The rumblings stirred by record-setting new film in Turkey are triggering alarm bells with students of biblical prophecy, who warn the world system the Antichrist will use to rise to power is already on the march. "Constantinople will surely be conquered one day. The commander who conquers it is a blessed commander. His soldiers are blessed soldiers" – thus opens the film "Fetih 1453." "Fetih" (meaning "conquest") begins in 7th century Arabia with Muhammad, who is presented off camera lest pious Muslims be offended by his physical portrayal, declaring the quote above. The film tells the story of the conquest of the Christian East Roman Empire and its capital Constantinople by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, thereafter known as Mehmet Fatih, or the Conqueror. Director Faruk Aksoy's film is the now the most watched and highest grossing movie in Turkish history, earning more than $60 million worldwide.
Did Middle Eastern Christians greet/ view Muslims as liberators?
NO! The Muslims persecuted them far worse than the Byzantines did-and the Byzantines worked to create unity and cohesion among diverse Christian groups before the dawn of Islam.
Did Middle Eastern Christians prefer Islamic rule to Byzantine rule or were they shown greater tolerance under Islamic rule than they experienced under Byzantine rule? NO! To know the truth actually read the history of the Eastern Churches-Coptic (Egyptian), Syriac (Aramaic) and Ethiopic. An Islamic military force invaded Christian territory. The Muslim confiscated churches and forced the Christians to pay heavy fines in order to continue to practice their religion. Soon, mobs of Islamic fanatics began attacking the Christians. If you look through Eastern Christian history, you will find major persecutions every fifty years. These facts can be found in the book "The Martyred Church" which gives the history of the Assyrian Church of the East. Even in Islamic Spain, which Muslims try to paint at a center of tolerance and multi-culturalism, Christians were put to death for their faith. (See "The Cordova Martyrs.")
Black Obelisk of Assyrian King Shalmanezer III
This monument is important because it has a bas relief of an Israelite delegation bringing tribute to the Assyrian King. We have a replica at my seminary and I found it interesting to see the tribute of an elephant and human headed cats being brought to the Assyrian king. (Tribute from the land of Musri.)
Dobson to prez: I won't bow to 'wicked' Obamacare
'So come and get me if you must'
Published: 06/04/2012 at 8:30 PM (www.wnd.com)
Dr. James Dobson is taking a defiant stand on Obamacare and issuing a loud and clear message to President Obama: "I WILL NOT pay the surcharge for abortion services. … So come and get me if you must, Mr. President. I will not bow before your wicked regulation."
The evangelical Christian author and founder of Focus on the Family minced no words when he accused Obama of deceiving the American public in his exclusive WND column, "The president's Obamacare lies."
Dobson notes that the president issued the following statement on the night of Sept. 9, 2009, when he gave an address to a joint session of Congress in an effort push members of the House and Senate to pass his health-care bill:
"And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up – under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place."
However, he said, "The speech was filled with promises and assurances that have proved to be shockingly false, and the president's premise was based on deception."
In numerous speeches, Obama assured his pro-choice constituency that coverage for abortion would be "job one" within his health-care plan, he noted.
"I knew from deep within my soul that the president was not being truthful about this matter of life and death," Dobson recalled, noting that Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was so outraged by what he was hearing that he blurted out, "You lie!"
By March 2010, the Obama administration had officially approved the first instance of taxpayer-funded abortions under Obamacare – giving Pennsylvania $160 million to set up a new "high-risk" insurance program under a provision of the legislation in preparation for a $5 billion national roll-out.
"The Big Promise of Sept. 9 had already been abandoned," Dobson lamented.
He also observed that Obama fought language in the legislation that would prohibit federal subsidies for abortion: "This was his plan all along, and pro-life advocates were kept in the dark."
Earlier this year, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sibelius announced an expansion of Section 1303 of the Obamacare law requiring millions of Americans to pay a minimum surcharge for abortion services. The amount to be remitted will be a minimum of $12 per year, but could be much more.
"When an insurance company provides coverage for abortion, it MUST charge all employees an amount sufficient to cover the costs of abortion services, even by those who are horrified at the thought," Dobson explained. "No one can opt out of the provision. That is now written into the law."
Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services has announced that businesses and non-profit organizations – including churches and Christian colleges and universities – must provide free contraceptives and abortion pills with health insurance.
