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The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

 

Abbas and Olmert meet in Jerusalem for latest round of talks

Source: Associated Press

 

March 12, 2007 -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday March 11 held their second summit in less than a month, prodded by US officials to keep moving forward with their fledgling dialogue.

 

But heading into the meeting, held at Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem, both sides acknowledged that prospects for a breakthrough in peace efforts were slim.

 

"The Israeli government has expressed its disappointment over the Mecca accord and has not changed its position," Olmert told his Cabinet early Sunday ahead of the summit. "We hope that the Palestinian government that is to be formed will accept the Quartet (international) principles."

 

Comments:  We’ve heard of the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Quartet’s Roadmap and now, the Saudi Plan, but the only plan that Israel wants adopted is the Israeli Plan, i.e. maintain the status quo in which Israel controls all the land she presently holds and the denying the Palestinians their independent state.  But, everyone, including Israel, knows that Israel cannot continue with the “business as usual” position.  Large tracts of land must be given to the Arabs in exchange for peace and security.  Peace is one thing, but who will guarantee Israel’s security?  The Jews are rightfully wary of anything that has an Arab signature on it.  Any credible peace plan must be an American or a European creation, otherwise, it’s no dice with Israel.

 

The latest round of Abbas-Olmert talks accomplished little.  All it did was entrenched each side’s position.  Other than enjoying a scrumptious meal and another photo opportunity for the public’s consumption, each man returned home to tell their constituents that things haven’t changed one iota.  The impasse remains unresolved and won’t be dislodged anytime soon.  Such is the intractable situation in the Middle East.

 

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Interfaith speakers discuss the meaning of life

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

 

March 12, 2007 -- Is there meaning and purpose in life? That's a question many people ask. About 150 people turned out to a forum at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) on March 5 to hear a Christian, a Buddhist and a humanist offer their answers to that question.

 

The forum, which was sponsored by CMU and the CJOB GodTalk radio program, featured Torontonian Joe Boot, executive director of Ravi Zacharias Ministries Canada and a full-time Christian apologist; Barrie Webster of the Humanist Association of Manitoba; and Sensei Fredrich Ulrich of the Manitoba Buddhist Church.

 

For Ulrich, humans have a "special role in the community of living things to enhance life." But, he said, by not acting responsibly toward creation people have "abandoned our purpose," with the result that "we have become hostile to life."

 

Webster noted that this is an important question for humanists, since they believe that humans "only get one life -- and this is it. We don't get another crack at life. When it's done, it's done."

 

For humanists, he said, the purpose of life "is to make the world a better place," but without resorting to a belief in God. "There is no supreme being at the head of the action," he stated. "We are responsible to make sure our lives have meaning."

 

Boot said that, for Christians, meaning and purpose is bound up in "the claims of Christ, who said He was the way, the truth and the life." For him, that means "there is meaning and ultimate purpose in life. But we don't invent it. We discover it in God ... The world has meaning under God, as described in the Bible ... God has a plan and a purpose."

 

In a question and answer period that followed their responses, the panelists dealt with a variety of queries, including one from a woman who asked: "Why does all this exist?"

 

Ulrich replied that there is "no ultimate answer" to that question. In Buddhism, he explained, "we never ask that question -- we just experience life and deal with it. The only thing is to make life better here and now."

 

For humanists, Webster said, "it's more important thing is to figure out how, not why," adding that evolution and natural selection explains why the world exists.

 

Boot stated that the world exist "because God chose to create it." As for why He did it, "there are lots of theological answers," he said, adding that he favors the idea that "God is a relational being, and he created the world so we could know Him."

 

In addition to these topics, the panelists also discussed the exclusionary claims of Christianity to be the true religion, and the problem of evil.

 

Comments:  This forum was useful in that it clearly defined all three main views (Christianity, atheism, and all other faiths) of religion.   Each person in this world assumes one of the three positions.  Atheists believe we have only one life to live and after death, total annihilation (no thought process, no sense of being, nothing).  Buddhists are representatives of all faiths who worship pagan gods or deceased mortals that lead a soul to the Lake of Fire.  True Christianity is faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord with the end result being a fabulous eternity in a new Heaven and new Earth with God/Jesus.  Only Christianity offers everlasting life.  Mr. Boot did a commendable job quoting and expounding on John 14:6.

