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The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

 

 

Egypt, Jordan are picked to promote Saudi plan to Israel

 

Source: Associated Press

 

April 19, 2007 -- The Arab League on Wednesday picked Egypt and Jordan to take the lead in approaching Israel to promote the Saudi-drafted peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

Israel has praised the broad land-for peace offer but has said it will not accept the plan without some changes. However, Arab countries are hoping to pitch the plan as a basis for resuming Arab-Israeli peace negotiations.

 

Washington has also welcomed the Arab initiative, which calls for Israel to withdraw from lands seized in 1967 and negotiate a fair solution to the refugee issue in return for a full recognition of Israel by all Arab countries. The plan was introduced by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and revived during an Arab summit in Riyadh last month.

 

At the end of a meeting Wednesday at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, 12 Arab nations' foreign ministers and their Palestinian counterpart selected Egypt and Jordan to approach Israel and push for the plan.

 

The two would try to "initiate direct talks" with Israel, "call on the Israeli government and all Israelis to accept the Arab peace initiative and to take this chance to resume the direct and serious talks on all levels," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at a press conference.

 

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries that signed peace treaties with Israel, in 1979 and 1994 respectively, and regained territory lost in wars. Most Arab states insisted on a solution to the Palestinian problem before recognition of Israel.

 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said the Arab plan's full recognition of Israel would be a major breakthrough in Arab relations with the Jewish state but has flatly rejected the plan's demand for the return of Palestinian refugees displaced in wars.

 

Olmert made a veiled reference to the Arab initiative, saying at a meeting in Jerusalem later Wednesday that Israel is now seeing the "first glimmerings of understanding from countries which never had relations with us, which understand that the state of Israel is a power whose existence cannot be ignored and whose future cannot be ignored."

 

Comments:  Daniel 9:[27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.  Why pick Egypt and Jordan?  Aside from the fact these two countries have existing peace treaties with Israel, Egypt is still the acknowledged leader of the Arab world and Jordan’s King Abdullah is well respected by Israel.  Authority, credibility and trust are two components that will go a long way to an eventual comprehensive peace deal between long standing enemies.  It’s no longer just a Palestinian problem that needs to be addressed.  Anything and everything will be spread out on the negotiation table.  Final borders, the status of Jerusalem, the return rights of Palestinian refugees, water rights, trade and commerce, etc.

 

It seems that the Saudi Plan has overridden the Quartet’s Roadmap as the predominate proposed peace plan to mull over.  The Quartet’s Roadmap was meant to encompass an international perspective while the Saudi Plan is more regional.  Because Arabs/Muslims do not trust the U.S., the Roadmap never really got off the ground and running.   The Daniel 9:27 confirmation of the covenant with Israel and the many for 7 years may well turn out to be the strengthening (i.e. changes to the proposal from all parties concerned) of the Saudi Plan.  Certainly, most Arab nations are solidly behind the Saudi Plan and Israel is wiling to adopt it provided the Plan doesn’t stand firm about the return of hundreds of thousands of “displaced” Palestinians and Israel must receive Arab recognition for Israel’s continued existence.  These stumbling blocks will not be ironed out prior to the Rapture event, however, the very fact Israel is warming up to Arab initiatives tells us we believers will be out of here shortly.

 

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Can we please just shut up and mourn?

 

Source: crosswalk.com

 

April 19, 2007 -- Virginia Tech University has become the site of the worst shooting in United States history.  I can’t begin to process the pain, emotional trauma, and desperate reactions that are pouring out of parents whose world has been rocked beyond comprehension.  The shear numbers are mind-numbing…..thirty-three people are dead and at least 26 people are injured.

 

But what should happen as the smoke clears from the latest assault on our senses?  I am not sure what should happen but I am definitely sure what should not happen.  We should not be engaging in Monday morning quarterbacking and second guessing while parents are holding their breath to see if their sons or daughters are among those who were killed.  I turned on my satellite radio as the news began to flow out of Virginia Tech and I was appalled to discover that before the last victim was removed from the building the finger pointing had begun.  There were discussions about why the Administration failed to close down the 2,700 acre plus campus immediately.  There were questions about how the gunman could kill two people in the morning in a dorm and two hours later extend the carnage to mind boggling proportions in a classroom and office building.  People were blaming the president of the university, God, the devil, our sin sick culture, campus security, the police, and the government, literally no one was free from the possibility of blame.  All of this while parents, friends, and loved ones were realizing their worst nightmare had come to pass.

 

What is wrong with us!  Can’t we at least for a few days just shut up and mourn?  Can anything be gained at this point by pointing fingers?  Will we find even a small measure of comfort in ascribing blame to someone or some institution?  God help us that we have become so insensitive that we would look for answers to this tragedy before we look to God for comfort.  This is not the time to cry out for a pound of flesh from decent people who reacted as best they could to an unfolding disaster.  It is a time to cry out from our very soul to the God of all comfort for a huge measure of His grace in the face of this devastating evil. 

