Where Have All the Fathers Gone?

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Where Have All the Fathers Gone?






article by Mario Seiglie





A devastating epidemic is leaving a trail of broken hearts and broken dreams in its wake. What is this tragic outbreak? It’s the epidemic of disappearing fathers, who are sorely needed.







Source: Photos.comAs soon as they heard the door open, the two young girls jumped up and began yelling, "Daddy's home, Daddy's home!" No longer quietly sitting with Mommy, their heartbeats were now racing and their eyes widened, anticipating playtime with their father.



Soon he was tossing them up and down, and they squealed with laughter when he acted like a big bear. Their mother sat by, watching with delight and amusement, ready to calm things down should the horsing around get too rough.



Who would've thought such a scene could be in danger of disappearing?



Disappearance of the intact family

Sadly, it's come to the point in many countries that fewer children than ever will have the opportunity to grow up in a home with both a father and a mother. According to the latest statistics, only a third of the children in the United States will reach age 18 with both biological parents living at home.



"Fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation," warns social historian David Blankenhorn. "It is the leading cause of declining child well-being in this society. It is also the engine driving our most urgent social problems, from crime to adolescent pregnancy to child sex abuse to domestic violence against women" ( Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem, 1995, p. 1).



With U.S. divorce rates hovering just below 50 percent and the resultant single-parent households alarmingly on the rise, it's no wonder that only a minority of kids can count on living with both Mom and Dad. Usually, it's the father who doesn't stick around and leaves the mom to rear the kids by herself—which is a distinct disadvantage for the children. (See "What Happened to Dad?")



How important is the role of the father in child rearing? New studies have shown that dads, who normally are not given as much credit as moms in child rearing, actually play a vital role in the upbringing of children and their future success. Amazingly, this research reinforces the same principles written in the Bible thousands of years ago! Let's look at some of the evidence.



"And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.



See All...).

The Bible describes the ideal father as actively and tenderly engaged in his children's rearing and education.



Yes, his masculine child-rearing tactics often include horseplay with the kids that can annoy and cause anxiety in Mom, the maintainer of domestic peace and order. Yet his rowdiness actually fulfills a vital role in the children's social, physical and intellectual skills in school and beyond.



"Children's social, physical, and intellectual development benefit greatly from the involvement of fathers," observes Yale child psychiatrist Kyle Pruett (quoted by Judsen Culbreth, "What Dads Are Made Of," Reader's Digest, June 2005, p. 72A). The intellectual gains are noticeable from the first year of life and continue on past high school.



"By eight weeks," Dr. Pruett explains, "infants can anticipate differences in maternal and paternal handling styles ... When infants were approached by their mother, they slowed and regulated their heart and respiratory rates, relaxed their shoulders, and lowered their eyelids (Ahh ... Mom). When the father approached, the infant's heart and respiratory rates quickened, shoulders hunched up, and eyes widened and brightened (Dad's here ... party time!)" ( Fatherneed: Why Father Care Is as Essential as Mother Care for Your Child, 2000, p. 25).



A father's playfulness helps his children develop motor skills, hand-eye coordination, balance and confidence. I remember teaching my four daughters at an early age to ride a bike, snow ski, roller-skate, snorkel and enjoy many other types of sports. Their favorite time as children was when we invented games like the helicopter ride, with me whirling them with my feet like the blades of a helicopter, and the volcano, where they would fall from my knees into the bed. Such activities created a lasting bond between us and helped them lose their fears about taking on new challenges.



Child studies show that this kind of rough-and-tumble play helps children develop social and emotional experiences that prepare them for school. For instance, they learn to be confident, to take turns and to become leaders. "Kids who learn these early social skills from their fathers do better with peers," says Dr. Ross Parke, professor of psychology and author of Fatherhood (quoted by Culbreth,



p. 72B).



Conversely, the lack of a father figure tends to leave kids more passive and fearful. Child research indicates that it is the closeness felt by the child to the father that is most predictably associated with a positive life outcome 25 years later.



"Children who feel a closeness to their fathers are twice as likely as those who do not to enter college or find stable employment after high school, 75 percent less likely to have a teen birth, 80 percent less likely to spend time in jail, and half as likely to experience multiple depression symptoms" (Pruett, p. 38).



Researchers further found that "both sons and daughters of the dad-involved group [in the study] had higher levels of verbal skills," with the boys' IQ being "positively associated with their father's nurturing, (appropriate emotional and behavioral response to child's needs) and, interestingly, negatively associated with their father's disciplinary restrictiveness.



"Boys with nurturing fathers scored higher than the boys whose fathers were less involved unless the father was a strict, authoritarian disciplinarian" (pp. 43-44). So, although discipline has its place, when it becomes harsh and overbearing, as the Bible warns against, it yields negative results.



"My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding" (Proverbs 5:1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:



See All...).

Mothers normally give care and comfort while fathers focus more on teaching children about the world around them. Notice, for example, that when mothers pick up a baby, they usually have the infant face her—whereas fathers often pick up children so they can look outward, and explore what is in front of them. Dads are "wired" to play a very important role to separate children so they don't become too absorbed in their mother's world.



"It is in the toddler years, from 1 1/2 to about 3 1/2," says Dr. Pruett, "that fathers play one of the most critical roles they ever play in the life of their child: helping the child safely and securely separate from the intense maternal dependency of infancy.



"Healthy though dependency on their mother is for children at the beginning of their life, they will not experience, let alone practice, their own competence and mastery skills if they do not strike off in search of their own physical and emotional autonomy. And in this world, you, the father, are the expert guide" (pp. 83-84).



Actively involved dads, who let their children explore the outside world and teach them about the marvels of nature, will help them develop curiosity and self-esteem. "Infants who have been well fathered during the first eighteen to twenty-four months of life are more secure than those who were not in exploring the world around them, and they do so with vigor and interest. They tend to be more curious and less hesitant or fearful, especially in the face of novel or unusual stimuli" (Pruett, p. 41).



Eventually these exploratory skills will become crucial in school and the workplace. People who are inquisitive, socially developed and not afraid to try different methods will have an easier time excelling as challenges arise. After all, Dad already taught them how to deal in the real world, how to overcome frustrations and figure things out for themselves.



"Fathers can affect how well their children progress in school, which subjects they prefer and even the kinds of occupations they choose," says Dr. Parke. "Whether a child prefers reading and hates math or aspires to be a physicist or an engineer rather than a book critic or a historian is affected by the father's attitudes, encouragement and other behavior" ( Fatherhood, 1996, p. 156).



