Jesus' disciples asked Him when Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, what would be the sign of the end of the age, and what would be the sign of His coming (Matt 24:1 - 3).We have talked about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the sign of the end of the age. So what will be the sign of His coming?The sign of His coming will be the appearance of the shechinah glory. The shechinah glory is the visible manifestation of the presence of God.In the tabernacle the Israelites constructed in the wilderness, the outer court was illuminated by natural daylight. The holy place, where the priests went to minister, was illuminated by the golden lampstand. The most holy place, where only the high priest was allowed to enter on one day each year and where God dwelt above the mercy seat, had no artificial illumination. The illumination would be provided by the glory of God.On the Mount of Transfiguration, where Christ's glory was manifested,
His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light (Matt 17:2).When the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, it will have no need of illumination:
And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its light (Rev 21:23).Christ's coming too will be accompanied by the manifestation of His glory:
For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be (Matt 24:27).Shortly before His coming, there will be darkness on the earth:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Matt 24:29).But then. . .
The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt 24:30).A brilliant light will shine from heaven and every eye will see Him as He comes to earth to destroy His enemies and set up His millennial kingdom.Are you prepared for the things that are coming on the earth?
A few days before Jesus was crucified, His disciples asked Him three questions: When would Jerusalem and the Temple be destroyed, what would be the sign of the end of the age, and what would be the sign of His coming?Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in AD70. So what will be the sign of the end of the age?The Jews spoke of "this age," referring to the age in which they were living, and "the age to come," meaning the messianic age. Christians would call the age in which we live the church age, which extends from Christ's resurrection and the the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to Christ's Second Coming.So what did Jesus say would be the sign of the end of this age?
"Take heed that no one deceives you.
"For many will come in my name, saying 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
"And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet (Matt 24:4 - 6).
So there will be false messiahs and there will be wars, but these are not signs that the age is coming to an end.Then Jesus comes to what is the sign of the end of the age:
"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
"All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matt 24:7, 8).
To the Jews, "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" would signify world war. We had the first world wars - two of them - in the 20th century.These, along with famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places, are "the beginning of sorrows." The Greek word used for "sorrows" there is the word used to describe labour pains.These are signs that the world is in travail, preparing for the birth of the messianic age.
The first three verses of Matthew 24 tell how Jesus and His disciples were in the Temple just a few days before His crucifixion:
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.
And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?"
Really, this is not one question. This is three questions. First - in the order in which the events were to occur - when will these things be (referring to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple)? Second, what will be the sign of the end of the age? Third, what will be the sign of Your coming?Jesus proceeded to answer their questions. Concerning the destruction of Jerusalem:
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.
"Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.
"For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
"But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing mothers in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.
"And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive unto all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luke 21:20 - 24).In AD 66, the Jews rebelled against the Romans. Roman soldiers, led by Cestius Gallus, legate of Syria, came and besieged Jerusalem. Jerusalem was surrounded by armies, as Jesus had prophesied - but the believers in Jesus could not leave the city because of the siege.Then Cestius Gallus inexplicably withdrew. The Jewish believers left the city and set up a Christian community at Pella, in what is now Jordan.More Roman forces arrived under the Roman general Vespasian and his son Titus and laid seige to Jerusalem. When the city fell in AD70, a million Jews were massacred and Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed.
It is said of the Jewish believers, who followed Jesus' instruction to leave the city, that not one was killed.More soon.
Is the Bible true? Is Jesus the Person the Bible says He is?Matt 1:1-11 refers to the genealogy of Jesus. Dr Chuck Missler points out that in those 11 verses in Greek - the language in which the New Testament was originally written - the number of words is divisible by seven; the number of letters is divisible by seven; the number of vowels and the number of consonants are both divisible by seven; the number of words that begin with a vowel and the number of words that begin with a consonant are both divisible by seven; the number of words that occur more than once can be divided by seven; the number of words that occur in more than one form is divisible by seven; the number of words that occur in only one form can be divided by seven; the number of male names can be divided by seven; and the number of generations is divisible by seven.No man could have engineered that. The chance of those verses conforming to all the above by chance is one in 40,353,607.
One in five people in the world is Chinese.There are five people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either Mum or Dad or my older brother Colin or my younger brother Ho Chi Chou.I think it's Colin. - Tommy Cooper.
One of the last things the last Labour Government did during the dying days of its administration was push through the Equality Act in an attempt to ensure people conformed to its "diversity" and "equality" agendas.The new Coalition Government is now seeing that the requirements of the act are observed.Public sector employers are required to "eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation" on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation.To this end, organisations employing more than 150 people - that's 27,000 of them, including Government departments, councils, hospitals and schools - will be required to provide information each year, beginning this summer, about their employees.The information, regarding millions of people in total, will include details of how many come from minority groups and details of salary.In order to obtain information, staff will be asked to fill in questionnaires stating whether or not they are homosexual, whether or not they are in the process of changing gender, what religion they adhere to, and what disabilities they have.Although answers are not compulsory, employees will be told they will help prevent bullying and pay gaps.The resulting data will not be scrutinised by the Government, but by individuals and voluntary bodies of David Cameron's "Big Society."Guidance by the Equality and Human Rights Commission warns public bodies not to identify individuals by publishing detailed figures on small offices, but says they must do all they can to obtain accurate data on the make-up of their staff, despite fears about intrusion, preferably through "routine monitoring."All this extra work is required from public sector employers at a time when they are required to make massive savings. What's more, it seems likely the requirement will cause as many problems as it solves.According to the Daily Mail, the guidance says complying with the requirements of the act "may involve treating some people better than others, as far as this is allowed by discrimination law."Mrs Hazelmary Bull, who with her husband was ordered to pay thousands of pounds to a homosexual couple this week for refusing to allow them to share a double bed in their home, which doubles as a bed and breakfast establishment, said after the case: "I do feel that Christianity is being marginalised in Britain. . . Much is said about equality and diversity, but it seems that some people are more equal than others."Whatever one's views on the Bulls' case, with so much information about employees to be handed over to who knows who, can Big Brother be far behind?
