The following articles are compiled by:

Lisa

Lisa ("BibleNuggetLady")

 

 

33 Killed at Virginia Tech-How does God allow this?

Source:  BBC

 

A US shooting rampage at the Virginia Tech University has left 33 people, including a suspected gunman, dead.

 

Comments:  Undoubtedly, this massacre is going to raise questions in the coming days, and it is going to open doors for us to witness.  Many people will ask, “How can a loving God allow this to happen, there is so much evil in the world”.  In response, I would offer that we explain to people that God has given man free will, and while God “allowed” this to happen, it was done my a Godless evil man.  It is a symptom of a society where God is being removed, and when God is absent, evil exists.  Darkness is the absence of light, cold is the absence of heat and evil is the absence of God.  God’s plan since the Garden of Eden has been to show man that his heart and thoughts are evil continually, that we are all in need of a savior, and without Him, we are but wretched people.  God is allowing man to see that we need Him.  Man on his own, without God will only increasingly get worse and worse and our nation, who has been blessed more than any nation since Israel in Solomon’s time, has been trying to kick God out of our country for decades now.  We have not glorified Him and given Him thanks for all the blessings we have been given.  “Pride” and “excess” has made people in our country think, as Nebuchednezzar did, that “we did all this”.  Pray for a revival in our nation, pray for national repentance and that we will turn back TO God, not turn our backs ON God.  Unless we do so, this is but the tip of the iceberg for what will befall this nation.  Our young people today are malnourished for the Word.  The “restrainer”, the Holy Spirit, is working today keeping evil “in check” but the days are quickly coming to a close, when the “Holy Spirit” will be removed completely and evil will have free reign on a Godless world.  Are you saved?  Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior?  He laid our sins on His sinless body and redeemed us from the wrath to come.  He paid the price with His sinless blood, for us it is free; it requires only faith and not works.  Beloved, don’t wait…while it is still called “today”, harden not your heart but repent and receive Jesus as Savior, and when that trumpet blows you will be part of the church who will be in His presence while the wrath of God is poured out on a Christ rejecting world.  He is merciful, He loves you…I pray you know Him.

________________________________________________________________________

 

Virginia Tech Convocation Told of Allah, But Not Jesus

WND.com

 

Speakers at the Virginia Tech convocation yesterday called on Allah and Buddha in their efforts to minister to the survivors, family and friends of victims of the shooting massacre at the school – but Jesus wasn't mentioned.

Comment:  It seems that Jean Francois Revel’s Cold War comment is even more applicable today, “A civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself.”  Multiculturalism and tolerance are turning people’s perfect American “mosaic”, or melting pot, into a rotten stew.  Today, anything is acceptable except the mention of the religious foundation upon which this nation was built on.  When I was in elementary school, we opened our day with prayer and we spoke of God, without having to identify Him as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”.  Fast forward a couple decades and I sit at my daughter’s high school graduation with tears because a prayer was not allowed.  Five years later, at my sons graduation, not only is prayer not allowed, the audience was so rude and disrespectful it was hard to believe I was sitting with “parents” and not only that, we were treated to a graduating student ripping his robe off and streaking naked after receiving his diploma.  Our nation has taken a very slippery slope into apostasy and paganism.  Our nation suffered the worst massacre, and on a university campus, and in less than 24 hours, there is a ceremony held to reflect and help heal people, but Jesus Christ is not mentioned, Jesus, the great physician.  No one from other “faiths” hesitates to invoke their “god”, however, and to read passages from the Koran and quote the Dahli Lama…but Jesus, the one and only true God, the creator of this world, the One who came to the world and the world knew Him not, is still not known and He is not even acknowledged.   They call this “ecumenism”, “tolerance”, and “multiculturalism”.   Today in America, especially our schools, people and children are told that American values are to be despised and shunned.   Multiculturalism is a lie, as all societies, cultures and beliefs are NOT morally equivalent.  If America does not return to God, to the values and morals our forefathers held dear, this nations days are numbered.  Islam is a way of life, not just a “religion” and the open-mindedness of American’s today are putting us in great danger and the removal of God, and the use of His son’s name, Jesus Christ, the savior of this world is putting our head onto the Islamic chopping block.  For believers who read this, please pray.  Pray for a revival in our nation, pray for eyes of people the world over to be opened to the satanic lies that are spreading exponentially in our world.  If you are not a believer, I ask you to please…repent of your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart and He will open your eyes.  Without the Holy Spirit indwelling you, the delusion that is being allowed to come into this world is not understood.  Today’s world is spiritually discerned, it is not discerned by logic, science, psychology, or by false religious teachings and traditions.  Maranantha.