Studies done in the 1960s about the effect fathers had on their children surprised even the researchers. For example, they found the amount of time fathers spend reading with their children is a strong predictor for many intellectual abilities—in particular, of the daughters' verbal skills. Remarkably, the same study did not find mothers reading to children to have similar effects, indicating there was something unique in the father's role of reading to them.



For example, women who were high achievers, such as Margaret Thatcher and Indira Ghandi, former prime ministers of Britain and India , respectively, mention they were highly influenced and encouraged by their fathers in their academic and political careers.



Another important role in which the father excels is teaching children about spiritual and moral values. When the father is a good role model of morality, children respect both of their parents more. If the father establishes rules that are fair and a level playing field in which the children can flourish, they tend to be more obedient. But when the mother sets the rules, children tend to defy them more.



"Sons of fathers who took more responsibility for limit setting, discipline, and helping their child with personal problems and schoolwork," adds Dr. Pruett, "had significantly higher empathy [having feelings of sympathy and compassion for others] scores ... Father deprivation is directly linked to difficulties in a child's self-control" (Pruett, pp. 48, 51).



"But did He not make [husbands and wives] one ...? And why one? He seeks godly offspring" (Malachi 2:15And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.



See All...).

When God united Adam and Eve, the first two human beings, in marriage, He told them to multiply and fill the earth. God had carefully designed the family unit so children would be reared between two parents who would act as opposite (masculine and feminine) poles.



The child would then be in the middle of this union, receiving equal influence from both parents. An analogy would be of a metal ball suspended between two magnetic poles. Similarly, each parent exerts his or her unique influence so the child is reared to have a balanced and full personality.



Researchers have confirmed that actively involved male and female parents are ideal for bringing up balanced and mature children. Here are some of their findings:



• Children yearn deeply for dads and are born with a drive to find and connect with their fathers and not only with their mothers.



• Fathers have the internal capacity or instinct to respond to their child's desire to connect.



• Men and women do not differ in the depth of love toward their children.



• Each child is loved in a unique way by the father and the mother.



• The desire to feel emotionally connected to their children throughout life is the same for men and women, though it may find



differing forms of expression.



• Fathers and mothers are equally able to interpret their child's behavioral cues.



• Fathers and mothers are equally anxious about leaving the child to the care of someone else.



• With the exception of lactation, there is no evidence women are biologically predisposed to be better parents than men.



• Men who become active fathers gain in their ability to understand themselves and others.



• A father who is deeply involved with his children experiences beneficial health results.



• A father present at childbirth is the single most important factor that protected against birth complications and further illness or trauma in the newborn.



• Parental love that overindulges a child usually results in selfishness.



One encouraging trend in Western society is the number of parents who now want to coparent, or share in the physical and emotional care of their children as well as in the responsibilities and decision making. Instead of leaving it to Mom to basically rear the children, now more fathers want to become actively involved.



In a long-term survey of newly married couples who were asked to rank certain values in their marriage, coparenting has moved from the 11th priority out of 15 in 1981 to the second priority in 1997, a surprising shift in values in less than one generation.



"Men from Wall Street to homeless shelters," says Dr. Pruett, "speak with conviction about wanting to father their children more actively than they themselves were fathered. As a senior manager at the investment house Goldman Sachs puts it, 'I don't want my son to feel the same void in his heart where his father belongs that I do in mine'" (p. 1).



"And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.



See All...).

We see here that God is very concerned with preserving families. It's interesting that in the scripture above, it is the hearts of the fathers that must first turn to the children, before the children's hearts are then turned toward their fathers.



How can the hearts of fathers be turned to their children? An important way is taking an active role in their children's lives!



Simply reading to them has been shown to make a big difference in improving children's verbal skills. Playing with them, so that they feel the warmth, tenderness and masculine good humor of a father, goes a long way to establishing those bonds of closeness that have been shown to determine such positive outcomes in the future.



Taking children out for a walk and pointing out all the wondrous living things around them will arouse their curiosity and kindle their thirst for knowledge. Showing them how to overcome their fears by tackling physical challenges, such as how to ride a bike or take up a sport, helps create confidence, sociability, physical coordination and perseverance that are so valuable in school and the workplace.



Teaching them strong moral values is also another way fathers turn their hearts to the children. It's wonderful for sons or daughters to be able to turn to Dad for moral guidelines and see their father love their mother and become a role model for them.



Fathers are also ideally suited to develop logic skills in their children so they can understand not only what they should do in a given situation, but why they should do it. The Bible is a marvelous source in this regard, for not only does it reveal true moral and spiritual principles, but it also explains from God's point of view why they should be followed and what happens when they are and when they aren't.



On the other side, how can children's hearts be turned toward their fathers? Again, the best source to begin searching for the answer is the Bible, which says this turning of the heart begins with parents following God's example in His love for His children and by children honoring, obeying and loving their parents.



After all, the Fifth Commandment instructs a child to "honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land" (Exodus 20:12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.



See All...). According to God, both parents should be involved in child rearing, and the children should show equal respect for both of them.



As research has confirmed, there's nothing better than God's original design of a loving father and mother, along with an extended family, rearing their children in His ways. Dr. Parke states it succinctly when he says that mothers and fathers are indeed different, "but their distinctive styles of caretaking complement each other perfectly to the advantage of children" (quoted by Culbreth, p. 72D).



It is a tragedy that society has come to the point of asking where all the fathers have gone—with so many leaving or abandoning their proper roles. If you are a father or will be at some point, you don't have to follow the trend. Instead, by following God's laws and true values, you can be the kind of father He wants you to be! And your children will be blessed. GN

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The Evolution vs. Intelligent Design Debate

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The Evolution vs. Intelligent Design Debate



article by Mario Seiglie





Jonathan Wells holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale University. He is the author of many articles and the books Icons of Evolution (2000) and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design (2006), and coauthor of The Design of Life (2007) and How to Be an Intellectually Fulfilled Atheist (or Not) (2008).



The Good News: Dr. Wells, you have been following the evolution vs. intelligent design debate for quite some time. What is your opinion on how it's been faring and who is winning?



Jonathan Wells: Before I answer, it's important to clarify the issues. "Evolution" can mean many things—such as change over time, or minor changes within existing species, neither of which any sane person doubts. The problem is Darwinism—the theory that all living things are descended from a common ancestor by unguided processes such as natural selection acting on minor variations. Darwinists often confuse the issue by starting with the noncontroversial meanings of "evolution" and then slipping in their more controversial claims.