Sometimes in the reports of national disasters individual stories get overlooked.Last Monday Donna Rice went shopping with her 13-year-old son Jordan for a new school uniform. He was to start in high school in two weeks' time. Jordan's younger brother, 10-year-old Blake, went along.As they were driving back to their home in the Australian town of Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, floodwater met them. Their car stalled, and wouldn't restart. Donna used her mobile phone to telephone triple zero - the number for Australia's emergency services - but the water was rising faster than the emergency services could reach them.The mother and the two boys climbed on to the roof of the car. A lorry driver with a rope tied round him managed to reach the car and attempted to rescue Jordan. Although Jordan could not swim and was terrified of water, he insisted the man rescue his younger brother and his mother first.The man got Blake to safety. Donna and Jordan were holding on to a rope, but before the man could get back, the rope broke and they floated away.The two managed to catch hold of a tree until Jordan could hold on no longer. When he let go, his mother let go to try to save him. Both were swept away to their deaths.Said Jordan's father, John Tyson: "Jordan can't swim and is terrified of water. But when the man went to rescue him, he said 'Save my brother first.' I can only imagine what was going on inside to give up his life to save his brother, even though he was petrified of water. He is our little hero."Jordan's older brother Kyle said Jordan was really shy with people outside the family and wouldn't say a word to them - "but when it came to the rest of his family, well, he'd do anything for them."That evening, Donna was due to make a birthday meal for the children's father.
I wrote here 10 days ago that just a little bit of sanity is returning to our politically correct society. The smug, self-satisfied practitioners of political correctness have not finished yet, however.
Margaret Forrester is a mental health worker employed by the NHS in London. She had an informal conversation with colleagues in the office - not with a patient, notice, but with colleagues in the office - about abortion. She gave a colleague a booklet describing the problems some women had had after abortion.
It referred to women who had experienced post-abortion syndrome, including depression, relationship issues and suicidal feelings, as well as fertility problems.
Miss Forrester was concerned, she said, that women contemplating abortion were not given enough information about the risks involved.
A few days later her manager told her she was being sent home on special leave with full pay. She was ordered not to see any patients and to stay away from any NHS site while an investigation was carried out. She was then told to return to work, but not allowed to do her normal job.
She was called before an internal disciplinary committee accused of "distributing materials some people may find offensive." As far as I am able to ascertain, the decision of the committee has not yet been announced.
"I felt physically sickened by their bullying," she said. She was eventually signed off sick and has not since returned to work.
There is something I would like Miss Forrester to know. I feel sickened, too.
There is something else I would like her to know. She has my full support. Not only that: she should have the full support of every right-thinking person in the country.
I think she is being persecuted for daring to question the accepted abortion culture. If the booklet had said what a wonderful thing it was to have the abortion service we have in the UK, would she have been persecuted? I think not.
We live in a dangerous world.
There is the constant threat of Islamic terrorism in the West. The present stand-off between North and South Korea could lead to a major war. Pakistan's government is in danger: its failure could give radical Islam access to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.Hezbollah has 40,000 missiles lined up against Israel. Hamas is still firing rockets into Israel from Gaza.
Just a short time ago, the greatest threat to Israel was from Iran, who had threatened to wipe Israel off the map and was just a short time away from acquiring nuclear weapons. No one outside Israel appeared able or willing to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, which meant Israel would need to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities to ensure Israel's continued survival, with the possibility of terrible retaliation.
But then there were rumours of mysterious explosions at an Iranian nuclear facility. There was the assassination of a leading Iranian nuclear scientist and the near assassination of another. A powerful computer virus named Stuxnet infected more than 30,000 Iranian computers and brought the Iranians' enrichment of uranium almost to a standstill.
Meir Dagan, who has just retired as head of Mossad, Israel's external intelligence agency, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that a series of events had put Iran's nuclear weapons programme back by several years. He did not think that Iran would now have a nuclear bomb before 2015 - and Israel has still not had to bomb Iran.
But the net around Israel is tightening. The Palestinians are now talking about declaring a sovereign, Jew-free Palestinian state in the summer of 2011 without Israel's agreement.
Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Turkey have spoken of their intention of recognising such a state. French and Spanish foreign ministers are talking about recognition, and are urging the European Union to recognise such a state also.
Caroline Glick, of the Jerusalem Post, says a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Jerusalem would leave Israel without defensible borders. Since no Palestinian leadership will accept Israel's right to exist, this would invite a war that Israel would be hard-pressed to survive.
"The 'two-state solution' policy paradigm is delusional," she says. "It is not a policy paradigm. It is a fantasy. A debate about the two-state solution is not a policy debate, but a debate about the attractiveness of a pipe dream."
Meanwhile, the Israeli armed forces have announced the formation of a military battalion to deal with a non-conventional attack. The unit has been trained to respond to a potential nuclear, biological or chemical missile assault.
Bible believers need to be concerned about what is happening to Israel. For a variety of reasons, what affects Israel affects us all.
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee" (Psa 122:6).
The last Labour Government fought hard to have sex education in schools made compulsory by law for children from five years old and upwards. Eventually the proposed legislation was ditched because there was insufficient time to pass it into law before the General Election.
There are still people fighting hard to have sex education in schools made compulsory for children from five years old. (Sex education in primary schools is currently at the discretion of school governors and the head teacher.)
The Christian Institute has published a booklet called Too much, too young: Exposing primary school sex education materials. On the booklet's front cover it says "WARNING: This booklet contains explicit material not suitable for children." Quite right too.
The booklet shows extracts from publications - including explicit descriptions and graphic illustrations of sexual intercourse - already approved by some local authorities for use with young primary school children.
Some parents might conclude people producing such material for little ones do not do so out of a real concern for young children, but rather out of a desire to destroy marriage and family and educate children to be sexually promiscuous.
There is a place for sex education. But this sort of stuff used in classes for children of five and upwards is not it.
Some parents are blissfully unaware of what is taught, or likely to be taught to their children in school.
If you have children, ask about their school's sex education policy. Ask to see materials that will be used. Ask who will present the material. If you have concerns, talk with the children's head teacher or some of the school governors. If you are not satisfied, contact a local councillor or your MP.
For further information, contact the Christian Institute. Details are on their website at www.christian.org.uk.
There is a big difference between sex education in schools and the legalisation of assisted suicide - but the same principle applies. If you're not aware of what's happening, legislation could be pushed past you which would appal you if you knew what it involved.
Lord Falconer's Commission on Assisted Dying is already taking evidence from interested parties. It sounds an imposing body. In fact, it was the idea of Dignity in Dying - formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society - who also helped set it up.
Lord Falconer has battled to have the law on assisted suicide relaxed. He appears to have chosen the 12 members of the commission. Nine of them are in favour of legalising assisted suicide; the other three are not known to have opposed it.
Of 11 people or organisations invited to give evidence to the commission, six have declined - presumably because they don't want to give the commission credibility.
