The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

A growing demand for the rare American imam

Source: NY TIMES 

 

June 1, 2007 -- Prayer leaders, or imams, in the United States have long arrived from overseas, forced to negotiate a foreign culture along with their congregation. Older immigrants usually overlook the fact that it is an uneasy fit, particularly since imported sheiks rarely speak English. They welcome a flavour of home.

 

But as the first generation of American-born Muslims begins graduating from college in significant numbers, with a swelling tide behind them, some congregations are beginning to seek native imams who can talk about religious and social issues that seem relevant to young people, like dating and drugs. On an even more practical level, they want an imam who can advise them on day-to-day American matters like how to set up a 401(k) plan to funnel the charitable donations known as zakat, which Islam mandates.

 

Comments:  The genie has been let out of the bottle and there’s no way to put it back in.  Muslims have established a foothold in Western Europe and North America.  They have become part of mainstream America.  They are vocal about asserting their rights as U.S. citizens and governments have acquiesced to their demands.  Get used to them.  Muslims have latched on like Velcro and they aren’t about to make an exodus back to their lands of origin.

 

President Bush’s war against terror has not deterred them, but has galvanized them to be in solidarity more than before.  Even with the spectre of 9/11 still haunting them, ‘Christian’ America has tolerated their presence because to do otherwise is not only politically and religiously incorrect, but could lead to expensive lawsuits.  Tolerance is indeed the spirit of the day.  This demand for imams just highlights the growing number of young Muslims in America who are zealous about learning and practising their religion.  Whereas professing Christians have pretty well immersed themselves in the world’s things, Islam’s young Americans are staying true to their faith which strives to conquer the world through conquest and assimilation.

 

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Keyboard confessional: Clicking your way to forgiveness?

Source: ABC NEWS 

 

June 1, 2007 -- "There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution," Oscar Wilde wrote in "The Picture of Dorian Gray."

 

And these days, more people are turning to the Web, not the clergy, to clear their conscience.

 

One woman's devil-made-me-do-it scenario describes her losing battle against infidelity in an anonymous posting on Confessions.net: "I thought I could control myself around you. I thought you'd watch yourself around me. Both our angels flew off our shoulders, and the devils won."

 

Comments:  Mark 2:7 Who can forgive sins but God only? [10] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.  Whether you confess to a priest inside a confessional box or to the entire cyberspace world, it’s not going to do you one bit of good.  You need to go directly to Jesus Who alone can forgive you of your sins so you can: (1) be saved or (2) be restored to happy fellowship with God.  The Internet is primarily the World Wide Web (www) which some have researched to represent the number 666, the Mark of the Beast.  It’s the Devil’s medium of communication controlled by him and his legion of fallen angels.  The hundreds of millions of websites (much of them hellish in nature) are virtual neighbourhoods designed and managed by human flesh, but they’re essentially bits and bytes comprised of 0s and 1s, quite impersonal.  Jesus is THE personal Saviour.  Yes, He can read your typed confessional if it’s directed at Him.  1 Timothy 2:[5] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

 

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Brussels warns Poland and UK on EU constitution

Source: EUOvserver.com

 

June 2, 2007 -- European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has warned both Poland and the UK not to block attempts to agree a new treaty for the European Union.

 

Speaking about Poland with Financial Times Deutschland, Mr Barroso indicated it was time for Warsaw to show the same solidarity it demanded on issues to do with Russia towards solving the EU's internal problems.

 

"Poland is currently experiencing the value of European solidarity. On a difficult issue for Poland, we clearly said: Poland's problem is a problem for the whole of the European Union," said Mr Barroso.

 

"I hope that Poland's leaders understand that solidarity is a two way street," he remarked, in a reference to EU support for Warsaw in its ongoing row with Moscow over Russian refusal to import Polish meat products.

 

Poland made the issue a European one late last year by blocking the opening of talks on renewing an EU-Russia pact, and asked other member states to show unity.

 

Meanwhile, the commission chief tailored the same message to London. He told UK daily the Financial Times that London would harm its own interests if it prevented agreement on a new treaty, adding that the matter would come back to haunt Gordon Brown, set to be the next UK prime minister.

 

"I have no doubt that this issue will not disappear unless it is solved," Mr Barroso said

 

"How can we have credibility in addressing global challenges when we show we are not even able to settle our internal arrangements? It's a question of credibility," he went on.

 

The warning - to the two countries seen as the most sceptical about a new treaty - comes just weeks before EU leaders are to meet to try and agree the bones of a new settlement, two years after the proposed EU constitution was rejected by France and the Netherlands.

 

Poland has said it wants to change the voting system proposed in the new constitution – a political hornet's nest that no other member state has indicated it wants to touch.

 

Comments:  Daniel 2: [8] I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.  This verse tells us that the Revived Roman Empire will pluck out (uproot) three original members for not rowing in the same direction as the rest of the oarsmen.  At present, 18 of the 27 EU countries have ratified the proposed EU constitution (i.e. treaty).  Those who haven’t gotten on with the constitution train are being chastised as whiners and complainers and it’s only a matter of time the majority will do something drastic to them.  Poland was the very first former Warsaw Pact nation to be allowed to join the existing EU club of countries.  Being that the EU has bent over backwards to accommodate the Poles, the EU wants to cash in on all those IOUs.  Poland will get into formation in due time, but the UK is another matter.  France is another conscientious objector and she also faces the boot.  Nobody’s patience is unlimited.