 

It’s too bad only 150 people attended the live forum and it was held in a “Christian” university.  That’s like preaching to the choir although from experience, many Christians aren’t aware of what atheism and other faiths believe in.  It would have been better attended if it were held at a secular university.  The good news is that the forum will be rebroadcast on a major Winnipeg secular radio station.  People are questioning the purpose of life and when clear answers are being given, thanks be to the Holy Spirit for His opening of inquiring minds.  Psalm 119: [130] The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

 

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The colour purple: Minister dyes her hair to mark Christian season of Lent

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

 

March 12, 2007 -- Rev. Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd is asking for donations to the church’s budget for what she calls her new purple Lenten look.

 

When the minister of an Osborne Village church takes her place behind the pulpit this morning after an absence of nearly seven months, she expects her congregants will take a second look. That's because Rev. Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd of Augustine United Church has dyed her short brown hair a vivid purple to mark the Christian season of Lent.

 

"I will be talking about joy and the appreciation of the amazing beauty and fullness of life," Shepherd, 48, says of her first sermon after being seriously injured in a head-on collision last August. "Purple hair is a reminder to me and hopefully to others to let go, lighten up and make more room for the Spirit of love and life."

 

Christians traditionally mark the 40 day period preceding Easter, not counting Sundays, with fasting, prayer, and contributions toward charity. Common Lenten observances include giving up favourite foods such as desserts and chocolate, or abstaining from coffee and caffeinated drinks.

 

Winnipegger Liz McKendry's Lenten fast goes much beyond refusing small luxuries. For 40 days, the divinity student at Toronto's Trinity College will consume only what most of the world's population eats: a midday meal of rice, beans or lentils, and yams or squash. On Sundays she eats regular meals with her family.

   

"I'm doing it mostly in solidarity to make myself more aware of what other people are going through, to be conscious of what we have," says McKendry, 26, now serving as a pastoral intern at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Fort Garry.

 

Nearly three weeks into her fast, McKendry is noticing some spiritual and personal growth as she copes with staying even-tempered and pleasant in the face of constant hunger.

 

"(Lent) is a time to take a look at your relationships, not only with God, but with people and your environment," explains the Gordon Bell graduate who has lost several pounds from her restricted diet. "This fast is a time to take a look at certain parts of my life and see if it is right."

 

Comments: 

 

From: http://www.elca.org/communication/whatislent.html

Lent is a 40-day liturgical season that begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes at the Great Vigil of Easter.  Sundays are not included in the 40-day count because every Sunday is a joyful celebration of Jesus' resurrection.  Though not biblical, Lent has long been a tradition in the Christian Church, and it is thought that the tradition of the 40 days recalls the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and being tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11).  Lent is considered a time of penance and discipline. Because of Lent's penitential nature, worship tends to be more solemn, and purple is the liturgical color of the season.

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Colossians 2:[8] Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  Martin Luther may have led the Protestant revolt against the Roman Catholic Church, but subsequently, his Lutheran denomination and many other mainline Protestant churches didn’t detach themselves from the traditions, rituals and practices of the Romish Church.  Lent is one such tradition that’s nowhere found in the New Testament.  It was man made and replaces the simplicity that’s in Christ.  Jesus demands obedience to His Word and not physical sacrifices nor participating in religious rituals such as taking part in the Mass and observing Lent.  What makes this obnoxious to God is religious people’s humanistic babblings about the beauty and fullness of life and the Spirit of love and life.  Jesus is our life!  Forget what we think life is about.  It’s what the Bible says that counts, not man’s philosophical treatises.  Women ministers, especially, fall into this trap and the congregants who hear their sermons each Sunday morning come out of the church building filled with man (or woman) centered thoughts.  For five decades now, liberal thinking has pervaded the mainline Protestant churches.  There’s very little if any preaching of the Gospel of God and how once saved, we’re to live for Jesus.  Traditions of man (as perpetrated by the wily Devil) has no place with God.  They only serve to confuse the professing believers and divert their attention from Jesus. 2 Corinthians 11:[3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

 

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Israel pushes Shimon Peres 'Peace Valley' plan

Source: Jerusalem Post

 

March 12, 2007 -- The government on Sunday gave a bureaucratic push towards joint Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian projects, which were termed the "Peace Valley" when first proposed by Vice Premier Shimon Peres.