According to intelligent design, it is possible to infer from evidence in nature that some features of the world—such as some features of living things—are explained better by an intelligent cause than by unguided natural processes. Intelligent design does not claim that everything is designed, nor does it claim that anything is perfectly designed. Nor does intelligent design tell us the nature of the designer—though many, including me, believe it was the God of the Bible.



Since Darwinism claims that all features of living things can be explained by unguided natural processes, and intelligent design claims that some features are better explained by an intelligent cause, there is an irreconcilable conflict between the two.



Currently, Darwinism is winning on the political, legal and media fronts in the United States. Most universities and public schools teach Darwinism as though it were unquestioned fact, though the truth is that a growing number of scientists are questioning it on evidential grounds.



Data from the genome projects are revealing major inconsistencies in the Darwinian claim that all organisms share a common ancestor, and no one has ever observed the origin of a new species—much less the origin of new organs and body plans—by variation and selection. On the other hand, the evidence for intelligent design is increasing. Sooner or later, the evidence will win.



GN: Some time back, you mentioned that if the "junk DNA" turns out to have viable functions, it would support the case for intelligent design. What does the recent data say on this subject?



JW: According to modern neo-Darwinism, genes that are passed from generation to generation carry a program that directs embryo development, mutations occasionally alter this genetic program to produce new variations, and natural selection then sorts those mutations—the "raw materials of evolution"—to produce new species, organs, and body plans. In the 1950s, molecular biologists discovered that proteins, the microscopic building blocks of bodily structures, are formed according to information encoded in different segments of DNA. They then equated "gene" with "protein-coding sequence" and "mutations" with molecular accidents in such sequences.



By the 1970s, however, it was clear that most of the DNA in human beings and many other animals does not code for proteins. In 1980, Francis Crick [codiscoverer of the structure of DNA] and Leslie Orgel argued in Nature that this noncoding DNA is merely "junk" that has accumulated in the course of evolution. For the next 25 years, many biologists continued to regard noncoding DNA as junk.



In his 2009 book Why Evolution Is True, neo-Darwinist Jerry Coyne compared predictions based on intelligent design with those based on Darwinian evolution. "If organisms were built from scratch by a designer," he argued, they would not have imperfections. "Perfect design would truly be the sign of a skilled and intelligent designer. Imperfect design is the mark of evolution; in fact, it's precisely what we expect from evolution" [p. 81].



According to Coyne, "when a trait is no longer used, or becomes reduced, the genes that make it don't instantly disappear from the genome: evolution stops their action by inactivating them, not snipping them out of the DNA. From this we can make a prediction. We expect to find, in the genomes of many species, silenced, or 'dead,' genes: genes that once were useful but are no longer intact or expressed" [pp. 66-67].



In contrast, Coyne said that creation by design predicts that no such genes would exist. "And the evolutionary prediction that we'll find pseudogenes has been fulfilled," he wrote. "Our genome—and that of other species—are truly well populated graveyards of dead genes" [p. 67].



But Coyne was dead wrong. A growing mountain of data from genome-sequencing projects shows that most DNA performs essential functions. The Darwinists' claim that a large percentage of DNA is evolutionary junk is totally false. This reflects badly not only on them, but also on neo-Darwinism itself. By Coyne's logic, the genome-sequencing data refute neo-Darwinism and support intelligent design.



GN: This year is Darwin's bicentennial. What would you say is a good summary today about his writings on evolution?



JW: Why didn't we celebrate Mendel's centennial in the 1920s, or Newton's tricentennial in the 1940s? Both were great scientists.



Darwin is celebrated not because of his scientific contributions, but because his theory has become the creation myth of atheism. Darwin Day in the United States is a project of the Institute for Humanist Studies, which is dedicated to promoting "a nonreligious philosophy." Some atheists have even said they want to establish Darwin Day as a secular alternative to Christmas.



Most people never read The Origin of Species, but if they do they will find that it is a work of theology as much as science. Darwin's main argument was that certain features of living things "are inexplicable on the theory of creation," but make sense only on his theory of unguided descent with modification. Indeed, there are so many discussions of creation in The Origin of Species that U.S. courts might well consider it unconstitutional to use in public schools.



In my opinion, the best way to summarize Darwin's writings on evolution would be as a revival of ancient materialistic philosophy, such as that taught by the Greek Empedocles and the Roman Lucretius, illustrated with examples drawn from 19th-century natural science.



GN: What would you say was Darwin's greatest mistake regarding his theory of evolution?



JW: Darwin was mistaken about a lot of things. He was mistaken about heredity, which he attributed to characteristics—some of them probably acquired during an organism's lifetime—that were blended together from every cell in the body.



He was mistaken about vertebrate embryos, the earliest stages of which he believed showed us our fishlike ancestor in its adult state.



He was mistaken about the geographic distribution of species, which he thought could be explained entirely by migration or by geological separation.



He was mistaken in claiming that all organisms were part of one great "tree of life" with a common ancestor at the root.



And he was mistaken about the power of natural selection, which he argued—by analogy with artificial selection, which had never produced anything more than changes within existing species—produced new species, organs and body plans.



But Darwin's greatest mistake was to deny design in living things. The unguided processes he invoked have never been able to produce the major innovations needed for evolution. And the more we learn about living things, the more designed they look.



GN: Some scientists claim the chimpanzee genome is about 99 percent similar to the human genome, but others claim it is closer to 75 percent. What is the truth about this, and how significant are the findings?



JW: Comparing chimpanzee and human genomes is tricky, not the least because the sequences do not line up exactly and one has to decide where to start the comparison. The 99 percent figure involves only a part of each genome; and depending on the technique and the researcher, the estimates can vary significantly.



But whatever the estimate, the deeper question is, what does it mean? According to evolutionist Jonathan Marks, who published a book in 2002 titled What It Means to Be 98% Chimpanzee, it means very little. Marks argues that since there are only four [molecular compound] subunits in DNA, any two living things are bound to be at least 25 percent similar. Someone who claims that humans are 99 percent similar to chimps might as well add that humans are 35 percent similar to daffodils.



In fact, the similarity between chimp and human DNA—whatever the figure may be—poses a problem for neo-Darwinism. According to neo-Darwinism, organisms are what they are because of their DNA—which is why DNA mutations can supposedly provide the raw materials for evolution. Then why are chimps and humans so different from each other not only in their anatomy and physiology but also in their intelligence and behavior? Basing an estimate of their similarity on DNA comparisons alone is a byproduct of neo-Darwinian dogma, not biological science.



There is actually abundant evidence that embryo development is not entirely controlled by DNA. More information is necessary, and this information is located in cellular structures that the embryo inherits apart from its DNA. But neo-Darwinian dogma tends to blind people to this evidence and thereby hinders scientific progress.