Anyone hearing of the commission might assume it was an officially established body whose recommendations ought to be given serious consideration.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Just a little bit of sanity is returning to our politically correct society.
Anthony Rollins, a Christian street preacher who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, quoted from a Bible verse on the subject of homosexuality while preaching in Birmingham city centre.
He was arrested by police, handcuffed, held in a police cell and charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. The charge was later dropped. A complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission about his treatment was rejected.
When he sued the police at Birmingham County Court, his complaints of wrongful arrest, unlawful imprisonment, assault and battery and infringements of his human rights were upheld. He was awarded £4,250 damages.
Dale Mcalpine, who preaches in the shopping precinct at Workington in Cumbria - I wrote about him here and here - didn't mention homosexuality while preaching, but said in conversation that the Bible says homosexual behaviour is a sin.
He was arrested, placed in a police cell for seven hours and charged under the Public Order Act. The case was later dropped.
Mr Mcalpine sued the police for wrongful arrest, unlawful imprisonment and breach of his human rights. He was awarded £7,000 damages. Police were ordered to pay costs.
Section 5 of the Public Order Act criminalises "threatening, abusive or insulting" words or behaviour which are likely to cause "harassment, alarm or distress." There is now a move afoot to have Parliament remove the word "insulting" from the act.
"We may have gone too far when the act was introduced," said one MP.
A survey of 1,000 adults sponsored by Christian Concern showed that
* 87 per cent felt it was wrong for healthcare workers to be punished for offering to pray for a patient;
* 72 per cent felt Christians should be free to follow their conscience at work without fear of disciplinary action;
* 73 per cent believed the right to wear a Christian symbol in the workplace should be protected by law.
The way courts have interpreted the law on these issues in recent times has hardly been in line with public opinion.
"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying 'Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him'" (Matt 2:1, 2).
First, the Bible doesn't say they were kings. Neither does it say there were three of them. There were three kinds of gifts, but there could have been any number of wise men.
The Bible calls them magi. The magi were a class of Persian wise men, soothsayers and interpreters of signs, particularly in astrology. They became powerful and influential; not so much kings as kingmakers.
They came from the part of the world where Daniel had lived years before. Daniel had introduced many to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Perhaps he had spoken of the One who was to come.
The star was no ordinary star. It seems to have appeared and disappeared. It moved before them, and finally stood still over where the young child was. When they first saw it, somehow they understood it spoke of the birth of a king of the Jews. And somehow they understood He was no ordinary king, for they came to worship Him.
God used a star to lead them to Christ because stars were what they were into.
It would have been no use using a star to lead me to Christ; I wouldn't have noticed. God used my job to lead me to Christ, because that was what I was into.
Whatever God uses to bring you to Christ, be sure to come. He is the most important person ever to have lived on the planet. He is alive today. God wants you to make his acquaintance. To have a personal relationship with Him is the most important thing that can happen to you, ever.
May you have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed, purposeful and fruitful New Year. And as Tiny Tim used to say, "God bless us, every one!"
The BBC has been heavily criticised for extravagance, for anti-Israel bias, for left-wing bias, for slashing religious programming and for bias against Christianity. Not without cause.
But credit where credit's due.
This coming year is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Authorised Version of the Bible, also known as the King James Version. It was in 1611 that the 54 scholars brought together at the instigation of King James I to produce a new English translation completed "the noblest monument of English prose." The King James Version has not only provided inspiration and spiritual instruction for four centuries, but has left its mark on the English language like no other book.
The BBC is to devote Radio 4 on Sunday, January 9, to readings from the King James Bible, between 6am and midnight. Space will be found for the most popular Radio 4 programmes, like the Archers and Gardeners' Question Time, but in between will be a total of seven hours' Bible reading in 28 portions of 15 minutes.
Introductions will be by people as diverse as Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Simon Schama and Will Self; the readings by actors like Samuel West, Hugh Bonneville, Emilia Fox and Niamh Cusack.
There is a suspicion that the BBC is looking not so much to the King James' spiritual content as to its influence on the literary life of the nation, but the BBC's decision will please the church.
The secular humanists, as you may imagine, are somewhat peeved.
Like Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society. "It is fair enough," he said, "to have a programme devoted to it, but the coverage is so excessive it beggars belief. The BBC is supposed to be for everybody, not just Christians, so to devote a whole day to a minority, which is what Christians now are, is unfair to other listeners who may want something different."
(There are, of course, other BBC radio channels.)
Said the BBC: "The King James Version of the Bible remains one of the most widely published texts in the English language and it has been recognised for centuries as both a religious and literary classic.
"It is also generally accepted to have had a significant impact on our language, the arts and music and the wider cultural impact of the King James Bible cannot be overestimated."
Good for the BBC.
Others will have seen, as I did, a video on the TV news which showed a man in a school board meeting in Florida paint a "V" (for vendetta) on the wall, then pull out a gun and begin shooting at members of the board.
A security guard came in, the two exchanged fire and the gunman went down. The gunman then used his gun to take his own life. No one was hurt but the gunman.
What British TV didn't show was a subsequent interview with school superintendent Bill Husfelt, the first man to be shot at.
"Right before he pulled that trigger, I knew he was going to pull the trigger," he said.
"There was a miracle that I wasn't shot. He literally had the gun pointed right at me. I was very confident that I was going to get shot. I was ready if that was going to happen. I knew where I would go. . .
"God was standing in front of me. I believe that with all my heart."
Pope Benedict XVI pointed out in his message for World Peace Day on January 1, released at the Vatican on Thursday, that Christians suffer more from persecution on account of their faith than any other religious group.
He referred to the persecution of Christian communities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and made special mention of violence against Christians in Iraq.
In Western countries, he said, there were more sophisticated forms of hostility to religion, often expressed by a denial of its Christian roots and the rejection of religious symbols which reflected the identity and culture of the majority of its citizens.
He urged world leaders to act promptly to end every injustice against Christians in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, pleaded with Western countries to end their hostility and prejudice against Christians, and urged Europe to become reconciled with its Christian roots, which were indispensable for promoting justice and peace.
Civil society, he said, must acknowledge and make room for the right of believers to have their voice heard in the public realm.
Monsignor Anthony Frontiero, of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said that of all people discriminated against, hurt, killed or persecuted for religious reasons, 75 per cent worldwide were Christian.
A conservative estimate of the number of Christians killed for their faith each year was around 150,000. Between 200 million and 230 million faced daily threats of murder, beating, imprisonment and torture, and a further 350 to 400 million encountered discrimination in areas such as jobs and housing.
Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, is "coming out" as a homosexual this weekend. He is to host the launch of a new taxpayer-funded support group for lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgendered people in Parliament (how many lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgendered people are there in Parliament?) at the Speaker's official residence on Monday.
Blogger Archbishop Cranmer, who wants to know if the Speaker will be hosting a reception for Parliament's "support network" for Christians, says it is more difficult to be "out" as a Christian in Parliament than it is to be lesbian, homosexual, bisexual or transgendered.
A devout and committed Christian that is, "who might wish to support the institution of marriage as a union between one man and one woman; who might define certain behaviour as 'sin'; who might wish to abolish abortion or at least mitigate the abuse by a reduction in the upper limit; who might wish to retain bishops in the House of Lords; who might wish to retain prayers to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob before each session of Parliament; who vigorously supports church schools and educational autonomy; who might defend the Establishment of the Church of England, and retain the XXXIX Articles of Religion and the Act of Settlement."
What are we coming to?
Think about it.
An organisation calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq, responsible for the deaths of 60 people attending a church service in Baghdad recently, later warned that "all Christian centres, organisations and institutions, leaders and followers" were legitimate targets, however they could be reached.
Barnabas Fund this week published on its website a message from a senior church official responsible for helping Christian refugees from Iraq in Syria. It tells about conditions for Christians in Iraq:
Their conditions are no longer bearable. The people are living behind locked doors, they are compelled to take long leaves of absence from work, in Mosul and other cities, as a result of the dangers they face at work.
The universities are almost empty of Christian students, as are the schools. In some of the cities even the streets are almost empty of Christians.
It is as if they are in prison: without work, without study, without Church meetings. Fear rules over all situations and in all places.
Threats and insults are daily occurrences, and offensive graffiti is daubed on the walls of the homes of these innocent people.
There is no getting around this problem nor is there a solution to it. The people are deprived of everything that could bring security to their lives: all they can do is depend on God's mercy or leave for the north. However, travelling to the north requires great financial means for paying the very high rent of homes there, and meeting the cost of living.
If a Christian wishes to rent out his house and leave, the terrorists will force the person renting the house to pay the rent to them, because according to them this house is theirs by right. And, if he dared to sell it they would threaten the person who bought it, so in the end all the money would go to the terrorists.
Here are some examples of people's stories:
A family in the north received a knock at their door at night, and the head of the household went to the door, and found a bird, slain, nailed to the door. The message was clear: you will be slain like this bird.
Saad and Raad, two young men working in the industrial area in Mosul as blacksmiths, used to pay 300,000 Iraqi Dinars a month to the terrorists in order to be spared their lives. This however, in the end, did not prevent them from being killed in their workshop, leaving eleven people unsupported.
A 26-year-old man, who was working in a Mini Market, had his shop entered by terrorists demanding some items. He was fired upon and killed, without warning. This took place in broad daylight in Mosul, at the beginning of this month (December 2010).
Many are thinking of leaving these tragic circumstances, but without any means of doing so. . .
There are many other horrific stories of tragedy, which could fill pages and pages. They tell of terrorism, fear, unbearable living conditions and children being threatened, having their very lives coloured with deep blackness.
Pray with us for them.
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, international director of Barnabas Aid, called for immediate international intervention to help Iraq's Christians, and for prayer on their behalf:
"This Christmas the Christians in Iraq face an unfolding tragedy. The past seven years of war have seen their community devastated. Now they face a wave of attacks that has reduced many of them not just to abject poverty, but also to terrible fear.
"A senior Iraqi Christian leader recently asked if the time has now come to evacuate the entire Christian community from Iraq. Others have suggested that its only future lies in an independent homeland.
"What is crystal clear is that the international community cannot wash its hands of this beleaguered minority. Intervention must happen urgently. Intervention should be now."
The Bible says that if a man repents of his sin and accepts Christ as his Lord and Saviour, he becomes a new creature. He enters a new kingdom; becomes part of a new family. To be a Christian and to be concerned only about our own natural family and members of our local church will not do. Those who like us have found God's forgiveness are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Action, please.
Have you ever prayed and felt like God didn't answer prayer any more? Bill Courtemanche was like that.
He had had a faith as a youngster, but had had a problem with alcohol, and had drifted away. One day a gun went off near his ear. He became completely deaf in one ear and lost 40 per cent of his hearing in the other. He learned to lip read, but still had problems.
He rededicated his life to Christ, and felt his faith had grown strong over the years since. But then there were problems in his local church. A 36-year-old mother died of cancer. Things continued to go wrong.
Bill knelt at the front of the church, pouring out his heart to God. "Lord, what is going on? Why do we have all this suffering? Do you even hear our prayers?" Suddenly he felt a terrible burning in his ears.
"I felt like my head was on fire, like it was about to explode," he said. He went home and slept for a while. When he woke up, the burning and nausea were gone. Then he noticed. After 17 years, he could hear with both ears.
He went to an audiologist, who told him there was nothing wrong with his ears.
You can read the full story here.
Later, Bill's mother was found dead in her bathroom. Paramedics worked on her and took her to hospital, where her heart stopped a second time. She was placed on life support.
Bill sat by her bed, praying for her, reading to her and "doing the things you do when you don't know what to do."
He explained his dilemma to a chaplain. His mother was technically brain dead. He did not want to say yes to removing her life support and let her die, but she was only alive because she was hooked up to machines.
The chaplain said life support machines were man-made and only God could terminate a life. If she was meant to go home she would die, and if she wasn't, she wouldn't.
They fixed Saturday to remove her life support. On Saturday, they told Bill to kiss her goodbye. When he did, she woke up. The doctor said it was a miracle.
It turned out that although she was supposed to be brain dead, she had still managed to hear.
She told Bill "You know the most annoying thing? You know how hard it is to sleep when someone sits there all night reading to you?"
God loves to answer prayer. Don't limit Him.
People who want to see assisted suicide permitted in the UK seem determined to get there, one way or the other.
Attempts in the House of Lords to have assisted suicide legalised have been a failure.
Some people saw the Director of Public Prosecution's being forced to state under what circumstances he would prosecute and under what circumstances he would not as an attempt to have assisted suicide allowed under some circumstances; the threat being, as they saw it, not that the law would be changed but that people would know that under some circumstances the law would not be enforced.
A commission on assisted dying has now been set up under the chairmanship of Lord Falconer. It is to trawl through evidence from people on all sides of the debate, and travel to Oregon, the Netherlands and Switzerland to see what happens where assisted suicide is permitted.
