Jump to Blog Sidebar & Archives
This is the Achilles heel of the Darwinian view of the universe.
If the building blocks of biological life are present on other planets where conditions are similar to earth, and if life arises spontaneously under such conditions and evolves into ever-higher and more advanced forms of life, then it is inconceivable that intelligent life similar to humankind hasn't evolved on other worlds. In fact, in some regions of the galaxy that are "older" than ours, evolutionary scientists are persuaded that civilizations much more advanced than ours may have arisen. This has given rise to efforts like SETI (the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) and its never-ending quest to establish contact with alien civilizations.
We discussed this in my Star Trek article in the July-August issue of Messianic Perspectives: click here
The late Carl Sagan, the affable yet brilliant astronomer from Cornell University, was one of the early driving forces behind SETI. His book Contact was made into a motion picture starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. The main character is a scientist who has dedicated her life to establishing contact with extraterrestrials. Spoiler warning: with a little help from Sagan's fertile imagination, she is finally able to do so.
Here's an excerpt from the article in Messianic Perspectives:
But there’s another fly in the ointment for our SETI friends. Even if we were to accept the possibility that there may be civilizations in other parts of the galaxy, how could we possibly know that they are friendly? After all, doesn’t Darwinian dogma dictate that the fittest species are the ones that survive—and the strong advance at the expense of the weak? So what if an alien civilization—like the Borg in Star Trek, for instance—simply saw us as raw materials and resources to be harvested—or perhaps as laborers to be enslaved? We may wish we hadn’t knocked on their door!
So have the Darwinists at SETI really thought this through? I wonder!
Nonetheless, evidence continues to mount that there are many other worlds similar to our own--possibly millions of them--scattered across the galaxy. The fact that all SETI is hearing from beyond our world is stark and uninterrupted silence tends to confirm a biblical worldview that says Planet Earth is the universe's cradle of intelligent life. It all started here! The rest of the universe was created for our exploration, growth, and enjoyment. Unfortunately, our quest to exercise dominion over the creation (as mandated in Genesis 1:26-28) was interrupted by the Fall (sin). Sagan would probably say that this is a rather self-absorbed and human-centric view of our place in the cosmos; however, I believe it's biblical. The Bible puts humankind (and Planet Earth) in the epicenter of a grand epic drama that's being played out on the stage of history. Its ultimate goal: to eradicate evil and its effects once and for all.
Here's the article from CNN: click here
It's true that some believers get bogged down in theological minutiae (hair-splitting) that is, for the most part, pointless.
One of my children reminded me recently that I'm a pretty opinionated guy--and maybe a little bit too much so. There's a part of me that wants everyone to agree with me on everything because, of course, my view is the "correct" one!
So I have to guard against that tendency in my own life. Fortunately, the passage of time has a way of smoothing off some of those rough edges. I'm not nearly as dogmatic and self-assured as I was when I was a young preacher in my 20s and 30s. Back in those days, I was ready at the drop of a hat to debate anyone who dared to question anything I preached or wrote. Today, 40 or so years later, my approach has morphed somewhat. I suppose I'm still opinionated, but I try, nonetheless, to listen more than I talk. I find that I learn more that way. And boy, do I have a lot to learn!
These days, I'm more concerned with making sure that I'm right about my beliefs than I am about making sure everyone else agrees with me.
Eschatology is one of those fields of study where people tend to get bogged down with details. The main point of eschatology is that the Lord is coming back someday and in the meantime, we're here to live holy lives and serve Him faithfully in anticipation of that Day. It's really that simple. Peter says it like this:
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (2 Peter 3:10-12).
However, one eschatological issue that is not minutiae and does make a difference, believe it or not, is the dating of the Book of Revelation. There are two main theories--the early date (somewhere around AD 65) and the late date (c. AD 95). Almost without exception, premillennial evangelicals (like us) hold to the late date. Preterists (who say the Book of Revelation is past history rather than future prophecy) rely heavily on the early date. In fact, their whole system falls apart if the early date cannot be upheld.
Mark Hitchcock, who stays busy pastoring a church while also teaching at Dallas Seminary, did his doctoral dissertation on this topic (the dating of the Book of Revelation). Dr. Hitchcock debated Hank Hanegraaf ("the Bible Answer Man") a few years ago and a three-part video of that debate on the AD 65 vs AD 95 issue is available on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/25830703 (part one)
http://vimeo.com/25836659 (part two)
http://vimeo.com/25841874 (part three)
In my opinion, Hank is the smoother debater, but he plays fast and loose with selected facts and makes a huge gaffe in Part One when he boldly declares that Norm Geisler is a preterist (in reality, Geisler is a died-in-the-wool, pre-Trib premillennialist, about as far from a preterist as you can get!).