GN: You are a prolific writer about intelligent design. What are you currently working on in this regard?



JW: In the past year I have written two book reviews: "Darwin of the Gaps," a review of Francis Collins' The Language of God and "Why Darwinism Is False," a review of Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution Is True .



Mostly, however, I have been doing empirical and theoretical research in my own field, cell and developmental biology. The empirical research involves testing an intelligent design-guided hypothesis about a possible cause of cancer, which I published in 2005. The theoretical research involves formulating testable hypotheses about the nature and location of non-DNA information in the embryo, by analyzing the embryo as though it were a designed whole instead of an accidental byproduct of DNA mutations and natural selection.



GN: You mentioned some while ago that by the year 2025, the theory of evolution would have lost most of its appeal. Do you still think this date is feasible for that?



JW: Yes, I do. Of course, it's risky to put a date on such a prediction, but scientific discoveries are rapidly making Darwinism less and less plausible, and this is becoming more and more obvious to new students and to others not already committed to the old way of thinking.



I compare Darwinism to a frozen pond in the springtime. As winter passes and the days grow longer, the ice may look thick, but it becomes honeycombed with melt water. In the next thaw it may disappear overnight. GN

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Current Events & Trends: China's worrying military ambitions

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Current Events & Trends: China's worrying military ambitions

article by Jerold Aust, John Ross Schroeder





Are we going to see a new, updated version of World War II's old Axis Powers, with China in the role of principal Asian foe rather than an "Americanized" Japan?



A major feature article in The Sunday Times of London showed that, as its drophead states, "the test of a new missile is heightening concerns over Beijing's arms build-up" ("China's Carrier Killer Unnerves US Navy," March 24, 2013). The article continues, "China has successfully tested a 'carrier killer' missile designed to change the military balance of power in Asia by deterring American aircraft carrier operations up to 1,250 miles from Chinese shores."



Clearly the Chinese military has its aggressive generals. China's Liberation Army Daily opts for an end to "romantic pacifism" and urges "full preparation" for war. A headline in The Wall Street Journal reads, "For Xi, a 'China Dream' of Global Military Power" (Jeremy Page, March 14). The article that follows presents new Communist Party and military chief Xi Jinping as appearing to embrace the hawkish worldview of the nation's generals.



Are we going to see a new, updated version of World War II's old Axis Powers, with China in the role of principal Asian foe rather than an "Americanized" Japan? In World War II the Japanese army invaded China. Will the reverse occur in the future? Time will tell.



Isn't it troubling that the Republic of China holds so many billions of American dollars in its own treasury? Why is America being challenged on so many fronts today—military, economic and otherwise? What is America doing wrong? The answer, as revealed in the Bible, is clearly revealed in the Bible study aid The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy . (Sources: The Sunday Times [London], The Wall Street Journal. )

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Book of Enoch

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Book of Enoch


Is the book of Enoch valid? Should the apocrypha be held on the level of scripture?


[Steve Myers] A question came in from our BeyondToday.tv website from Dan. He asked this, "Is the Book of Enoch inspired writing that Christians should study like the Bible?"



It's a good question Dan. The answer is no. The Book of Enoch is in a group of various books that's called pseudepigrapha and that name used by scholars describes these books and the Apocrypha for that matter very specifically. Here's what that word really means. This "pseude" means false. And the "pigrapha" part means writings. So here we are with a description of these words as false writings.



Now they sound very official because nobody knows who the real authors are, but they use titles like the Book of Enoch or the Book of Beirut or the Book of Solomon, and Moses, and Adam, and names like this when in actuality we don't know who wrote them. And they're described in an interesting way in Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Here's what Nelson says, "The pseudepigrapha are a collection of Jewish books containing various forms of literature using names of famous people in Israel's history for the titles of the books." Now the interesting part is that these books have many false concepts that go contrary to the inspired word of God, many things that are in direct contradiction - probably too much then we can even discuss in this short daily today.



But as you look into these books you'll find there are many errors. One in the Book of Enoch specifically is about angels. Now it proposes that angels somehow took human wives for themselves. Now that goes directly against what Jesus Christ Himself taught in the book of Mark where He said that angels don't marry, and they are not given in marriage. They are not sexual beings, and so that would be impossible. So many instances throughout the Apocrypha and the pseudepigrapha are just non-biblical.



So be careful when it comes to these things. Don't let anyone sell you something that doesn't match with the true inspired word of God. In fact there's an interesting passage over in the book of Hebrews that's a good reminder for all of us. In Hebrews 13:9Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.



See All... it says, "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines."



In other words stick to the truth of God. Stick to God's inspired word, then you'll never go wrong.



That's BT Daily . We'll see you next time.

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Why Do We Need Weed?

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Why Do We Need Weed?



 Voters in Colorado and Washington state approved the legalization of the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use. What is missing in life that drives people to abuse drugs?



[Gary Petty] During the latest rounds of political elections, a number of states voted to legalize marijuana. Of course this is a great concern for a lot of people—the legalization of a drug that has been proven to be very detrimental to people.



The real question is why are we a nation that needs so much to rely on drugs?



What is it that we're trying to escape from—whether it's marijuana or alcohol abuse or abuse of illegal drugs or even abuse of legal drugs that people get through prescriptions?



Why are we a nation that's trying to hide something that's happening inside of us?



Well, the reality is what we're trying to deal with, that emptiness, that ache, that angst, that anxiety is really an issue between us and God and us and other people. The reason we use drugs is to cover up the fact that inside every one of us is a deep seeded need for a personal relationship with our Creator.



The more we run from that, the more we try to hide from that, the more we try to find that answer in whatever it is, whether it's drugs or money or illicit sex. In the end we end up still empty, still searching.



God wants to heal your life. God wants to change who you are. God wants to fill that hole.



Turn to God. Pick up your Bible. Get on your knees and ask God to come into your life to help you understand and to lead you to where He wants you to go.



You will find you won't have a need any longer for those things. It's going to take some work. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to be painful, but in the end you will be a child of God.



This is BT Daily . Join us again

Sometimes we see God in very small things that make large impressions.

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Peeling Back the Layers

article by Deanne Baum

Sometimes we see God in very small things that make large impressions.

Source: clipart.comDid you know that the onion can be traced back to Egypt around 3500 B.C.? Onions may seem like a humble vegetable on the surface, but peel back a layer or two and you will discover some amazing facts.