It will apparently "consider what system, if any, should exist to allow people to be assisted to die, and whether any changes in the law should be introduced." It will make an "objective analysis of the issues." It will "evaluate all the evidence on a fair basis." It will produce a report next October.
The Observer published a report about the establishment of the commission under the heading "Assisted suicide law to be reviewed by Lords," which seemed to imply that it was to be reviewed by the House of Lords. Not so. It is simply that several members of the Lords are on the commission.
It was said that the commission "will act entirely independently." Unfortunately, it was not clear independently of what, or of whom.
It turns out that the commission is the idea of the organisation Dignity in Dying, formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, which helped set it up. It is financed by businessman Bernard Lewis and novelist Terry Pratchett, who is an outspoken advocate of legalised assisted suicide.
Lord Falconer unsuccessfully tried to amend the Coroners and Justice Bill in 2009 to decriminalise taking folks to Switzerland to commit suicide. The 12 members of the commission have effectively been chosen by Lord Falconer himself. Nine of them are known to support legalised assisted suicide. The position of the remaining three is not known, but they have not been known to oppose it.
Because of its evident bias, Telegraph blogger George Pitcher calls the commission "entirely bogus" and "a sham."
He says "more eminent members" of the House of Lords have written to Lord Falconer to point out that he is debasing the parliamentary principles of independent inquiry.
While anyone is free to set up a committee to consider an issue and present its views to Parliament, it seems unlikely that this commission will recommend that a change in the law is not needed.
According to Bible prophecy, the day is coming when all nations will turn on the nation of Israel. (Take Zech 14:2 as an example.)
You can see it coming to pass. Day by day, newspaper reports show the day approaching.
Palestinian leaders have been saying recently they will make a unilateral declaration of independence in the middle of 2011, irrespective of Israeli agreement, then seek recognition as a state through the United Nations.
Last Friday, Brazil formally recognised a Palestinian state along 1967 lines. Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered recognition of the Palestinian state in a letter to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, received by Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki.
Yasir Abd-Rabbuh, secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, said the Argentinian president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, had stated that her country intended to follow Brazil's example. He said he considered that Brazil and Argentine's action would encourage other countries to do the same.
The 1967 lines are militarily indefensible for Israel, and a declaration of independence on such lines would surely lead to more action.
Britain could further withdraw British support for Israel following a new economic alliance in the Abu Dhabi Declaration, signed in the presence of HM the Queen just days ago.
Whitehall officials said Foreign Secretary William Hague's decision to reach out to Gulf States to secure better trade ties had to take on board Arab foreign policy goals. Said a diplomat: "We have to respond to what Gulf States want. If we want a long-term partnership on foreign policy, then changes in our stance have to be part of it."
The Israelis have offered land for a Palestinian state on numerous occasions, and have been turned down outright by the Palestinians on each occasion. The Palestinians have withdrawn from peace talks for specious reasons, and each time Israel has been given the blame.
Why is Israel always to blame?
TV news channels reported yesterday that the body of a 70-year-old German woman killed by a shark was retrieved from the sea at the Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Sunday.
According to a Reuters report, the Jews might have been responsible for that too.
"What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark [into the sea] to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question, but it needs time to confirm," said South Sinai governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousa.
It would be laughable if it weren't so serious.
People able to consider the situation in the Middle East with a modicum of objectivity might well be interested in the speech of Dutch politician Geert Wilders in Tel Aviv on Sunday. You can read it here or here.
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee" (Psa 122:6).
Margo MacDonald's much publicised bill in the Scottish Parliament, which, if passed, would have legalised assisted suicide and euthanasia in Scotland, has died the death.
In March, a committee appointed to consider the bill and report to the Scottish Parliament called for a public consultation. Of 601 organisations and individuals who provided written submissions, only 39 were in favour of the bill.
Two weeks ago, having considered both written and oral evidence, the committee recommended that the bill's proposals should not be accepted.
It said an argument for a person's right to exercise autonomy should be considered in the light of the interests of society as a whole;
that while an argument could be made for assisted suicide affording dignity in dying, an equally compelling argument was that preserving dignity lay in the quality of care available and respect afforded to the dying;
that the bill could have a negative effect for disabled people;
and that vague wording in the bill could lead to unintended consequences.
On Wednesday, at the first stage debate, the Scottish Parliament rejected the bill by 85 votes to 16.
Peter Saunders, campaign director of the Care Not Killing alliance, said specialists in palliative care who see thousands of dying patients in a lifetime say you can count on the fingers of one hand the number who make persistent, ongoing requests to have their lives ended.
"The question has to be: Do we change the law for a very small number of determined and persistent people? Our answer has always been 'No, you don't,' because if you do you will remove legal protection from a large number of vulnerable or potentially vulnerable people who are depressed, elderly or sick. It's too great a risk to public safety."
The battle for legalised killing will go on. It's important there is a continued stand against it - for the sake of the vulnerable majority.
I wrote here how supermarkets were selling halal chicken and lamb - chicken and lamb killed in accordance with Islamic ritual - without its being marked as halal and without customers being told. Halal chicken was being used in fast food chains, and halal food was being served in hospitals, schools, pubs and sporting venues across the UK, again without customers' knowledge.
MPs have since complained that halal food has been served at facilities at the House of Commons without their being aware.
Barnabas Aid says halal meats now make up 11 per cent of all meats sold in the UK.
"Muslims are working actively to integrate halal meat into the mainstream market and to extend it to non-Muslims. . . The spread of halal is part of a Muslim commitment to Islamic mission and the islamisation of non-Muslim societies. The imposition of sharia [Islamic] law on non-Muslims may be interpreted as an assertion of Islamic supremacy. . . Halal is being used as an underhanded way of furthering the islamisation of the country."
A portion of money spent on halal food, say Barnabas, goes to Islamic agencies, and Christians may unwittingly be funding Islamic activities.
"Many Christians are uneasy about buying halal food. . . They see such purchases as advancing the cause of global Islam, and of Islamist radicalism in particular, and as putting them implicitly under the authority of Islamic sharia.
"For this reason, while in no way objecting to the provision of halal products for Muslim consumers, they argue that these should not be forced on the non-Muslim community or sold without appropriate labelling. In addition, Christian farmers do not want to be responsible for sacrificial slaughter of animals to Allah."
A petition has been organised supporting the freedom of religious groups to access products that meet the requirements of their faith, but expressing concern about the massive growth of sharia-compliant products for everyone whatever their faith, often without consumers, parents of schoolchildren and others being informed or consulted.