 

There will be plenty of time later on to ask why.  If we feel we have to hold somebody accountable for a random act of evil that can come later.  We are so reluctant to acknowledge that evil exists we want to find a human scapegoat for the work of Satan.  Some called into my talk show this morning to sound off about how evil we have become as a nation and how God was visiting judgment on us once again.  I wonder if any of those callers would care to share that assessment with the parents of any of the students who were shot down in cold blood.  Have we become so cold and callous that we view every event in light of making a political or spiritual point?  That would be like me as a pastor going to the home of someone who died in car accident and asking them how they felt about the traffic laws of the state.  It would be an insanely insensitive and sinful thing to do and yet the 24 hour news cycle is pursuing the same course. 

 

I was interviewed on a nationally syndicated radio program a few hours after the shooting.  One of the questions I was asked was, “Where was God in all of this?”  My answer was simple….God was huddled in the hallways with frightened students as they waited to see if they would be next in the line of fire.  God was riding with wounded students to the hospitals, comforting them as they fought for their lives.  God was strengthening the hands of the surgeons and nurses who worked feverously over the wounded trying to save their lives.  God was comforting the distraught parents who were receiving word that their son or daughter wouldn’t be coming home again.

 

The works of God that need to be worked at this moment are grace and mercy.  Discernment and judgment can come later.  Right now, we all need to just shut up and mourn.

 

Comments:  Mourning can’t begin until all the funeral and memorial services have been held, the victims buried/cremated and relatives and friends reflect in quiet solitude on what had transpired, why it happened, and what positives can possibly come out of this Virginia Tech tragedy.  The placement of blame, the replaying of scene after scene of the nightmarish event, the airing of the gunman’s rage and message of doom, all this just inhibits the beginning of mourning for the victims and their surviving relatives.

 

Of paramount importance is what is God’s message to everyone affected.   God allowed the Devil (the father of murderers) to perpetrate this senseless slaughter.  We cannot understand fully why God didn’t intervene.  We just know that God speaks to this world through such horrendous acts.  For some, hopefully, they’ll be awaken to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.  A few evangelists (such as Franklin Graham) used this opportunity to convey the Gospel of God to the thousands of bewildered and grieving students.  The Holy Spirit can use the seeds that were planted to spring forth souls that will place their faith in Jesus.  In every tragedy, there’s a ray of God’s sunshine illuminating the way to His Son Jesus.  The murdered ones’ fate has been determined.  Those left behind grieving must choose whom to place their faith, either in themselves or in Jesus.  Psalm 30:[5]… weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

 

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Ecumenical church heads call for tighter gun control 

 

Source: christianpost.com

 

April 19, 2007 -- Church leaders in the United States and the wider international community have called for tighter gun control following Monday’s tragic mass killing at Virginia Tech.

 

The general secretary of the National Council of Churches, the Rev Bob Edgar, has called for “meaningful” legislation to put a stop to gun violence in America.

 

“Faith leaders have spoken up continually about the epidemic of gun violence in our country," Edgar said in a statement. "Despite repeated calls from faith and community leaders to Congress and presidents, nothing ever seems to get done to stem the tide."

 

Comments:  Every time there has been a major shooting incident in the U.S., the gun control zealots storm out of their bastions demanding stricter gun laws.  If they have their way, all guns and rifles would be taken away from every American.  Their reasoning is: Guns kill and there’s no need for citizens to possess fire arms in this “civilized” world.  Of course, they’re playing right into the hands of the future Antichrist who will make it unlawful for people to own weapons.  The governments of this world do not want criminals and ordinary citizens to have firepower that will undermine their power and authority.  The aim of a One World Government is about monitoring and control of every facet of a person’s life.  Having people defending themselves with an arsenal of guns, rifles, cross bows, etc., will make it extremely difficult to subjugate them.

 

The National Council of Churches (NCC) is the American offshoot of the worldwide World Council of Churches (WCC), a liberal humanistic religious institution whose aim is ecumenism and the promotion of man’s ideas of what he thinks God is.  Never much for following Christ’s command to preach the gospel to every nation and make disciples, both the NCC and the WCC are advancing the social gospel instead.  Go to their individual websites and you’ll see no mention of Jesus and His redemptive work on Calvary’s cross.  Instead, you’ll read pleas for Christian unity and social justice and other misplaced doctrines, however commendable they are

 

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Elderly woman meets her guardian angel

 

Source: Winnipeg Free Press Online

 

April 19, 2007 -- An 89-year-old great-grandmother shed tears of joy this afternoon when she met the mystery woman who saved her life. Winifred Lindsay, on her way to a medical appointment on her motorized scooter yesterday afternoon, fell on the tracks and into the path on an oncoming CN Rail train Tuesday.