This highlights one of the shortcomings of debates as a tool for settling a disputed issue: that is, very often they're more about deciding who's the better debater than they are about figuring out who is right. In this case, some of us might be willing to concede that Hank was the better debater (style); but we would also say that Mark was right (substance).
But I could be wrong (not likely, but possible--ha). Check it out and let us know what you think!
Check out this video on Vimeo (link below).
It's from a Korean Christian group that rejects replacement theology and affirms Israel's ongoing role in God's plan. Very moving!
2013 Shalom Yerushalayim in NYC from K. Jonathan Park on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/72049857
The spiritual battle between GOD and the forces of darkness is heating up all over the world.
Check out this story from Christianity Today magazine:
One summer morning in Pakistan, a Christian woman named Asia Bibi took a break from her fieldwork to drink a cup of cold water from a well. Since she was a Christian, the Muslim women there saw her actions as contaminating the water. Angered, the women began to argue with her. Bibi asked them, "I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Muhammad ever do to save mankind?"
Her question made the women furious. Bibi was beaten by a crowd and thrown into prison, accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death. She has been held since June 2009, and has become an international symbol of the capriciousness and cruelty of the Pakistani blasphemy law. Two Pakistani officials who spoke up for Bibi have been assassinated.
Click here to continue reading in the new edition of CT.
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel evangelicals (a tribe that, sadly, is growing) chafe at the suggestion that their position may be anti-Semitic.
After all, the term "anti-Semitic" is one of those emotional hot-button terms that evokes unpleasant images and emotions. Another aspect of the question is: Can you be pro-Palestinian and not be anti-Israel?
I'd say the answer to this question depends on how you define "pro-Palestinian." If you mean pro-Palestinian in the sense that you empathize with the plight of the Palestinian people, including the way they have been treated like lepers by their own Arab kinsmen in the Middle East, and the way they are shamefully exploited by a wealthy and influential Palestinian elite in the territories--then I would say it's very possible to be pro-Palestinian and also be pro-Israel. In fact, many of us would fall into that category.
On the other hand, however, if you take the position that being pro-Palestinian means that you oppose Israeli security policy (the famous wall, the checkpoints, and other restrictions on the movements of Palestinians--particularly those who wish to enter Israel), and you demonize and delegitimize Israel in order to make the Palestinians look like hapless victims, then that's a horse of a different color.
The security measures (a wall, checkpoints, and other restrictions on the movements of Palestinians) have worked--no one can argue with that. These measures are saving lives. Terrorist attacks have declined dramatically since the wall and additional strategic checkpoints were installed.
Some of us remember the good old days when the borders were open. Every morning, throngs of Palestinians crossed the border into Israel to go their places of employment. We met an Israeli man in the 1990s who had a furniture factory in the Gaza Strip. He employed dozens of Palestinians. It was good for him because it kept his labor costs down--and it was good for his workers because they were gainfully employed. But when the Israelis turned Gaza over to the Palestinians, he had to close the factory because the IDF could no longer provide security services. Soon thereafter, Hamas started using Gaza as a base from which to launch terror attacks into Israel--just like Netanyahu had warned would happen if the IDF withdrew from Gaza. So the Israeli businessman had little choice but to close the factory.
The open borders were a blessing not only to the Palestinians, but also to the Israeli business community who benefited from the lower labor costs.
So can we be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel at the same time? In a certain sense, yes. Several of our workers in Israel have a passion for helping and ministering to Palestinian people. I would say, very definitely, that they are pro-Palestinian. One of our ladies (a full-time staff member whose name I won't mention for security reasons) routinely travels through the checkpoints into the West Bank to visit needy Palestinian families in places like Bethlehem and Ramallah. She's a Jewish grandma and when she's on one of these missions, even the Palestinian police don't mess with her! If they give her any grief, she'll stick a boney finger in their face and say, in near-perfect Arabic, "Young man, would you treat your grandmother like this?" They know her by now, so they give her a wide berth!
However, if by "pro-Palestinian" you mean that you demonize the Israelis and tell them they can't implement self-defensive security measures (like security barriers and checkpoints) without being denounced as an apartheid regime, like some evangelicals today are saying, then I'd say that is indeed a prejudiced, anti-Israel viewpoint. And I don't think it's a stretch at all to attach the term "anti-Semitic" to it.
We were in Israel earlier this year and noticed a group of Arabic-speaking school kids getting off a bus at the beach in Tel Aviv. They were playing with Frisbees, wading in the water, and dancing to music from a nearby cafe. I asked a store owner who they were and he said they were Palestinian students from the West Bank. I must have had a surprised expression on my face because he quickly added, almost nonchalantly, "They're just on a field trip. These school groups come from the West Bank almost every day. Nothing to worry about." I looked around and didn't see any police or soldiers. The children dropped their backpacks in the sand and frolicked around, laughing and giggling, totally unafraid. They knew they were safe. Their chaperones knew they were safe in Israel. They know the Israeli people wish them no harm. But, I wondered, what would happen if a bus of Israeli school children went to visit Ramallah or Gaza City? It would be a very dangerous excursion--a recipe for disaster!