 

The idea behind the project, according to a statement issued by Peres' office, is to increase reasonable stability through economic development.

 

The project, along a 500 kilometer stretch of land, from the Red Sea to the Yarmuk River, will include a Red Sea to Dead Sea canal, intended to prevent the drying up of the Dead Sea, various tourist projects and a joint Israeli-Jordanian airport in Aqaba.

 

The bulk of the funding for the project is expected to come from the World Bank, foreign governments and private investors.

 

Comments:  Even though there’s still no peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, projects are already on the drawing boards and ready to be commenced as if peace is a done deal.  This is akin to a Western construction project that is being built and the specifications, drawings and contract documents are still in the draft stage.  Shimon Peres knows the inevitable will happen, i.e. peace in the Holy Land.  His “Peace Valley” Plan is reminiscent of Elvis Presley song “Peace in the Valley”.  The latter peace will only come about during the Messianic Millennium of Christ and not in the pre-millennium timeline.  The peace that Peres envisions for Israel will be a false peace with the Antichrist that will result in 2/3 of worldwide Jewry being slaughtered.

 

The intentional community is eager to lend a financial hand in pushing for Middle East peace which will usher in a period of immense prosperity in that region and for the EU nations that trade with Israel and the Arab world.  Bullets and rockets going back and forth between sworn enemies must be replaced with sincere peace is the town crier’s message.  Abraham’s descendents, both Jews and Arabs, must destroy their armaments and be like the lion and the lamb laying down beside each other in the pasture.  Like naive fools, Israel’s leaders are being deceived into buying into Satan’s trap.

 

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Russia elections blasted as orchestrated

Source: Associated Press

 

March 12, 2007 -- Russians voted Sunday in regional ballots marred by complaints that Kremlin opponents are increasingly sidelined ahead of national parliamentary elections in December and a vote to replace President Vladimir Putin next year.

 

The elections were held under new rules critics say restrict the ability of voters to voice discontent and featured a new party that casts itself as the opposition but is widely seen as a tool aimed to channel public anger at authorities while broadening the Kremlin's support base.

 

While a total of 14 political parties and their candidates competed for seats in the legislative assemblies of 14 of Russia's 86 administrative regions, critics said the appearance of genuine pluralism was only superficial.

 

"I don't want to vote because I don't trust any of these parties," said Viktor Krylov, 38, a manager at a St. Petersburg shipping company. "It's clear that any elections just define who will have access to the state's money and use it as they wish."

 

Comments:  Russian democracy is an oxymoron, i.e. a contradiction of terms.  At no time in Russian history has the general population enjoyed the freedom to express their public opinions without the fear of being hauled into jail and later executed by a firing squad.  From the czars (Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Czar Nicholas) to the Soviet Marxist Communists, the people were gripped with trepidation and paranoia.  Say something other than kowtowing to official government positions could find yourself on a one‑way Orient Express to a Siberian labor camp to do hard time.  During the Soviet days, when you entered a polling station, it was a no brainer deciding who to vote since there was only one candidate to choose from.  The suspense wasn’t who will win, but how much of a voter turnout there was.  The Communist candidates would hold their breath when the election results were announced.  Anyone who garnered 96% of the votes or higher would pat himself on the back for a job well done. Afterwards, the vodka would flow freely.

 

Russian President Putin was an ex-KGB spy.  Some say he still attends KGB reunions because this state police organization was never practically disbanded.  He enjoys power for power sake and is not about to give it up in exchange for a furnished 3-bedroom apartment in Moscow that’s accorded to each and every ex-president.  In the latter days, Gog (the Russian president) the leader of Magog (Russia) will rally the Islamic world against the State of Israel.  Putin plans to be Gog even if it will lead to his demise on the battlefield and the ruination of Mother Russia.

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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