 

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Ahmadinejad: Israel's destruction close

Source: Jerusalem Post

 

June 2, 2007 -- Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

 

Ahmadinejad said last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon showed "for the first time hegemony of the occupier regime (Israel) collapsed and that pushed the button counting the days until the destruction of Zionist regime," IRNA quoted him as saying.

 

"God willing, in the near future we will witness the destruction of the corrupt occupier regime," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying during a speech to foreign guests who attended ceremonies marking the 18th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who is known as the father of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

 

Comments:  Ezekiel 38’s prophecy has not yet been fulfilled.  It’s a last days' prediction.  More and more Bible prophecy authors are now saying that this will be World War 3 (WW3).  Those who steadfastly to the pre-Trib Rapture doctrine say we Christians will see the Russian and Iranian militaries being mobilized for the purpose of invading Israel.  Already, Russian President Putin had become infuriated with the U.S. stationing of missiles in former Soviet satellites Poland and the Czech Republic.  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sounded so many war drums that they’re a regular staple in the lives of Iranians.  When the Rapture event occurs, the invaders will make their move.  WW3 will involve nukes and when the dust finally settles, Satan’s man of peace, the Antichrist arrives on the scene with a global peace plan.

 

Ahmadinejad’s credibility is on the line if his threats against Israel aren’t translated into military action.  If he’s not assassinated by Israel’s Mossad, his own people will clamour for his severed head on a silver platter.

 

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Pope Benedict proclaims sainthood for four deceased persons

Source: USA Today/Associated Press 

 

June 3, 2007 -- Pope Benedict XVI named four new saints Sunday from France, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland in a ceremony in St. Peter's Square that was attended by several heads of state and thousands of faithful.

 

The presidents of Ireland, Malta, Poland and the Philippines were among the VIPs who attended the canonization Mass for the three priests and a nun, who Benedict praised as models for Catholics to emulate.

 

"Let us be attracted by their example, let us be guided by their teachings," he told the crowd, which filled St. Peter's Square for the two-hour Mass despite rain.

 

Comments:  We’re so agonizingly close to the occurrence of the much anticipated Rapture event that I felt led by the Lord to expose the lies (the liberal media love to perpetrate such lies) of this false religion that has 1.1 billion followers worldwide, the vast majority of them will be left behind to endure the wrath of God and man during the 7-year Tribulation Period.  NO!  The pope cannot proclaim a dead person a saint.  He does not have that power; only Jesus Christ does and sainthood is granted to a ‘living’ person the moment he/she has confessed his/her sins to God and has received Jesus Christ as his/her Saviour.  What Pope Benedict (Satan’s false prophet) has done is not only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, but his proclamation was meaningless.  If these four departed souls had not been born again prior to uttering their last breath, they’re presently in Hell.  In Hell, there are no Christians!  Just like in paradise, there are no strangers.  Unsaved readers who are adherents to the Church of Rome, cast off your allegiance to this false church and become part of the true Church of God consisting of all blood bought believers in Jesus Christ, Who alone can save!

 

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Peretz formally endorses Ayalon in Labour runoff

Source: Jerusalem Post

 

June 3, 2007 -- Outgoing Labour Party chairman Amir Peretz announced his support for MK Ami Ayalon in the June 12 Labour runoff at a political rally of the Peretz camp on Sunday night at Labour’s Tel Aviv headquarters.

 

"The entire social activist camp will vote with one voice for Ami Ayalon," Peretz told supporters.

 

"We want a real partnership," Peretz announced.

 

After his speech, Peretz told Channel 2 that he and Ayalon had a "base for long-term cooperation."

 

When asked to respond to certain statements from the camp of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Peretz said he refused to be drawn into "mutual recriminations."

 

Comments:  It seems that there’s no shortage of men and women seeking to become Israel’s next prime minister.  Current PM Ehud Olmert’s hold on power is as tenuous as hanging onto a greased rope with one hand.  His potential successors are playing the endorsement game. In Israel, loners can’t stand a chance.  Only if you can garner a coalition of supporters with clout do you get a leg up on your opponents.

 

In the case of contender Ami Ayalon, having the disgraced Defence Minister Amir Peretz endorsing him is akin to Bill Clinton backing Al Gore for U.S. president in 2000.  Some pundits were of the opinion that was what cost Al Gore the coveted White House job.  Clinton’s Oval House scandals were like an albatross around Gore’s neck.  For Ayalon, Peretz’ bungling of the Lebanon War of July 2006 will be his undoing.  With Israel facing a high probability of a joint strike by Hezbollah, Syria and Iran in the upcoming summer months, Israeli voters will think long and hard about choosing leadership candidates who have the moxie to protect the besieged citizens of Israel.

 

 

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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