This speaks volumes about the differences between the predominant Palestinian and Israeli cultures! Our fellow evangelicals--especially those who are so critical of the Jewish State--need to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee.
It's like Bibi Netanyahu once said: "If the Palestinians would lay down their weapons tomorrow, there would be no more war. But if the Israelis put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel."
Can you imagine what it must be like to be the evangelical world's self-proclaimed "Bible Answer Man"?
Quite a billing to live up to, I'd say!
A friend from Ohio just sent us this cover from a past issue of Hank Hanegraaff's Christian Research Journal:
Of course, we all know that Hanegraaff had some nasty things to say about Israel (and also about Tim LaHaye) in his book The Apocalypse Code (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007). We won't go into detail here because Tommy Ice and I reviewed TAO a few years ago in Messianic Perspectives: click here
Hanegraaff has said that Israel should not be a Jewish state because that constitutes some sort of ill-advised ethnic exclusivity (CRI Position Statement PSN001 at www.equip.org). Never mind that the tiny Jewish state is surrounded by an enormous community of Arab states--it's just wrong to allow the existence of even one Jewish state, according to this dubious line of reasoning.
So Hank and CRI already have a track record. He has been associated with outspoken anti-Zionists like Stephen Sizer and Gary Burge. This, in part, is why no one (at least, none of my acquaintances) was surprised when he showed up at an Occupy Wall Street conference in Tehran, Iran, last year (2012): click here
The magazine cover (above) evidently has some people wondering just how reliable CRI's scholarship is if they don't know the difference between the noun "prophecy" and the verb "prophesy." Our friend in Ohio mused, "These people should learn the correct spelling of 'prophecy' before claiming to be an expert in it."
However, here at CJFM, we're going to give CRI the benefit of the doubt and say it's a simple typo (even though it's in 80 point type!). We'd rather keep the focus where it belongs: that is, on the issues of replacement theology, futuristic eschatology, Israel's right to dwell in the Land (even when she's corporately--but temporarily--in a state of unbelief), and other, substantive matters, rather than typographical errors.
By the way, Bill Koenig has a germane piece in today's edition of his International News. It includes a transcript of an interview in which Hank elaborates in some detail on his partial preterist views: click here
If you don't know what partial preterism is, you'll find helpful info here and here.
Stay strong, friends!
Our non-Messianic friend Yaakov Kirschen, whose cartoons from Israel are simply delightful, has a fun video on YouTube demonstrating the correct technique for preparing your own horseradish for Passover this year.
Go ahead and take a gander:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6FRdiGWrLc
Chag Sameach!
The headmaster of a Palestinian high school in the West Bank has been reprimanded by the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
What was his offense? During a field trip to Israel, some of his 11th and 12th graders met some Israeli young people on the beach in Jaffa--and a spontaneous party broke out!
Yes, the Israeli young folks and the Palestinian young folks evidently hit it off immediately and before long, they were dancing together--to the beat of an Israeli DJ--right there on the beach. Horror of horrors!
Behaviors for Palestinian young people that are sanctioned by their elders:
- Throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers
- Blowing themselves up at Israeli checkpoints
- Idolizing suicide bombers like they were rock stars
- Believing that Jewish people are sub-human
But dancing with the Israelis? We can't have that, can we?
Someone in the Palestinian entourage didn't like what was happening that day on the beach so they sent a video and still-shots of the goings-on to the Palestinian authorities.
The young principal, Mohammad Abu Samra, was soon thereafter relieved of his duties at the school. His offense was allowing conduct that implied the "normalization of ties with Israel," and exposing young Palestinians to the "illicit" Israeli culture.
This goes to the point that anti-Israelism is so deeply engrained in Palestinian culture, it makes a civil and respectful coexistence virtually impossible. Even when a little sliver of the light of normalization breaks through, the Palestinian "powers that be" move quickly and forcefully to extinguish it.
It's just one more reason why (and forgive me here for sounding like a broken record) the so-called "two-state solution" won't work. "Palestine" and Israel will never be friendly neighbors. As long as the "powers that be" have their way, there will always be antagonism.
The upside to all of this, of course, is that a higher power is on the way. The Apostle John gives us this glimpse of Yeshua the Messiah when He returns to this world in power and glory:
And He has on [His] robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev. 19:16).
In the meantime, while we await the arrival of the Messiah, we continue our quest for Mideast peace, which we believe comes one heart and one life at a time. Pray for our personnel in Israel, several of whom minister at times in the Palestinian territories. It's exciting to read their reports describing the reconciliation that's taking place between Arab and Jewish believers in the Land!