It calls upon Government agencies and the food industry to label halal products clearly, expresses concern about the lack of informed choice for consumers in supermarkets and restaurants, and calls on the food industry to ensure that halal does not become the general default option in non-Muslim countries.
You can read further details and sign the petition by clicking here. A further petition can be signed by clicking here.
Andrea Minichiello Williams is chief executive officer of Christian Concern, an organisation which supports Christian standards in society. On her blog two days ago she posted the following, which merits careful consideration:
Yesterday the Government published the 'Schools White Paper.'
At 4.29 it states:
Children need high-quality sex and relationships education so they can make wise and informed choices. We will work with teachers, parents, faith groups and campaign groups, such as Stonewall to make sure sex and relationships education encompasses an understanding of the ways in which humans love each other and stresses the importance of respecting individual autonomy.
Not content with pushing for and achieving equality laws that promote a homosexual agenda, Stonewall wants to get its message to children directly. . . currently the actor Sir Ian McKellan is touring schools across Britain on behalf of Stonewall. He is giving assemblies, talking to children in classrooms and promoting a homosexual campaign "to tackle homophobic bullying". . . Stonewall's solution to bullying is to promote and legitimise the practice of homosexuality to children. That is not right. . .
When asked how teachers should explain the Christian stance on homosexuality, Sir Ian said that they should abandon the teachings of the church. They may not need to if Prime Minister David Cameron gets his way - in February he told pro-homosexual magazine 'Attitude' that the Church of England should change its policies on homosexuality.
The Prime Minister is serious about the homosexual agenda. Last week a Conservative councillor from Bristol, Chris Windows, was actually suspended after he expressed concern over Sir Ian's visit to schools in his ward. The more that incidents like this happen, and the less the Prime Minister defends freedom of speech, the more it is eroded and the more society is harmed. . . What happened to the concept of "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it"? . . .
The White Paper also stated:
4.30: Children can benefit enormously from high-quality Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education. Good PSHE supports individual young people to make safe and informed choices. . . We will conduct an internal review to determine how we can support schools to improve the quality of all PSHE teaching, including giving teachers the flexibility to use their judgement about how best to deliver PSHE education.
This is a strong endorsement of PSHE ahead of a likely attempt to make PSHE compulsory in future legislation. PSHE, in its current form, is often taught as a politically correct programme which encourages the "promotion of equality" in sex education. In practice this means the promotion of the practice of homosexuality; legitimising same sex relationships as normal and desirable, as well as treating heterosexual cohabitation as equal to marriage.
The promotion of practising homosexual relationships as normal will not benefit children, only confuse them. It's contrary to the ethos of many parents and schools, whether Christian or not, and it may cause a range of difficulties for Christian teachers. . .
I will be doing all that I can to resist any attempt to make PSHE in its current format compulsory in schools. Please join me in resisting Stonewall's determined and aggressive campaign for the hearts and minds of our children. Their agenda must not go unchallenged.
In a country full of unplanned pregnancies, abortions, STDs and family breakdown, Christians have a strong argument that there is a better way. The 'sexual liberation' experiment has failed and has produced bad fruit.
We can offer values and an education based on our Christian faith. We can teach children about the importance of marriage and the family. We can teach them about purity and how to respect who they are. . . We can teach them that abstinence before marriage is the best way. We can give them positive life lessons and help them to avoid some of the consequences of sexual promiscuity.
The message is one of hope and promise and yet one that is excluded from the debate. It is time to re-enter the debate.
You can read the whole thing here.
The newspapers are full of bad news. National debt. Lawlessness. Violence. Immorality. So here's some good news.
Mark and Vesta Sauter were missionaries to the Czech Republic, with a particular desire to reach the country's deaf people with the gospel. After three years' service, they hadn't led a single deaf person to Christ.
Lillian Beard, a long-time supporter, decided she was no longer content just to pray for them. She wanted to go to help.
Vesta wasn't at all sure about that. The problem was that Lillian was 90 years old and in a wheelchair. And although she was fluent in sign language, she didn't know the Czech sign language.
Lillian's friends didn't want her to go. They thought she was crazy. "Listen," said Lillian. "I can die there just as easily as I can here. They can put me in a box and send me home. Serving Him is all I want to do." So she went.
The Sauters arranged for her to speak at a luncheon at a deaf club in Prague. On the day, the club was packed because people were curious to find what a 90-year-old woman who had travelled so far to speak to them would have to say. They demanded to see her passport as proof of her age, and passed it round the room for all to see.
Anna Smolkova, a deaf Czech woman, was there. She was the matriarch of a family of 60 deaf people. She was an alcoholic, an atheist, and hostile to the gospel. "I want to make it very clear to you that I don't want anyone in my family to know about Jesus or God," she had said.
As Lillian began to speak, something happened. "I didn't believe this woman was 90," said Anna. "I was amazed at how beautiful she was, how she radiated. Something touched me inside. . . Something began knocking at my heart. . . and wouldn't release me."
When Lillian had finished, Anna asked her "Why are you so beautiful? Why do you radiate?" Lillian said "It's the love of Jesus."
Kneeling in front of Lillian's wheelchair so they could see one another eye to eye, Anna peppered Lillian with questions. When she'd finished asking questions, she accepted Christ.
Anna arranged to be baptised with all her family present. She helped lead her three daughters to the Lord, then her sons-in-law. She baptised one of them herself in the bath. There wasn't much room, so she baptised half of him, then baptised the other half.
She led many of her 14 grandchildren to Christ. She helped plant churches. She started a Christian youth camp.
Lillian, who spoke at the club that day, is now with the Lord. She died this year, aged 101. But the work among the deaf continues to flourish - in large part, because of a lady of 90 in a wheelchair.
You can read the full story by clicking here.
We were invited to a wedding in South Wales. The friends who invited us kindly arranged two nights' accommodation for us so that we could travel down one day, spend the following day at the wedding, and drive home the day after that.
All we were told about the church building where the wedding was to take place was that it had been borrowed for the occasion and that it was within walking distance of the place where we were staying.
On the morning of the wedding, we walked to the church. When we arrived I discovered, to my delight, that it was the very place where the Welsh revival began. It was the chapel where Evan Roberts, the young man so wonderfully used in the revival, used to worship.
Some time later, friends offered us their house in South Wales for a week's holiday. We weren't able to go at the time originally suggested, so it was some weeks later we took up the offer. On our journey down, it came time for a break, and we couldn't find a motorway services open. It was uncanny. Until eventually we came to a motorway services near Cardiff that we wouldn't have visited otherwise.