 

This afternoon, she hugged 52-year-old Deborah Chiborak, the Good Samaritan who pulled her off the tracks with the train only seconds away.

 

Chiborak, a restaurant owner and mother of two grown daughters, said any bystander would have done the same brave act.

 

"I knew I only had a few seconds to do what I had to do," she said, wiping away tears.   When asked if she would do the same thing again, Chiborak replied: "Who wouldn't?"

 

Comments:  I wonder how many viewers who watched this on TV drove to their nearest Blockbuster Video store and rented episodes of Highway to Heaven and/or Touched By An Angel.  A guardian angel in human form saving an elderly woman from certain death makes for great headlines for sure.  This elderly and frail woman was very happy to be alive and well and she had this person to thank for.  Her savior didn’t think she was an angel but simply doing what anybody in her position would have done.  An adrenalin rush gave her superhuman strength to pull the helpless victim from harm.

 

As usual, the victim, her heroine and the news reporter failed to mention God and more specifically, Jesus.  In the above two mentioned TV shows pertaining to angels being sent to Earth to perform good deeds for God, there was no message about Jesus or His plan of salvation.  Angels helped the characters in the shows but what about the soul’s salvation, the most important event in a person’s life, even more important than saving a person from being hit by a train.  It was purely God’s grace and mercy that Winifred Lindsay was pulled from an oncoming train just in time.  She gets to live another day, but what is in store for her tomorrow?  She is, after all, 89 years old, nearing the end of her life.  She needs to reflect on what just happened to her?  May she grab her Bible and start reading the Gospels about Jesus and His love for sinners and how He died to save them from their sins.  She’s been given a reprieve, but will she take advantage of her second chance this time around?  Job 33:[14] For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.

 

 

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Chabad opposes calling Rebbe 'messianic king' 

Source: Jerusalem Post

 

April 19, 2007 -- To the chagrin of mainstream Chabad leaders, the avuncular face of the Lubavitcher Rebbe - accompanied by the statement "A Palestine state is a disaster for Israel" - will grace the sides of Egged buses for the next three weeks.

 

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who passed away in June 1994, is referred to in the poster as "the messianic king," the figure who, in Jewish tradition, ushers in the end of days.

 

The graphics and the billboards were the brainchild of the World Headquarters for the Saving of the Nation and the Land, an organization headed by Rabbi Shlomo Dov Wolpo, a maverick Chabad hassid whose life's mission is to publicize Schneerson's staunch opposition to territorial compromise.

 

"The rebbe taught that the very discussion of ceding parts of the Land of Israel endangers Jews' lives," says Wolpo.

 

The campaign was a response to the recently-resuscitated 2002 Saudi peace initiative, said Wolpo. The proposal, which the Arab League recently re-ratified at a summit in Riyadh, calls for Israel to withdrawal from all occupied territories, recognize a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and grant right of return to Palestinian refugees.

 

However, despite basic agreement with the message that territorial concessions are life-threatening, mainstream Chabad leadership is uncomfortable with Wolpo's use of the ultimate Lubavitch symbol - the rebbe's face.

 

"We totally oppose the use of the term 'messianic king' for the rebbe, and the rebbe did too," said Rabbi Menachem Brod, Chabad's spokesman in Israel.

 

Comments:  Luke 7:[20] When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?  Luke 22:[67] Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: [70] Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. Quite a few Orthodox folks in Israel are earnestly looking for the first coming of their long awaited messiah who would break the chains of their oppressors and establish a blissful kingdom on earth.  Many spiritually blind religious people don’t believe in the New Testament account of Jesus the Messiah who had already come.  Even John the Baptist had his momentary doubt when he was locked in King Herod’s prison cell.  When Jesus came to earth the first time some 2,000 years ago as a meek Lamb of God, they didn’t believe He was the Christ.  They expected a liberator not a passive son of a carpenter who went to the cross and die.  They didn’t believe the prophecies of the prophets Isaiah and Micah concerning the long suffering messiah.  Such unbelief has caused the Jewish people untold suffering and death.

 

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson cannot be the messiah.  He is in the grave, his flesh has turned back into dust and ashes.  When he lived, he did not set his people free from Gentile domination.  Israel is beset with enemies all around her perimeter border.  Yes, it’s true that when the messiah does appear, Israel must be in existence.  The recent and current Israeli leadership has been on a determined course to divide up God’s land and hand it over to the Arabs.  If this madness doesn’t stop soon, there will be hardly any remaining land left for the messiah to rule from Jerusalem.  The entire nation is shrouded in spiritual unbelief.  When the Antichrist appears on the scene and guarantees Israel peace and security, will many think he’s their long awaited savior?  Apparently yes, because it won’t be until the end of the Tribulation Period when Jesus breaks through the clouds, destroys all Israel’s enemies as the Lion from the Tribe of Judah, and plant His feet on the Mount of Olives that Israel’s blindness will be lifted.  Zechariah 12:[10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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