Historically, onions had great importance in a variety of ways. King Ramses IV who died in 1160 B.C. was entombed with onions in his eye sockets. Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the first century A.D. noted that onions were used to fortify and strengthen athletes for the Olympic Games. The athletes would consume many pounds of onions, drink the juice, and rub the onion flesh all over their bodies. Many attributed their success to this process. Pliny the Elder, a Roman, wrote about the onions of Pompeii. He believed onions could cure vision, induce sleep, heal mouth ulcers, dog bites, toothaches, lumbago, and control dysentery. Furthermore, people used onions for headaches, snakebites, hair loss, to pay their rent, and even for wedding gifts. Onions were regarded as a highly sought after commodity by many cultures in many lands throughout history.



You may be interested to know that in Numbers 11:5We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:



See All... there is a reference to the onion. The previous chapter in scripture contains the account of the Israelites fleeing Egypt during the Exodus. Whilst this people wandered in the wilderness they lamented the days in captivity when they freely enjoyed the benefits of onions among other items in their daily diets. The fertile plains along the Nile River produced many varieties of onions, some of which would have been eaten like we eat an apple today and were sweet to the taste, while others greatly enhanced the cooking process by adding flavor.



This gives me pause to think about the story of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah in Daniel 1:1-21 [1] In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.

[2] And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

[3] And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;

[4] Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

[5] And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.

[6] Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

[7] Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.

[8] But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

[9] Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

[10] And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

[11] Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

[12] Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

[13] Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.

[14] So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

[15] And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.

[16] Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

[17] As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

[18] Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

[19] And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.

[20] And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

[21] And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.





See All.... These young men declined the King’s rich diet in favor of vegetables including…(quite probably)… onions in order to honor God, risking the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar. Obviously God intervened, so that they would gain favor over all the other men who could consume any food they were served. However Daniel had complete faith and determined in his heart that God would help him even in the unlikely way of just eating vegetables.



As varied and numerous as all these benefits are, the onion does cause considerable discomfort when one is preparing the bulb by cutting, slicing or chopping it up for meal preparations. It is the sulfuric compound contained within onions which produces the burning sensation from the strong vapors leading to tears. This is where my story begins.



My long lost physical family comes for lunch

On a hot summers day in the middle of January not too long ago I sought out my Grandmother’s treasured recipe book for dishes that one has to enjoy to believe. Many of these recipes contain ‘secret’ ingredients and have been handed down throughout the generations mostly by word of mouth. Thankfully I had enough presence of mind to record some of the most popular and favorite dishes because now I am the eldest surviving member of only a few left. I remember watching with eyes ‘as big as saucers’ both my paternal and maternal grandmothers making so many different and wonderful foods from all around the globe, particularly from Eastern Europe, Continental Europe, England and Australia. My selection of dishes to prepare all included onions so I had lots of chopping up to do and considered carefully because I knew it meant sore eyes. However, these dishes were tried and true favorites, so I knew there was a lot of hard work ahead and many tears.



Halfway through all the chopping up of many onions, (the biggest ones I could find, and they were whoppers) I could stand it no longer! My eyes were stinging and I hastily grabbed a cold, wet saturated sponge and threw it over my face, pressing deeply into my eye sockets to gain temporary relief. I really wanted to get this one thing done the night before the big day when my family came for lunch, but knew I had taken on far too much. I have come to learn that I am somewhat competitive and seek to please others and go to considerable lengths to serve rather elaborately (at this point I am thinking about Martha in Luke 10:38-42 [38] Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

[39] And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

[40] But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

[41] And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

[42] But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.





See All...). Martha obviously was a pleaser too and instead of making a simple meal was involved in ‘much serving’. I think many of us who enjoy giving hospitality to our guests can empathize with Martha. When I read this story I can’t help but chuckle because Martha is so relatable to many women. She obviously felt let down by her sister Mary who was ‘taking it easy’ in her eyes. Martha sought tojustify her pain by telling herself the load should be shared equitably between herself and her sister.



I sat down with a cup of ‘rescue’ tea for a few minutes of time out. I was exhausted physically and mentally and it was now very late at night. I considered carefully my options. Complete the task tonight and suffer the horrendous pain, or go to bed and tackle the rest of these onions in the morning after a good night’s sleep. To my surprise I chose the second option and went to bed defeated from my efforts. I had so many other things to do in the morning, none of which could be accomplished the night before because the food needed to be freshly prepared at the last minute. Oh well, I would look like a red-eyed raccoon when my family came for lunch and resigned myself not to worry about it.



I really wanted the best for my family. I had a lot of pride too. My physical family had abandoned me when God called me out of the world a few years ago. After some verbal abuse they eventually quieted and ‘disappeared’. They would occasionally contact me if they needed help in some way. Even though I felt very frustrated at not being able to logically explain supernatural events, I tried to remain a loving mother, sister and auntie, so the lunch was a very big deal to me and God knew this. I slept soundly.



The next day, I woke up excitedly and hurried to get to the kitchen. I stood at the kitchen sink and closed my eyes and prayed to God. It was a very simple prayer, which asked for help in the cooking, for everything to turn out right and for the ability to cope with the inevitable tears. I did not realize that while I was chopping the onions God was supernaturally intervening for me. I kept thinking one more onion, another onion, now the next, until I finally came to the last one. I burst out in laughter realizing that there was no pain, no vapor, no rubbing of the eyes, NOTHING!!! I kept thinking ‘I don’t believe it'!’ but of course I did. I was so full of joy and marveled at how this could happen. God heard my simple prayers, even a quick prayer that I did not kneel down for. I could not contain myself. My son was the first to arrive and I told him what happened. Kurt smiled and was very pleasant about it all and said ‘Mum, I believe you, but do you think God has the time to do such a trivial thing like that?’ I must have been beaming from ear to ear and I said quite calmly, but confidently ‘Well He does because that is what just happened’.



God is utterly amazing and to think we have the rest of our lives to establish and promote a deeply rich, close relationship with Him; one of many tears, much laughter, joy, sorrow, hurt, pain, anguish, and always love. I could not relate to God the Father only six years ago, because of the lack of a good physical father/daughter relationship. However, now I can laugh with God. He has such a great sense of humor. Developing this relationship is intensely beautiful and like nothing else. Now I am learning what pure agape love is and how to love others too including my physical and spiritual family. I love how God is not a respecter of persons as the Apostle Peter states in Acts 10:34Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:



See All.... We can always trust and believe that God will attend to each one of us perfectly! He simply cannot make a mistake.



