. Christ cannot return until a certain amount of dominion is achieved by the church. It is believed that the curse will slowly be removed as the world is won over. Even disease and death will be all but eliminated before Christ returns to the earth;

 

(h) DT is preterist in its interpretation of prophecy. This means that they teach that virtually all prophecies which most Christians believe are still future, have in fact been fulfilled already, mainly between the years A.D. 30 and 70. In David Chilton's book, Days of Vengeance, he says that the book of Revelation, "is not about the Second Coming of Christ. It is about the destruction of Israel and Christ's victory over His enemies [during the first century]" (p. 43); and

 

(i) DT uses an allegorical hermeneutic, especially in reference to prophecy. So we find that the Great Tribulation took place at the fall of Israel in A.D. 70; the Antichrist refers to the apostasy of the Church prior to the fall of Jerusalem; the Beast of Revelation was Nero and the Roman Empire, etc.

 

 

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Canada’s Ontario health minister to wed gay partner

Source: Canada.com

 

February 14, 2007 -- Ontario's first openly gay cabinet minister, George Smitherman, Monday joked he would walk down the aisle in "a thong" when he and his partner wed this summer.

 

In the works for a long time, Smitherman formally popped the question to Christopher Peloso by offering him a white tuxedo at Christmas, he said. The tux contained a note in one of its pockets mimicking an invitation.

 

"This is my greatest foray into romance to date," he said.

 

The two men have lived together for the past 18 months. The occasionally combative health minister said he and Peloso, 33, would like to adopt a child.

 

Comments:  Similar to that old romantic song, “Love Is Here to Stay”, “Gays and Lesbians Are Here to Stay” until Jesus’s return to Earth.  The tide of homosexuality cannot be stemmed.  The so called alternative lifestyle has piqued the interest of more and more people such that there is an unfettered increase in the number of same sex relationships.  The historical figure that 10% of the population is gay is grossly underestimated.  In time, gay relationships will out number traditional heterosexual unions.

 

It’s reprehensible for the Premier of the largest province in Canada to have appointed a homosexual to be in charge of the health portfolio in that province.  What kind of example is that?  George Smitherman promotes the gay lifestyle that has proven to produce the largest number of HIV/AIDS cases.  The health care budget is already being strained at the seams and adding more cases would burden the system even more.  Of course, the gay community would cry discrimination if Mr. Smitherman were to be removed from his position.  Sodomites occupied key political positions in ancient Sodom and today, Canada and many so called “enlightened” countries have mirrored Sodom’s ways.  We all know how Sodom ended.

 

Canada used to be called a nominal Christian country. That hasn’t been the case since the 1960s and it’s more like the Devil’s lair these days.  Whether it’s due to the Devil’s deception or man’s natural tendency to throw off God’s restraint to do as he so pleases, Canadian gays and lesbians shamelessly parade their abhorrent lifestyle for all to see.  The shame is gone, replaced by unbridled pride, arrogance and pomposity. Philippians 3:[19] Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

 

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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