"When Catholic and evangelical church leaders objected strenuously to this assault on religious liberty, the president simply announced an 'accommodation,' requiring insurance companies to pay for the contraceptives," Dobson explained. "Of course, they will pass the expense along to their customers, and employees will all be in the abortion business."
He said President Obama never intended to protect the conscience clause and even canceled President Bush's executive order guaranteeing doctors, nurses and health professionals would not be forced to act against their beliefs.
"Abortion is an integral part of Obamacare, and babies will die because of it," Dobson wrote in his column. "Citizens never had an opportunity to be heard on the matter. The abortion component of the health-care bill will go into effect in January 2013. After that date, you could be forced unwittingly to support the killing of babies."
But Dobson vowed to take a stand against Obama's "wicked" surcharge, come what may:
I want to be very careful regarding what I am about to write now. It will not be said flippantly or with malice, but it will reflect the passion of my heart.
I believe in the rule of law, and it has been my practice since I was in college to respect and honor those in authority over us. It is my desire to do so now. However, this assault on the sanctity of human life takes me where I cannot go. I WILL NOT pay the surcharge for abortion services. The amount of the surcharge is irrelevant. To pay one cent for the killing of babies is egregious to me, and I will do all I can to correct a government that lies to me about its intentions and then tries to coerce my acquiescence with extortion. It would be a violation of my most deeply held convictions to disobey what I consider to be the principles in Scripture. The Creator will not hold us guiltless if we turn a deaf ear to the cries of His innocent babies. So come and get me if you must, Mr. President. I will not bow before your wicked regulation.
Chronological Bible storying AKA (Orality Strategies) Oral Bible Storytelling
Chronological Bible Storying (CBS) is the process of encountering God by telling the stories of the Bible. In CBS we tell Bible stories without interruption or comment and we tell them in the order that they happened in time. Afterward we discuss each story and its significance for our lives. Each story builds on those that came before; as a result, the overarching message of the Bible becomes clear and we discover our own place in God's story.
Oral cultures use many means of communicating. Stories, poetry, music, proverbs, drama, ceremonies, and the visual arts are some of the main ones. In addition, they often enjoy electronic media like radio, audio recordings, and film.
This technique was developed by Jim Lewis and Greg Jackson. See: The Story Cloth or "Kanga" (pronounced CAHN gah) is a new tool that Calvary Road Ministries is using
to reach the Maasai people in Kenya and Tanzania, East Africa. http://granddan.com/pictures/storycloth/storycloth.htm and http://historycloth.com/about/
http://www.oralitystrategies.org/strategies.cfm?id=1
The Loss of Freedom in America (World Net Daily, July 11, 2012)
Outrage over ISLAMIC mob attack in Michigan
'Officers made choice to allow Muslims to silence Christian speakers'
A legal team that has gone to court in the past to protect Christians at Arab events in Dearborn, Mich., is returning to the fray, this time taking on the local sheriff's department over a decision by officers to threaten Christians with disorderly conduct while angry Muslims were heaving chunks of concrete, stones, bottles and debris at them. It happened at the 2012 Arab International festival on Father's Day weekend, and a video of the attacks has gone viral on the Internet. There, an angry mob of Arabs chanting "Allahu Akbar" is seen throwing concrete and eggs at the Christians who were holding signs about their faith. Officials with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, however, stood idly by during the attacks and then threatened the Christians with arrest if they did not leave, after a leader of the Christian group asked that officers enforce the law. Now that Christian leader, Ruben Israel, has begun working with the American Freedom Law Center on a challenge to the police actions. The AFLC reports that Israel "asked the law enforcement officers present to step in and enforce the criminal law so that the Christians could exercise their right to freedom of speech," but was "given the option of either leaving the festival or facing arrest." WND reported earlier that a video reveals that the crowd – reminiscent of a rock-throwing "intifada" scene from the Middle East – hurled a dizzying barrage of objects at the Christians standing passively with their signs, causing some injuries.