Some of the lessons I have come to learn as the layers are peeled back to reveal just what is truly in my heart of hearts on this incredible journey that will transcend a lifetime:



1. Know Yourself

So we can correct things which need to be corrected and we all have those things that need correction. No one is exempt. People pleasing is good to a degree but not if it interferes with one’s own spiritual and physical health. Certainly there will be no people pleasers in the Kingdom. (Galatians 1:10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.



See All...) Spiritually we must please God always. Mary was all eyes and ears on our Lord. She was probably not even aware of all the food serving because of what Jesus Christ’s message contained. Mary was not distracted whereas Martha was consumed with anxiety, worry and stress (Matthew 6:25-34 [25] Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

[26] Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

[27] Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

[28] And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

[29] And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

[30] Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

[31] Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

[32] (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

[33] But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

[34] Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.





See All...). The physical must not take precedence over the spiritual.



2. Plan to Put God First

Plan and then plan a backup plan. Refine your plans. In the future, I plan to cook the same recipes but well ahead of time and freeze some dishes, so I do not put myself under so much pressure again. We too need to align ourselves with the Master Planner of the Universe. God has plans for everyone (Jeremiah 29:11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.



See All...). Let’s take a few moments at the beginning of our day, or if you are a night owl then in the evenings and plan to put God first. Then list all the things that we need to achieve the following day. Maybe add a shorter list of items that we want to achieve. You will be amazed how productive you can be if you put God first in your day.



3. Forget About Pride

I not only wanted my relatives to be amazed at my cooking skills but I was seeking their approval. I wanted to make up for all the time lost, by spoiling them. I did not need to go over the top with all the serving, but I wanted to. I had not seen my family for so long. My pride wanted to be stroked with nice comments based on the time, work, and effort I had put into the meal. I wanted recognition! (Proverbs 16:18Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.



See All...) I am such a competitive person in many things I do. I did not realize this before God called me. I grew up this way as that is how the girls in our family could get noticed. I was sick and tired of being invisible. Remember we are never invisible to God. He sees everything we do. He even knows how many hairs are on our head! That is how intimately He knows us. Once again Father causes me to smile over the specificity of this. (Matthew 10:30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.



See All...; Luke 12:7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.



See All...)



4. Give Yourself a Reality Check

Do not allow day to day things to take over from the most important part of your spiritual journey. Aim to achieve a balance, but always put God first. (Matthew 6:33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.



See All...) It can be difficult to figure out exactly what that balance is. It is even harder to be objective about it, because we will tend to justify and want things that are not good for us. (Jeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?



See All...) Wisely weigh your decisions.



5. Examine the Why of What We Do

God is certainly interested in the why, because He searches the depths of our hearts right to the inner core. (Psalms 44:21Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.



See All...) Thankfully, our just and loving Father does search our hearts to know what motivates our actions. Sometimes our actions look pure, such as serving others, but not always. Check your real motivations in order to ascertain what is driving you. Conversely our actions may not look pure to others on the surface, but God knows exactly where we are coming from. We can take great comfort in that.



6. Faith Without Sight

Whilst God does not reveal His form to us now, He certainly reveals Himself in so many ways. Since I had worked with these onions and they made me cry. I was amazed that they were not the next day. It was like God was telling me I know how much you love your physical family and how much you miss them and I know you will not compromise with any pagan festival in order to keep them in your life, so here is a very small taste of things to come because that is how much I love you and all My children. God will give us so much more if we will just trust Him. In Matthew 19:29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.



See All..., Mark 10:29-30 [29] And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,

[30] But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.





See All... and Luke 18:29And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,



See All... we are told what we will receive if we give anything up in this lifetime. If we are loyal, obedient and faithful, God is pleased. How good is it to know that we can please our Creator?



Allow God to peel back your layers with you. You will get to know yourself and be able to deal with whatever is hiding deep within the core of your heart. It is not easy and it can be very painful, but it is worth it. Matthew 19:26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.



See All... tells us all things are possible with Him.



For more interesting reading please see the Bible study guide, Transforming Your Life: The Process of Conversion .

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Will the World See a New Caliphate?

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/  or call 1-888-886-8632.

Will the World See a New Caliphate?



article by Tom Robinson





What can we expect will happen as Islamists take charge in the nations of the Arab uprisings? Turkey and other experiments in Muslim democracy give us some precedent. And on the horizon, the Islamist dream looms—a restored empire of Islam. What does this mean for the future of the Middle East and the world?







The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.



Source: ThinkstockInstead of a freedom-oriented Arab Spring, as cheery enthusiasts have hailed it in the face of toppled dictators, the Middle East is actually beset by a deepening Islamist winter (see "Winter Advisory: The Arab Spring That Wasn't "— intended as a prelude to this article). Does this relate at all to Bible prophecy, and does Scripture indicate where these trends may be leading?



Of course, Islamist rule has a long history in the Middle East, going all the way back to Muhammad, founder of Islam, in the seventh century. He set the example of spreading his new religion by the sword, taking control of the entire Arabian Peninsula in the space of 10 years (622-632).



After his death, he was followed by other rulers called caliphs, from the Arabic khalifah, meaning "successor" (to Muhammad) or "representative" (of Allah to mankind). And the caliph's dominion was known as the caliphate (Arabic khilafa and Turkish Hilafet ). Under the caliph, the dominion was governed by a religious hierarchy following Islamic law and jurisprudence—sharia.



After the first four Rashidun or "rightly-guided"caliphs, the caliphate passed to dynasties of rulers. The Ummayads (7th-8th centuries) and the Abbasids (8th-13th centuries) at their height ruled territory stretching from Spain all the way to India. The rival Shiite Fatimids (10th-12th centuries) took over much of the territory for a time.



Following the Mongol invasions from the east in the 13th century, the caliphate ceased to actually rule. But it was revived under the Turkish Ottomans when they took control of most Arab lands (16th-20th centuries).



After the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Kemal Ataturk imposed a secularist state onto Turkey and dragged it into the Western sphere. Various kings and dictators took over the Arab states. These allowed principles of sharia as part of national rule to varying degrees, but not nearly to the satisfaction of most Muslims in the region. And in any case, they failed to all come together into a single ummah (supranational community) under a single caliph.



Dreams of a restored caliphate

Since the Ottoman fall, many devoted Islamists have dreamed of reestablishing the caliphate. One such dreamer was the Egyptian Hassan al-Bannah, who in 1928 founded the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization that has benefited most from the Arab Spring uprisings. The caliphate's restoration remains the Brotherhood's goal.