On the car park were a number of cars with fish emblems on the back, and we got chatting to the occupants. It turned out they were all going to a week's convention in a large tent in the grounds of Swansea University. "You must come," they said. We were staying quite near Swansea, so we spent four or five evenings at the convention and enjoyed some great meetings.
Providence, as some people used to call Him, had so wonderfully arranged the details of our holiday that not only that: on the Wednesday afternoon of our week's holiday there was a meeting at the chapel where Evan Roberts used to worship to mark the 100th anniversary of the Welsh revival. We went along.
There were people there from all over the place. There was no one there who actually remembered the revival 100 years before - although there was a 100-year-old man in the meeting - but there were people whose parents had been involved in the revival.
It was at that meeting that I heard a story about Evan Roberts I had not heard before.
An old retired minister told how his mother had been one of the young women who went round the churches with Evan Roberts, taking the revival with them. One day, when the old minister was four years old, a knock came to the door of the farmhouse where they lived. The four-year-old boy ran to open the door. A man was standing there.
"The man smiled at me," he said. "I will remember that smile as long as I live. He said to me - in Welsh - 'Is your mother in?' I didn't reply. I turned and ran into the farmhouse to my mother and said 'Mother, Jesus Christ has come.'"
The man of course was Evan Roberts. The boy didn't know who it was. He had no idea. But the man had such a presence about him that the little lad thought it was Jesus.
What a story.
So many people don't understand what a Christian is. A Christian is not just someone who was christened, or someone who goes to church, or someone who tries to live by a set of rules.
A Christian is someone who has repented of his (or her) sins. Someone who knows that his (or her) sins are forgiven. Someone who has invited Jesus Christ to be Lord of his (or her) life. Someone who has entered into a personal relationship with a living Saviour.
Jesus said "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).
Jesus has never ever spoken to me in an audible voice. But He speaks to me often. Through the pages of Scripture. Through other people. Through circumstances. Through a still, small voice speaking silently to my heart. Most often as I spend time communing with Him.
God wants you to be His. He has a purpose for your life. He can only lead you to it as you yield to Him.
He loves you. He gave His Son to die in your place. He needs you to open your heart to His love.
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee:
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
God's love is beyond compare.
Don't miss it.
The Times, named as Publication of the Year by the homosexual organisation Stonewall for its coverage of homosexual issues, says it looks forward to the time when the need to fete any media organisation for intelligent, open-minded, even-handed coverage of homosexuals and homosexual issues will be redundant.
It says it hopes, with the very best of wills, that Stonewall will soon also be irrelevant, because its work will have been done.
Meanwhile, homosexual activists in the UK are planning to use the law courts to impose their views about homosexual marriage.
In a campaign evidently organised by homosexual activist Peter Tatchell, four homosexual couples are to apply for civil marriage licences, and four heterosexual couples are to apply to register civil partnerships. When they are refused, they expect to go to the courts, claiming the register offices' refusal is a breach of their human rights.
In Mexico City, a 50-year-old woman has given birth to her own grandchild. Her son, who is a homosexual, wanted to have a baby, so she offered the use of her womb. An egg was donated, fertilised by sperm from the son and implanted in his mother. After the birth, the woman said she felt "strange" because she didn't feel either like a mother or a grandmother.
In the UK, a man placed an advertisement in a homosexual magazine saying he wanted to be a father. A lesbian - part of a lesbian couple - replied, and two children were born by artificial insemination. All three adults are now at the Court of Appeal in a battle over custody.
The Bible says God inaugurated marriage between a man and a woman, and records His purpose for doing so - because He sought godly offspring (Mal 2:15). Unfortunately for homosexuals, homosexual marriage doesn't bring forth offspring.
In attempting to redefine marriage, homosexuals have ignored what the Bible says on the matter. But there's one fact they can't escape.
God has a right to say what's what about marriage. First, because He's God; and second, because He invented it.
Steven Boyd had been 12 years in the army. A series of accidents left him with multiple traumatic brain injuries, followed by a paralysis of the gastrointestinal tract. He could vomit 10 to 15 times an hour for days on end. He sometimes broke ribs in the process.
Steven felt he was dying.
One day he wandered into an animal shelter and offered to walk some of their dogs. While he was there, his eyes met the eyes of an Australian cattle dog.
In that moment, he said, he knew they were meant to be together. He offered to buy the dog. The shelter workers said the dog was due to be put down the following morning. The dog was too aggressive and could not be trained. Steven insisted.
He got his way.
Steven called the dog Djaingo. He put him through his own course of training. Within six months, Djaingo was affectionate and obedient. "He saved my life as much as I saved his," says Steven.
Four years ago, however, several days of vomiting left Steven feeling it was all too much. He took the cap off a bottle of bleach and prepared to commit suicide by drinking it.
Then he heard a voice, as clearly as he has heard anyone's voice. "Don't do this," it said. "It was my Father God," says Steven, "and I broke down. I get teary-eyed now talking about it."
Steven says his sickness has changed him. It has softened his heart in so many ways; made him realise that things people take for granted are sometimes the most important things in life.
Last year he taught Djaingo to say grace, and made a video of Djaingo saying grace as a gift for his mother. Steven knows the dog is not really praying, just being obedient so he can get his dinner - but, he says, "it's an affirmation of my faith."
Steven put a copy of the video on his Facebook page to amuse a few friends. Someone put it on YouTube. It was shown on TV. It's been seen by thousands, if not millions of people. (You can see it by clicking here.)
Steven has received 5,000 messages from people around the world, many of them saying how they have been blessed and encouraged by the video.
"Who would have thought," says Steven, "God would use my fat dog to spread His glory?"
Iain Duncan Smith is a man for whom I have a great regard. When he lost his job as leader of the Conservatives in the House of Commons, he didn't go missing from the Commons, but continued his work as an MP.
He did a brilliant job of standing up for what was right with regard to the Mental Capacity Bill. To the best of my knowledge, he has always stood up for marriage and the family.
He has worked hard to solve social welfare problems, and he hasn't just pontificated from on high, but gone out and about to meet people in need so he can understand their problems.
As Work and Pensions Secretary, he now proposes social welfare reforms.
I think most people would disagree with giving people with large families £1 million and £2 million houses to live in. Most sensible people would agree there is something wrong when people can collect more in benefits by not working than they can earn by going to work.