 

Romans 1:28-32  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;  Being filled with unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-11  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders.  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they that should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

 

 

---

The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

 

 

Find your inner clown, local conference urges

Source: Winnipeg Free Press Online

 

April 17, 2007 -- Organizers of the 10th annual Slap Happy Daze clown conference in Winnipeg on the weekend had a message for closeted clowns:

Don't be afraid to come out and clown around.

 

"We're trying to get people interested in being a clown," said Winnipeg clown Dale White, a.k.a. Bodiddles. White was one of 36 clowns from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay who attended the group's annual weekend retreat at St. Benedict's Monastery.

 

"We always need more clowns in our lives," said White. "There's a little bit of clown in everyone."

 

On Sunday morning, the conference wrapped up with a church service featuring American professionals who make a living being "clowns to the clowns."   

Don Bursell, from the Minneapolis area and Texan Brenda Marshall are both Christian clowns and they led the church service, easily earning chuckles from their clown congregation.

 

"You open up a direct line to the heart with laughter," Marshall said, dressed in her red cape and big shoes as her persona Super Flower Power. She considers her Christian clown role as spreading the gospel in funny clothes.

 

She said clowns like her have the same message -- to find religious salvation in Jesus -- they just use laughs and don't pound the Bible from a pulpit.

 

"God made clowns just for fun," said Winnipeg clown White.

 

Comments:   Laugh and the world laughs with you.  Cry and you’ll cry alone.  This world is in a rotten mess.  Earlier today, a crazed gunman killed 33 students (including himself) at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Virginia.  Someone said that tragedies are God’s megaphone to get people’s attention about the uncertainty and brevity of life.  Certainly, people worldwide are asking “Why did this happen?”  It’s definitely not a time for laughter and mirth, but a time of mourning.

 

Clowns in the churches?  How can one entertain the masses by getting them to roll in the aisles in belly busting laughter while they’re headed full speed toward Hell?  Life is a serious matter and the eternal destiny of souls hangs in the balance.  Did God make clowns just for fun?  I submit that it’s the Devil who’s the joker on a deck of playing cards and he’s the top entertainer in the world.  His objective is to distract people from contemplating about the important issues of life.  The clowns themselves are either sad souls behind their façade of paint and rubber noses or they’re the Devil’s partners in crime taking as many deceived souls to Hell with them.  The only laughter resonating from the church rafters are those of the Devil and his demons.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Syrian minister: If Israel rejects peace initiatives, we'll take back Golan by force

Source: ynetnews.com

 

April 17, 2007 -- The Syrian information minister said Monday that Syria is interested in reviving the peace process with Israel, with Russian and American mediation.

 

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus, the minister said, "If Israel rejects the Arab peace initiative, the only way to repossess the Golan will be through resistance." 

 

Comments:  There are people who will fight for peace even if it will kill them.  That’s how passionate they are. The Syrians’ patience with Israel has reached the boiling point it would appear.  After 40 years of “leasing” the Golan Heights to Israel, Syria wants it back pronto.  If not, Syria will attempt to take it back by force.  Way back in 1999, Syria had demanded that the Heights be returned as a precondition to peace talks, but now it has a change of heart.  Today, the Heights and everything would form the peace talk agenda, but if Israel refuses to come to the negotiation table, then the Syrian military will be mobilized to test the mettle of Israel’s Defence Force.