BRAD PITT's MOTHER RECIEVES DEATH THREATS FOR STATING HER OPINION
Jane Pitt, mother of actor Brad Pitt, has been scared into silence by the hate-filled, vulgar and even violent reaction to her public assertion that Barack Obama is "a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage." Pitt has even been the subject of death threats following her letter to the editor of Missouri's Springfield News-Leader in which she asserted failure to vote for Republican presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney constituted a vote for Obama. WND spoke briefly with Pitt and asked about the media assault against her for her comments as a private citizen supporting Romney. With inflections in her voice that conveyed fear and despair, she quietly and politely said she was not interested in talking to anyone in the media about the incident. When she was told WND supported her right to speak her mind and is appalled by the threats against her life, Pitt expressed gratitude to WND for being one of the few news agencies doing so. Even her thank you, however, was said in a subdued manner laden with heaviness of heart.
Washington Times, Obama's Sodomite America: President embraces liberal goal of ending marriage and social stability by Jeffery T. Kuhner
Every major religious faith - Christianity, Islam, Orthodox Judaism - teaches that homosexuality is an abomination. Homosexual behavior, especially sodomy, is unnatural and immoral. It is absurd, bordering on social madness, to elevate gay and lesbian relationships to the sanctified status of marriage - a form of moral anarchy characterized by radical individualism, hedonism and sexual liberation. Same-sex marriage is a symptom of cultural decay. Our Judeo-Christian ancestors understood something that postmodern liberals do not: The primary purpose of sexual activity is to procreate - to have children - within the boundaries of marriage. Romantic love, personal fulfillment, burning passion - all of these things are nice, but secondary to the real purpose and mission of marriage. Secular liberals are engaged in social engineering. They are fostering the myth that women and men are the same and interchangeable. According to Mr. Obama, a child needs two committed and loving parents - regardless of their gender. This is fantasy. A child needs a committed mother and father. Women and men are profoundly different; they have distinct natures, with unique biological, emotional and psychological characteristics. It is the fusion of these two divergent genders that provides the balance and harmony necessary for the healthy development of children. Hence, same-sex "marriage" is an oxymoron. It is akin to redefining gravity: an act of hubris destined to fail. For decades, liberals - aided and abetted by the popular culture - have been bringing homosexuality into the mainstream. It is slowly being promoted in public schools and constantly being glamorized in television shows and movies. The more the homosexual agenda is spread, the more militant its advocates become. They no longer want toleration. They seek full social acceptance. Once marriage falls, only one institution will be left standing in their way: traditional Christianity. The ultimate aim of the radical left has been to destroy religion - especially Western Christendom. Once a religion dies, so does the culture and civilization it spawned. America is at a crossroads, enmeshed in a cultural war with homosexual advocates like Mr. Obama who are determined to strike at the very nexus of our civilization. Yet the same-sex-marriage issue is more important than simple politics. It is about the future of America's civilization. Within hours of Amendment One's victory, the pro-homosexual-marriage forces announced they would sue to block North Carolina's constitutional ban. In other words, they repeated the Proposition 8 model: Circumvent defeat at the ballot box by asking leftist judges to trump the democratic will of the people. This is judicial tyranny masquerading as civil rights - a naked attempt by a minority to impose its neo-pagan immorality upon the majority. The homosexual agenda is a manifestation of the totalitarian impulse at the heart of liberalism: the desire by a ruling cartel to impose a social revolution from above.
The liberal media, such as the New York Times, consistently portray anti-gay-marriage advocates as bigots. This is nonsense. Most Americans are neither intolerant nor bigoted. Rather, they understand that marriage is the basic institution of society. For thousands of years in the West, it has had a privileged role. Marriage solidifies the bonds between a man and a woman, laying the foundation for raising children in stable families. It is the glue that binds a functioning, viable social order. Marriage is the natural unit that enables society to perpetuate itself from one generation to the next. This is not hate; it's common sense.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at The Washington Times and president of the Edmund Burke Institute.
Pitt's Mom (continued)
Pitt had every reason to be frightened. Following her letter to the editor in her local newspaper, the mainstream media have painted her comments in a vilifying light.
The Hollywood Reporter published a story headlined, "Brad Pitt's mother pens anti-gay, anti-Obama letter to local newspaper." The New York Daily News went further, penning an article originally titled, "Brad Pitt's mom unleashes anti-gay, anti-Obama fury in letter."
She Knows Entertainment reported that Pitt actually "hates Obama, 'gay' people."
These slants on the story, however, are mild compared to comments posted on Twitter.
Editors of the Twitter-scouring news site Twitchy exclaimed sarcastically, "Time for the left's self-proclaimed arbiters of tolerance to teach her a lesson with their hateful, misogynist slurs and death wishes."