Moreover, the caliphate has been a recurring theme in recent speeches of Islamist leaders. As pointed out in the companion article on the Arab Spring, one celebrated Brotherhood preacher claimed that the election of Mohamed Morsi as president in Egypt was prelude to a coming Islamic caliphate—a United States of the Arabs with Jerusalem as its capital. And Morsi then acknowledged that Jerusalem's conquest was indeed the goal.



Yet so many in the West can't fathom that such rhetoric is at all serious. They won't even accept that Morsi would rule as an Islamist hardliner despite his ramming through a sharia-based constitution, confident that he will conform to Egyptian politics as usual as the realities of governing set in.



Former U.S. federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy comments on this notion in his new book Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy:



"Then there are the eternal optimists who try to pass themselves off as hard-headed pragmatists. Their theory is that governing will make the ruler accountable to the public; consequently, the practical responsibilities of the offices to which they've been elected will tame Islamist politicians. They will evolve, coming to see that sharia and anti-Semitic, anti-Western animus are just not compatible with running a government in the modern world. Governing will transform them into moderates . . .



"[But] has Iran gotten more moderate over the last thirty years? Has Hamas's election in Gaza . . . helped that terrorist organization evolve? . . . The election of Islamic supremacists in Turkey has moved that country toward extremism, not away from it"(2013, p. 19).



Indeed, Turkey and other recent attempts at democracy in the Muslim world give us indications of developments that will follow elections of Islamists into power in Arab nations. Furthermore, as we will see, Bible prophecy also shows where events are headed. Will they end in a restored caliphate? Or will freedom come to the Middle East at last?



"The Turkish Model"

We should give some consideration to Turkey, as it's looked at by many in the West as a model for the Arab world—"the Yellow Brick Road to the sparkling Oz of 'Islamic Democracy'"(p. 75). U.S. President Barack Obama cherishes his friendship with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan—his go-to counterpart in the Middle East, whom he has looked to for advice on regional issues, including the Arab Spring.



The problem in seeing Turkey as such a model is that its tradition of democracy has nothing to do with Islam. Just the opposite, Kemal Ataturk made Turkey a secular state, although the population remained predominantly Muslim.



Erdogan, on the other hand, is an Islamist —"a Muslim Brother who drank deep the lessons of the master, Hassan al-Banna"(p. 2). Since he became prime minister in 2003, a year after his Islamist "Justice and Development Party"(AKP in Turkish abbreviation) came to power, Erdogan has been leading Turkey away from democracy.



For the West and concerned secularists in his own country, Erdogan has sometimes presented himself as upholding secularism while merely allowing Islam free expression in the public sphere. But this is a man who in 1998, four years prior to his party's takeover, said effectively, "Democracy is just the train we board to reach our destination."



And what destination is that? Perhaps his words that followed, adapted from a nationalist poem, provide a clue: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets [mosque towers] our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers."



Of course, returning Turkey to the Islamist camp has not been an overnight task—though it has proven far easier than it was for Ataturk to impose secularism. It was a split in Turkey's non-religious parties that allowed the AKP to take over parliament with just a third of the popular vote. Yet in the decade since, Erdogan has managed to play his hand well at several turns, at length overcoming the Kemalist "deep state,"the inner sanctum of state officials with military backing that long maintained the secular order against Islamist ingress.



A slow Islamist takeover of Turkey

So where is Turkey today? Erdogan has focused on education promoting Islamic principles, his AKP party moving to establish many new universities with Islamist leaders—part of an effort to reshape the culture.



Furthermore, notes McCarthy: "The prime minister also moved to lower the mandatory retirement age for various categories of government technocrat . . . [which] enabled the Islamists to depose incumbents from thousands of positions—including over 40 percent of the republic's 9000 judgeships.



"In their place, adherents of the AKP's Islamist ideology were installed. Meantime, to degrade further the judiciary's vital role in upholding the secular order, Erdogan refused to enforce judicial rulings and threatened to abolish the Constitutional Court, a key component of the deep state"(p. 80).



Turkey is now ranked as the world's worst jailer of journalists—with scores imprisoned, some sentenced to as many as 166 years. And things have definitely worsened under sharia's repression of women in the country:



"As female employment craters, the rate at which women are murdered has zoomed by 1400 percent. In 2002, when the AKP was first elected, there were sixty-six reported cases of 'honor killings'—murders of women and girls at the hands of family members who consider themselves shamed when sharia norms were violated. In just the first seven months of 2009, the number was 953"(p. 83, emphasis in original).



On the foreign policy front, Erdogan has cut off longstanding ties with Israel, accusing the Israelis of state terrorism. Meanwhile he has embraced Iran (as has Egypt's President Morsi). And the Turkish leader has even offered himself as a character witness for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted for international war crimes because of his ethnic cleansing campaign in Darfur—Erdogan stating that "a Muslim can never commit genocide."



He's even had Turkey donate hundreds of millions of dollars to the government of Gaza, ruled by the terror group Hamas. "That is to say, Turkey is now bankrolling Hamas. Erdogan has taken his country from NATO ally to terror sponsor"(p. 116).



Do we imagine better for Egypt and the other Arab Spring countries where Islamists have gained power? If anything, it will be far easier to impose Islamic rule on these countries accustomed to authoritarian rule and sharia principles than it has been for Erdogan to transform Turkey from its decades of secular democracy.



Iraqi and Afghan forays into democracy as preview

Perhaps more closely paralleling the Arab Spring countries are the two countries the United States and other Western nations liberated from dictatorial rule and turned over to new constitutions and democratic processes. How has that worked out?



These are now, as McCarthy puts it, "a pair of sharia states hostile to American interests (Iraq is an Iranian satellite; Afghanistan verges on a Taliban re-conquest), to go along with a regional cavalcade of jihadists and totalitarian Islamists, now swaddled in sovereign legitimacy thanks to the subordination of democratic culture to democratic procedures —as if electing a class president somehow made the third grade a 'democracy' and the schoolyard bullies a 'political party'"(p. 41, emphasis in original).



U.S.-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai has even suggested that Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader formerly ousted from power by the U.S. invasion, run for president in the next election!



We should also consider the plight of Christians. In the past few years, thousands of Christians have been murdered in Iraq, and hundreds of thousands more have fled to other countries in fear.



In Afghanistan, the United States twice had to exert great pressure to whisk away individuals who were to be executed for converting from Islam to Christianity—one of them released on the pretext that he was "not of sound mind"(for what else would a person who leaves Islam be?). In Egypt, according to a 2011 Pew survey, 84 percent of the people want the death penalty imposed for those abandoning Islam— 84 percent! The percentage is quite high in other Muslim countries as well.