 

Israel won’t be intimidated by Syria’s sabre rattling.  Israel’s military would reduce Syria’s outdated military in a matter of hours.  Syria’s cities and towns would be exposed to aerial bombardment and reduced to ashes.  Israel is that powerful.  As such, Israel holds all the high cards while Syria only has a pair of 2s to play with.  Israel will determine the rules by which peace talks, if any, will be conducted.  Syria’s frustration is evident and a desperate foe will do anything, even something foolhardy, to get the bigger boy’s attention.  Will Syria’s ill conceived provocation lead to her predicted destruction (see Isaiah 17) later this year?

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Want Middle East stability? Move UN to Iraq

Source: By Prof. Cynthia E. Ayers and COL (R) David W. Cammons for Newsweek Magazine

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Army, the Dept. of Defense, or any organization within the U.S. government.

 

 

April 17, 2007 -- “Get the U.S. out of the U.N.!” a sign near Gettysburg shouts. “The United Nations sabotages America’s security,” author Eric Shawn declared in his book The U.N. Exposed. Iranian spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham told reporters that the U.N. “must be relocated from the U.S.” And a few days after Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez’s rant before a U.N. audience, a New York Daily News editorial encouraged Chavez to “take the atrophied, self-abasing remains of a global idea 2,100 miles to Caracas!”

 

The idea of moving U.N. headquarters seems to resonate with many—those who believe that the U.S. is being manipulated by anti-American and anti-Israeli elements within the U.N., as well as those who feel that the U.S. is doing the manipulation. For Americans, it would of course mean the loss of a global status symbol—but it would also mean the reacquisition of valuable New York real estate, fewer cases of diplomatic immunity for the legal systems, and perhaps a reduction of anti-American sentiment worldwide.

 

Where should it go? Try Iraq. While moving the U.N. headquarters to Venezuela or Iran is probably not wise, moving it to Iraq might be a strategic coup. There is even a ready-made location for it—Saddam Hussein’s 600-room palace and compound constructed over the remains of the ancient city of Babylon. Americans might even consider footing the bill for the relocation.

 

Think about it. If the U.S. should be forced to abruptly withdraw from Iraq, a peacekeeping force—something similar to the International Security Assistance Force now in Afghanistan—would probably be deployed. Yet peacekeeping forces under temporary mandates, with all the associated communications problems, functional restrictions, and managerial arguments that so often spring from ego or nationalist pride, generally don’t work. They would be even less viable in a region like Iraq, where the threat of kidnapping and indescribable torture would keep many countries from participating. Relocating U.N. headquarters to Iraq, however, might actually be a reasonable alternative. 

 

Comments:  Revelation 18:[2] And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. What modern city would fit all the characteristics of Babylon the Great in the Book of Revelation?  Bible prophecy authors and students have speculated that it will be Rome (the Vatican) or New York City (where the U.N. is currently situated) or even an actual city called Babylon.  Babylon of old was the seat of paganism and spiritual idolatry.  It was the city that Nimrod built and where mankind attempted in vain to reach into heaven through the construction of the Tower of Babel.  It was also the grand city of prideful King Nebuchadnezzar.  The ruins of Babylon are believed to be situated just outside the city of Baghdad Iraq and it was reported that Saddam Hussein was in the midst of restoring it at the time the American military invaded the country some 3 years ago.