Twitchy then spotlighted some of the tweets it found. "Brad Pitt's mom, die," wrote Twitter-poster Sandy Kownacka.
A tweet from "I Bleed Gaga" echoed similar sentiments, saying, "Brad Pitt's mom wrote an anti-gay pro-Romney editorial. Kill the b—-."
Other comments included, "F— you, brad pitt's mom, the gay community made your kid a star, you whacko," and, "Brad Pitt's mom is a dumb c—."
Many of the comments told her to commit vulgar sexual acts with the commenter.
These statements stand contrary to Pitt's own statements about his mother. In January, Pitt told the Hollywood Reporter that his mother was a very loving person.
"She's very, very loving – very open, genuine, and it's hilarious because she always gets painted in the tabloids as a she-devil," the actor said. "There's not an ounce of malice in her. She wants everyone to be happy."
Jane Pitt originally penned her letter to the editor responding to another reader, Richard Stoecker, who stated that Christians should not vote for Romney based on his Mormonism.
In her rebuttal letter, she acknowledged that there were doctrinal differences between Mormonism and Christianity, but she took issue with the rest of Stoecker's reasoning.
Pitt wrote, "I think any Christian should spend much time in prayer before refusing to vote for a family man with high morals, business experience, who is against abortion and shares Christian conviction concerning homosexuality just because he is a Mormon."
Pitt went on to say, "Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is casting a vote for Romney's opponent, Barack Hussein Obama – a man who sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for years, did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage."
Her statements on Obama's record, however, are not opinions, but established facts. Obama himself has come out and said he supports the rights of homosexuals to marry. He has repeatedly backed legalized abortion. While he was a state senator in Illinois, Obama opposed a bill that would have required medical care to be given to infants who survived an abortion.
Unlike his mother, Hollywood actor Brad Pitt has taken a strong stand for same-sex marriage and supports Obama.
Brad Pitt has a long history of support for homosexual causes. He once famously declared he would refuse to marry Angelina Jolie until same-sex marriages were made legal in America in every state.
Following New York's legalization of same-sex marriage, Pitt said, "It is each American's constitutional right to marry the person they love, no matter what state they inhabit. No state should decide who can marry and who cannot."
In 2008, he donated $100,000 to help fight passage of Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment in California that recognized marriage as being between one man and one woman. In March, he portrayed homosexual Judge Vaughn Walker in "8," a play that re-enacted the trial where Walker overturned the amendment.
Islamic Mob (continued)
WND later learned that the Christian crowd had been carrying a pole with a pig's head attached to the top, further angering the Muslim crowd.
[NOTE FROM STEPHEN: Now, a pole with a pig's head is provocative-but so what? You can buy a pig's head at any Fiesta! Mexican grocery. If a pig is provocative and we can't display them-then we are going to have to ban pork-which is what Muslims want to do. The pig's head is also protected speech. Throughout history, Muslims have carried and paraded dead bodies of Christians through the streets-before the Battle of Lepanto and even as recently as the Turkish massacres of Eastern Christians in the early 20th century. I have seen photos of such incidents. So, why not display a pigs head on a stick?]
At the beginning of the video, Christian street preachers shout, "God is good, and God is not Allah!"
Police approached Israel, of OfficialStreetPreachers.com, warning him, "The city of Dearborn has an ordinance, OK, that you guys can't use the megaphone. So, if you guys continue to use that, you will get a citation."
Israel noted that the group was allowed to use the megaphone in 2011. Then he asked the officer, "So, if we don't use a megaphone, can we throw water bottles at the crowd?"
The officer shook his head no.
"So what are you going to do if they throw water bottles at us?" Israel asked.
"If that happens, we will take care of that and address it," the officer promised.
When Israel said he had captured the mob's assault on the Christians on video, the officer suggested he "take it through the proper channels, and we'll try to find them."
However, at the 2:17 mark of the video, the mob can be heard screaming, "You want to jump 'em? C'mon, let's go!"
One boy yells, "Let's beat the sh-t out of them!"
A girl shouts, "Go home! Do you understand English?!"
The Christians are no longer using megaphones, as the mob advances on them from all angles – hurling bottles, cans, eggs, chunks of concrete and even milk crates toward their heads.
Even young children shout obscenities such as, "F—k you, b-tch!"