And how's this for women's rights under sharia in Afghanistan? "At the end of 2011, Karzai's office announced that the president had magnanimously commuted the prison sentence of a nineteen-year-old woman who was serving a twelve-year term imposed by an Afghan court after she was convicted of . . . having sex out of wedlock . . . with a relative who had raped her. Karzai's rationale for the pardon? The woman had cured her indiscretion by agreeing to marry the rapist, whose child she had borne during her jail term"(p. 47, emphasis in original).



Such is the outcome of democracy in nations where those desiring the imposition of Islamist rule are in the majority. And appallingly the West, including the United States, has advocated for and continues to support this outrage. (See "Puzzling U.S. Support for Islamists Over Moderates ".)



What's to follow?

So, what can we expect will now follow? Certainly, the fallout from the Arab uprisings is still ongoing. Expect a tightening of sharia's grip in Egypt and throughout the Arab world and in other Muslim nations—and more misleading assurances from Western leaders and media that there's no cause for concern.



Also look for further conflagration where revolution has not stabilized. With Libya awash with weapons and many flowing to neighboring countries, al-Qaeda in North Africa and other terrorists have been strengthened.



The French intervened in Mali in January 2013 to prevent terrorists from taking complete control there after they had already overrun much of the country. And following the many people killed at the end of the Algerian hostage crisis just after, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the Islamist threat in this region requires "a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months."



Furthermore, there is the grave danger of chemical weapons being unleashed by Bashar al-Assad in Syria as he struggles to survive. Yet others worry over Assad being toppled by the jihadists allied against him and his chemical weapons and the rest of his vast arsenal falling into terrorist hands.



The spreading Islamist revolution

What about the Arab monarchies, such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia? So far they've remained secure against the Arab uprisings. But the Muslim Brotherhood is agitating in these countries to spread the revolution. Numerous analysts believe they will be next to fall.



Lebanese-born author and commentator Brigitte Gabriel said in December that despite claims that U.S. Special Operations troops are stationed in Jordan over concern about what's happening in Syria, "the truth is that our Special Ops [personnel] are positioned in Jordan to protect King Abdullah, because King Abdullah right now has only two-percent approval in his country. The majority of people would vote the Muslim Brotherhood if elections are held in Jordan today"(quoted by Chad Groening, "Prediction: Jordan the Newest 'Arab Spring' Addition,"OneNewsNow.com, Dec. 11, 2012).



Elections were held in Jordan in January, but the Muslim Brotherhood boycotted them because electoral rules favor the monarchy. Of course, the Brotherhood will continue to press for changes that would allow its candidates to prevail.



Among the Palestinians, it appears a rapprochement is coming between the rival factions of Fatah and Hamas, but rapprochement with the Israeli Jews is out of the question. In line with recent Muslim Brotherhood calls in Egypt, the Palestinian Chief Islamic Judge Tayseer Al-Tamimi said this on Dec. 31, 2012:



"The caliphate will be restored after this tyrannical rule [by Israel] comes to an end. This is already the beginning of the end for the tyrannical rule. The Arab revolutions against injustice, tyranny, and oppression will bring its end, and the caliphate will be restored. What we are seeing in Egypt are birth pangs. The struggle between Islam and others, and all the conspiracies that aim at stopping the train that has already set out to liberate Jerusalem and to restore Islamic rule. Jerusalem will be the capital of the caliphate, Allah willing"(posted at the Middle East Media Research Institute [MEMRI] website, Jan. 7, 2013).



This echoes Erdogan's earlier mention of democracy as the train to reach the Islamist destination. And the ultimate destination is indeed a restored caliphate on its way to taking over the world. With the rate at which things are moving, perhaps the train is not too far from the station.



Clues from Bible prophecy

Bible prophecy does appear to tell us, in Psalm 83, that the world will see a confederation of Middle Eastern peoples intent on wiping out Israel—which will evidently involve the Arabs, the Palestinians, the Turks and others in the region.



Daniel 11 similarly speaks of an end-time "king of the South"who will reignite the age-old struggle against a power to the north—centered in Europe since Roman times—with the land of Israel caught up in between. This will provoke a retaliatory war resulting in the European occupation of many Middle Eastern lands, including Israel. (See "Israel: A Nation in Constant Peril " to learn more.)



The confederation and southern power in these prophecies could well be a restored Islamic caliphate, which now seems to be on the rise—although this is not a specific biblical requirement. The Bible mentions only the people and lands involved, not their governance. But given who and where these people are, Islam seems the most likely factor in their cohesion. It is certainly today's most powerful driving force in the region—and has been so for more than 13 centuries.



Some analysts in assessing the near future see the Islamization of the Middle East as almost inevitable. Given the failure of military dictatorships, Islamic rule beckons as a promising ideal for many Muslims. It seems they will have to live under its crushing boot to get it out of their systems, as many in Iran now have (though the Islamists maintain control there). Yet this will not really be enough to free the people, as vast numbers will not recognize their own plight, being enslaved to wrong thinking.



The long winter will cease

On Palestinian television Dec. 2, 2012, the wife of a Hamas parliament member told an interviewer regarding a woman's role in that culture: "She instills in her children the love of Jihad and martyrdom for the sake of Allah. If every mother were to prevent her son from waging Jihad for the sake of Allah, who would wage Jihad? Who would support Palestine?



"Palestine is dear to us, and its price is paid with our body remains and our lifeblood . . . I am constantly praying: 'Allah, make the end of our days be in martyrdom.' I pray for this even for my husband and my children. None of us want to die in our beds. We pray that Allah will grant us Paradise" (posted at MEMRI).



This is dumbfounding and heartbreaking —and devastating to any notions of freedom in the Islamist-dominated Middle East. How does one reason or negotiate with this conviction held by millions of people? It is not rational but is the product of generational programming and outright demonic deception and influence on a colossal scale.



The fact is, something monumentally earthshaking must break this evil hold on people's minds to truly set them free. And rest assured, something will.



As the Bible foretells, unimaginable cataclysm will engulf the world, and people will suffer under tyranny as never before. Then, Isaiah 19:20-21 [20] And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

[21] And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.





See All... tells us, the people of Egypt "will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day."



In that day, Egypt will finally be at peace with Israel (verses 24-25). Yes, at long last Jesus Christ will come to save the Egyptians and all humanity—and all will come to know the true God.



The truth is that all have been slaves to wrong thinking to varying degrees. In that day, deception will be lifted and ancient hatreds will cease. The devil and his minions will be banished, and peace will reign under the wonderful Kingdom of God. At the end of man's perpetual winter, the springtime of the genuine paradise of God awaits. May it come swiftly!

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