Iain Duncan Smith proposes to guarantee that people who choose to work rather than live on benefits will be in pocket by doing so.
What really seems to have got people spitting mad, however, is the suggestion that people on long-term benefits who are able to work - the idea is to target layabouts who choose to live on welfare rather than go out to work, and get people back into a work habit - should do some unpaid work or risk losing their welfare payments.
The left-leaning Archbishop of Canterbury complains that this will send benefit claimants into a "downward spiral of despair."
The apostle Paul was careful to remember the poor (Gal 2:10). He said those in the church who were really in need should be cared for (1 Tim 5:3 - 14), but he said those who would not work, being able to do so, shouldn't eat either (2 Thess 3:10 - 12).
Sounds reasonable to me.
Talking (as we were) about moves towards the perfect marriage, I remember a little poem, author unknown, given to me by a dear Christian lady years ago.
TELL HER SO
Amid the cares of married life,
In spite of toil and business strife,
If you value your sweet wife,
Tell her so!
There was a time you thought it bliss
To get the favour of a kiss;
A dozen now won't come amiss -
Tell her so!
Don't act as if she's past her prime,
As though to please her were a crime -
If e'er you loved her, now's the time;
Tell her so!
Well, it can't do any harm, can it?
Euthanasia supporters among the "chattering classes" are playing on fears of death and dying to call for the legalisation of assisted suicide in the UK - but it will be not they, but the elderly, the frail and the not-so-well connected whose lives will be at risk.
So says Cristina Odone, journalist, novelist and broadcaster, in a report for the Centre for Policy Studies. She is a research fellow at the centre.
If assisted suicide were legalised, a new category of less-than-perfect citizens would be created, she says. Hard-pressed hospitals and hard-up institutions would see the elderly and frail as a burden to be disposed of, not people to be cared for.
"The elderly, people with severe disabilities, the mentally unstable, and those with terminal illnesses will be presented with self-inflicted death as a natural, normal and expected final solution.
"They may feel that, once over a certain age, or grown too dependent on others, or too fed up with life, or too ill, they should opt for death rather than life. Worse, many may be coerced, actively or subtly, by cost-conscious hospitals, or by intended heirs with an eye to a legacy, or by exhausted carers."
The report warns that assisted suicide, once legalised, could slip quietly, almost unnoticed, into full-blown euthanasia.
Then there was news that Maryannick Pavageau, a Frenchwoman who was in "locked-in syndrome" for years - conscious but paralysed after a stroke - has been awarded the Legion d'Honneur for her efforts in the fight against euthanasia.
Some of her comments are interesting. "Public statements," she said, "produce unexpected collateral damage amongst people suffering from serious illness such as locked-in syndrome.
"We are constant consumers of TV and radio programmes. In response to our deep discouragement - and who is free from that - we are only offered this final right, hypocritically baptised as a sign of love.
"A recent study in the quality of life of locked-in syndrome patients found, to the astonishment of the medical profession, that when asked 'If you had a heart attack, would you want to be resuscitated?' the great majority of us answered: 'Yes.'
"All life is worth living. It can be beautiful, regardless of the state we are in. And change is always possible. . . All those who ask to die are mostly looking for love."
Pope Benedict recently summoned Middle Eastern bishops to Rome to discuss the plight of Christians in the Middle East. After two weeks of talks, the bishops issued a statement at a press conference at the Vatican.
The statement was presented by Monsignor Cyril Salim Bustros, Lebanese-born Greek Melkite Archbishop of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Boston, Massachusetts, who, it is said, is going to become Archbishop of Beirut. He said on behalf of the bishops that
* Christians cannot speak of the Promised Land as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people.
* This promise was nullified by Christ.
* There is no longer a chosen people - all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.
* The Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel.
* The Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands.
* Israel should end its occupation of Arab lands.
This is pure, downright wrong.
There is doubt in some quarters about who is a Jew, so let's begin there. The biblical definition of a Jew is clear: a Jew is someone who is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A Gentile is someone who is not a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God knows who is a Jew.
God said to Abraham "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants for ever" (Gen 13:14 - 17). What does "for ever" mean?
God made a covenant with Abraham, which was confirmed through Isaac (Gen 17:18 - 21) and Jacob and his descendants (Gen 28:10 - 14). The Bible says the covenant was an everlasting covenant (Gen 17:7), and that the land was given them for an everlasting possession (Gen 17:8). What does "everlasting" mean?
God promised that He would scatter the Jews from their land because of their disobedience, but that He would also return them to their land, and they would never again be scattered from it (Amos 9:14, 15).
God has not forgotten His promises to His Jewish people (Jer 31:35 - 37; 33:23 - 26; Isa 49:14 - 16).
Paul wrote in the New Testament after Christ's death and resurrection: "Has God cast away his people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew" (Rom 11:1, 2). He points out in Romans 11 that the majority of the Jews are in unbelief, but that when the fulness of the Gentiles has come to faith, God will turn again to His Jewish people (Rom 11:25).
The suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust is almost impossible to imagine. But there is a time of persecution for the Jewish people still to come that will be worse than the Holocaust. Jeremiah calls it "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer 30:7). Daniel calls it "a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation" (Dan 12:1). Zephaniah calls it "a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (Zeph 1:15, 16). Jesus said it will be "great tribulation, such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt 24:21).
During the Holocaust, a third of world Jewry was killed. But Zechariah says that during this time still to come, two-thirds of the people in the land will be killed (Zech 13:8). But all the Jews who remain will come to faith (Zech 13:9; 12:10; Jer 31:31 - 34). Israel will become a completely believing nation. Paul's prophecy will be fulfilled. "And so," he wrote, "all Israel will be saved" (Rom 11:26).
"Israel" there means Israel. The word Israel occurs in the New Testament more than 70 times, and each time it means Israel; never the church.
The suffering of Israel will be equalled only by their subsequent blessing. They will have praise among all the people of the earth (Zeph 3:20); Gentiles will serve them (Isa 49:22, 23); the shechinah glory will again be seen in Jerusalem (Isa 4:5, 6); and all the nations of the earth will go up to Jerusalem to worship (Zech 14:16; Micah 4:2).
Jesus was killed because He claimed to be King of the Jews (Luke 23:2, 3). His title hung over His head in three languages as He was crucified (Luke 23:38). He has never reigned, has He? He is going to. When He returns to earth, He will return not only as King of the Jews, but as King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.
Jesus' disciples asked Him when Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, what would be the sign of the end of the age, and what would be the sign of His coming (Matt 24:1 - 3).