This is the ingredient that the Quartet, and everyone else, has missed: peace can only come through the Prince of Peace, Yeshua, who has the power to change the hearts of the inhabitants of the Middle East.
Here's the story from the Feb. 6, 2013 edition of The Times of Israel (www.timesofisrael.com):
A Palestinian principal was punished over a spontaneous beach party that emerged during a field trip in Israel. The school head lost his job, and was reassigned to a different West Bank school.
Mohammad Abu Samra, 33, says he landed in hot water when video and images of his pupils dancing on a beach in Jaffa with bikini-clad women and Israeli beachgoers were sent to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
The incident took place at the close of the Qalqilya Al Salam Secondary School’s 11th- and 12th-grade field trip to Jaffa beach led by Abu Samra, reportedly the youngest principal in the history of the Palestinian Authority, according to the Dubai-based Al Nisr Gulf News.
According to Abu Samra, an Israeli DJ began setting up on the beach as he attempted to load the buses to leave before their day permits expired.
“My pupils started dancing, and I also joined them at the beginning to let them have fun,” Abu Samra told the news agency.
“Volunteers shot a video and took a couple of still photos and forwarded them to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, with a complaint that the incident would imply that there was normalization of ties with Israel and it exposed the young generation of Palestinians to Israel’s illicit code of conduct,” he added.
Abu Samra was reassigned to a school about 30 miles away. Students reportedly have protested the education ministry’s actions.
Hey, Does This Look Like a Battleground?
This high-rise building might not look like a dangerous battleground, but it is. You see, the way nations conduct warfare is evolving.
Instead of sending in troops, tanks, and planes to duke it out on the battlefield, a country can hack into an enemy's computer networks and disrupt critical systems and vital, national infrastructure without firing a single shot.
In a full-blown attack, cyber-militias could take out electrical power grids or shut down gas and/or water pipelines. Supply chains may be broken, leaving entire populations without fuel, groceries, or other essential supplies. Phones, hospitals, police, and other essential services might be inaccessible.
Just imagine what your life would be like if you were suddenly left without water or power--and you couldn't buy food or gas! What would you and your family do?
And this is to say nothing about the potential for chaos if banking and financial systems were taken down by hackers! It wasn't that long ago that hackers got into a payment processor's system and stole 1.5 million credit card numbers--so we're not just speaking in abstract terms here, friends.
Earlier this week, China's news agency reported on Iran's ongoing cyber assaults on Israel.
Three years ago, Israel and the U.S. jointly carried out the now-infamous Stuxnet cyber-strike
against an Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz.
And now, today's NY Times features an exposé of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's unit #61398, headquartered in a 12-story building on the outskirts of Shanghai (pictured above). According to the report, this elite cyber unit of the Chinese military has been busy:
While Comment Crew has drained terabytes of data from companies like Coca-Cola, increasingly its focus is on companies involved in the critical infrastructure of the United States — its electrical power grid, gas lines and waterworks. According to the security researchers, one target was a company with remote access to more than 60 percent of oil and gas pipelines in North America. The unit was also among those that attacked the computer security firm RSA, whose computer codes protect confidential corporate and government databases.
Apparently, some rather well-known cyber-attacks have been traced back to that building and the immediate vicinity.
Read the story at: The New York Times.com
All I can say is, "It's better late than never!"
For years, the silence of the Muslim moderate majority has been deafening.
We've been told for all this time that the vast majority of Muslims in the world do not condone the violent extremism of the militant minority.
But there was little evidence of any majority opposition to horrible acts of Islamic terror. Women supposedly caught in adultery were dragged onto a soccer field at halftime and shot in the head while thousands looked on. An American journalist in the Philippines was beheaded with the camera rolling. Girls who insisted on attending school were considered an embarrassment to their families. They were turned over to the authorities, tortured, and summarily executed.
Then there was the heart-rending case of a soft-spoken 18-year-old Afghan woman named Aisha that made the cover of Time magazine. Aisha had fled from an abusive family situation. When she was apprehended, a cowardly Taliban commander ordered her nose and ears cut off. Unbelievable. She was horribly disfigured.
We could go on citing a whole litany of horrible atrocities--all of which took place with no noticeable public outcry from the so-called "Muslim moderate majority."
That is, until now.
Anglican vicars in England have long been outspoken in their criticisms of the State of Israel. But now, guess who is defending Israel in the face of these Anglican attacks? Moderate Muslims in Canada!
Yes, I'm serious!
Here's the article in today's online edition of the Jewish Tribune: click here
Kudos to Sohail Raza, director of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow in Canada!
It's refreshing to be able to share good news once in awhile!
Thanks to our friends at the Rosh Pina Project (RPP) for alerting us to this noteworthy article.