Meanwhile, police are nowhere to be seen in the video: (Editor's note: The following 22-minute video contains profane statements shouted by an angry mob and may be offensive to viewers.)
Despite the attacks the Christians endured, a man identified in the video as Deputy Chief Dennis Richardson of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office tells them, "You're a danger to the safety right now."
Officers claim they don't have the manpower to protect the Christians at the festival.
"Your safety is in harm's way. You need to protect everybody," said Deputy Chief Mike Jaafar of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. "You do have the option to leave. I just want to make that clear."
Israel replied, "You have the option to stand with us" as Jaafar walked away, leaving the Christians to the mob.
When police leave, the crowd continues harassing the Christians and screaming profanities.
Then police begin escorting the Christians away from the crowd.
Deputy Chief Richardson tells Israel, "We have the responsibility of policing the entire festival, and obviously your conduct is such that it's causing a disturbance and is a direct threat to the safety of everyone here. Someone could get hurt. You already have blood on your face. One of the festival people, one of my officers, anybody can get hurt. Now we're going to escort you out."
Robert Muise, senior counsel for the AFLC, said, "Whether you agree to disagree with the Christians' message, there is one issue to which there is no dispute: no citizen should be stoned in a city street in America for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech. And what makes this case so egregious is that law enforcement officers were present and made the conscious choice to allow the Muslim mob to silence the Christian speakers through violence. Indeed, the video of the incident looks like something you would see in the Middle East, not in the United States."
David Yerushalmi, an expert on Muslim law and a co-founder with Muise of the SFLC, said, "While it is shocking to see video of Christians being stoned in the United States for criticizing Islam, it is not necessarily surprising that this incident occurred in Dearborn, Mich., a city where the mayor and law enforcement have consistently violated Christians' free speech rights in favor of appeasing a large Muslim population and where, in line with the Islamic legal dictates of Shariah, the Christian Gospel is treated as criminally offensive speech, and violence 'for the sake of Allah' is reinforced by arresting or removing the Christians. What you are witnessing on the video is the enforcement of Shariah by a hostile mob and law enforcement aiding and abetting," he said.
Following an attack on Christian pastor George Saieg at the festival in 2009, when he was prohibited from distributing information about Christianity, a lawsuit was filed and at its conclusion, a court awarded Saieg more than $100,000.
Then in 2010, four Christian missionaries were cuffed and jailed for peacefully preaching to Muslims. The city accused the Christians of "breach of the peace."
After they were found innocent, a civil rights complaint was filed again the city and its officials and a judge recently rejected a request by the defendants to dismiss the complaint.
In 2011, a controversial Christian pastor proposed a peaceful demonstration against Shariah and the city and county hauled him into court, demanded a "peace bond" and jailed him until it was paid.
In that case, the AFLC said, "The prosecutor argued that because Muslim counter-protestors threatened violence if the Christians were allowed to hold their protest, the imposition of a 'peace bond' to prevent the demonstration was justified. A local state court judge agreed. Following a two-day trial, the court imposed a 'peace bond,' issued an order preventing the Christians from going near the mosque for three years, and jailed them until they paid the bond."
Yerushalmi said the actions of authorities are not new; they have been seen before in locations where Islam demands those of other faiths have a lower standard of rights.
"The city of Dearborn and now the Wayne County Sheriff's Office appear to be serial violators of the Constitution when it comes to defending the free speech rights of Christians who seek to evangelize Muslims or criticize Islam. Under Shariah, this is known as dhimmitude, which is the status that Islamic law mandates for non-Muslims, primarily Jews and Christians, that deprives them of equality of rights and seeks to subdue them under Islamic rule," he said.
Muise said in America, speech serves "its 'high purposes' when it stirs people to anger."
"Speech is often provocative and challenging, and it may have profound unsettling effects as it presses for acceptance of an idea. That is why freedom of speech is protected against censorship or punishment. There is no room under our Constitution for a more restrictive view. Additionally, the courts have made clear that a police officer has the duty not to effectuate a heckler's veto, nor may he join a violent mob intent on suppressing speech. Instead, the officer must take reasonable action to protect persons exercising their free speech rights," he said. "The Wayne County Sheriff's Office egregiously breached its duty in violation of the U.S. Constitution."
The center confirmed a legal action is being prepared.