 

Moving the U.N. to a restored rebuilt Babylon would be consistent with the world’s preoccupation with paganism and idolatry.  This world is truly a Tower of Babel endeavouring to reach into the heavens and supplant God from His throne.  The rebels of Earth are bent on eradicating God from all areas of people’s lives.  Nations of the U.N. have the lofty goal of truly uniting to bring about love, tolerance, harmony and world peace through human efforts.  Since the Americans will be hard pressed to vacate Iraq, let the U.N. take over the security of Iraq.  The Iraqi insurgency would be stopped in its track since it was the Americans’ presence there that was acting as a lightning rod.  We shall see.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Israeli-designed compass always points to Jerusalem

Source: jerusalemcompass.com

 

April 17, 2007 -- Abraham invented a patented recalibration system that keeps the needle of the compass constantly pointing toward Jerusalem from anywhere in the world. He hopes the Jerusalem compass will be a visual reminder of what the Bible says about Jerusalem. As it says on the box, "Just open the cover and find your way home."

 

Comments:  Zechariah 12:[2] Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.  Yes, in a future day (sooner than we think), all roads will lead to Jerusalem as the world’s nations will gather there to enact the Final Solution (i.e. kill all the Jews) once and for all.  It’s timely then that a compass has been designed to point the users in the direction of Jerusalem.  God will indeed draw the kings of the east to the Middle East.  The Antichrist’s military will also be lured there from its headquarters in Rome.  The final battle of Armageddon will be fought just outside of Jerusalem and Jesus will descend from the clouds and plant His feet on the Mount of Olives.

 

Jerusalem is a contentious piece of real estate.  Both the Israelis and the Palestinians declare it to be their capital city.  The City of David is in the news every week.  It’s a powder‑keg ready to explode at any time.  The Arab League has its guns’ crosshairs aimed squarely at Jerusalem which will be prize of the victor and a bucket to hold the tears of the vanquished.  The Vatican prizes the city as the seat of Christianity.  Islam considers it one of its three most holy sites.  Everybody wants a piece of the Jerusalem pie but there won’t be enough to go around.  It has been 40 years since Israel took it over from Gentile control, but the battle for it continues and won’t be settled until Jesus’ return.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Rumbling, versatile church organ really moves audience

Source: By Gwenda Nemerofsky for the Winnipeg Free Press Online

 

April 17, 2007 -- The Westminster Concert Organ Series season finale Sunday night proved that the organ is not just about church music any more. It just happens to live in a church.

 

There's nothing quite like hearing the organ up close and personal -- the sheer power of the instrument, its versatility, the rumbling vibrations that move the listener, literally. And with a master like American concert organist Alan Morrison on the grand Casavant Frères in the surroundings of Westminster United Church with excellent sight lines to the console -- well, what more can you ask?

 

Morrison closed the evening with a virtuosic work by Leo Sowerby, "the Dean of American Church Music." It opened with just pedalling, Morrison pivoting on the bench to reach from one end of the pedal board to the other. He was astonishingly light on his feet, gracefully soft-shoeing his way through demanding passages. The keyboard played second fiddle to the pedals in this exciting work that brought the audience to its feet.

 

Comments:  Luke 19:[46] Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.  It used to be that a church building was God’s house intended for Sunday worship and praise, Sunday school, Bible reading, prayer meetings and the such.  Now a day, the building is being used for bingo games, baked sales, bazaars, rummage sales, home and garden sales, graduation ceremonies for colleges and rented out for concerts.  It’s about bringing in more money for the congregation.

 

Drive by some of the churches in your city/town and you’ll see signs announcing upcoming concerts and on the evening of the actual event, long line-ups of ticket holders readying themselves for an evening of “entertainment”.  Entertainment or distractions as they’re called is intended to get the person to think of the momentary pleasure and not about life and death and what comes afterwards. In a quiet church setting when the Bible is being read and the Gospel of God is being pronounced, the audience is gripped by the message.  During concerts where the person’s mind is fixated on artistry, there’s none of the Holy Spirit’s working on that person’s conscience and bringing about a conviction of sin, guilt, need for repentance and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.  The building is still a church building, but the atmosphere is not about reverence for God’s things.  It’s a church in name only.  May church buildings be a place where God’s Word is expounded at every opportunity.  Church isn’t really church unless the people are being given the Good News and praising the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

Watchmen Watching HOME PAGE

Millennium Weekend Ministries Home Page