More on Boko Haram - it isn't just the girls.

Prominent Anglican blogger Cranmer has two powerful posts on Boko Haram's war in Nigeria.

Firstly, this one where lays out his point in words. Then he posted this one where his pictures speak for themselves.



As I said in my previous post, the war between Islam and Christianity in Nigeria has been going on for years.

Australian cleric, the Rev. Dr. Mark Durie has posted an interview in which he exposes the ancient Islamic roots of Boko Haram. You can listen to the interview below or read his additional; material by following the previous link to his blog.

He is not alone in declaing this information. Over at The Omega Letter, J.L. Robb has posted an article doing much the same thing but also enumerating the effects of Sharia law on women. Here is a sample of that list.

• Adultery is a capital crime, punishable by whipping and then death, often by stoning.
• Apostasy (saying or thinking something uncomplimentary about Islam or Muhammad) is a capital crime to be punished by death. Apostates are to be “killed wherever they may be found.”
• Female genital mutilation to make sure sex isn’t too enjoyable for the women.
• Women are considered inferior to men. Court testimony by a woman only counts for half of the testimony by a man. Women receive only half the inheritance that a man receives. A woman’s vote, if she is allowed to vote, counts one-half of a man’s vote.

It carries on in the same vein.

The excellent 'Barnabas Fund' has been involved in the campaign in the US to get Boko Haram registered as a terrorist organisation. The following is part of the article on their website.

"Our honorary director in the US, Bishop Julian Dobbs, worked with others to petition the State Department and other government agencies to designate Boko Haram as an FTO. On one occasion Bishop Dobbs was assisted by the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Primate of the Anglican Church in Nigeria who made the case in the corridors of power on behalf of suffering Nigerian Christians. 
Bishop Dobbs, who is an Anglican missionary bishop of the Church of Nigeria, said the FTO designation was significant for three reasons:

Firstly, it shows that the US government has realised that it’s a serious situation and is concerned about it. Secondly, the FTO label enables certain US resources, such as military and intelligence, to be involved in circumstances like we are seeing now with the kidnapped girls. And thirdly, it helps us to heighten awareness about our brothers and sisters in Nigeria suffering at the hands of what we can now call a terrorist organisation.

He said that the US government continues to dismiss the religious motivation of Boko Haram, insisting that it is an ethnic and social issue:

The next step is to get all Western governments to recognise the clear religious motivation of Boko Haram, which wants to impose sharia across all of Nigeria and rid the country of any Christian presence. Our brothers and sisters in the North continue to suffer on a daily basis as a result of the group’s atrocities."

According to  UK national newspaper 'The Daily Mail', Boko Haram have links to the Nigerian Army, which could well explain why this is all taking so long, see here.

Britain and the US have both sent teams and equipment to Nigeria.

The abductions have triggered a worldwide social media campaign under the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, and prompted the U.S., Britain, France and Israel to offer help or send experts to Nigeria.
The U.S. has already sent military, law-enforcement and development specialists.
Two U.S. officials said on Tuesday a mix of manned and unmanned American surveillance aircraft were being used to aid the search for the missing girls.

One U.S. official identified the drone as a Global Hawk, which is a high-altitude, unmanned spy plane manufactured by Northrop Grumman.

Britain has also offered Nigeria a surveillance plane and a military team to help with the search for the missing schoolgirls, Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday.
'Today I can announce we have offered Nigeria further assistance in terms of surveillance aircraft, a military team to embed with the Nigerian army in their HQ and a team to work with U.S. experts to analyse information on the girls' location,' he told parliament.
The Ministry of Defence clarified that one Sentinel plane would be sent.
The new offer of help comes after Britain Britain last week sent a team of experts to Nigeria including officials from the ministry of defence.
Mr Cameron's spokesman said on Monday they had met Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan.
Britain's minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, is also travelling to the Nigerian capital today for talks on further assistance, the Foreign Office in London said.

I don't know what the French are doing, but 'Israel Today' has reported that Israeli security forces have joined the effort to free the girls, see here.

Boko Haram are not some crazy African terrorist gang, but part of a back-to-basics Islamic reformation that takes its example from Islam's founder, see here and here. 

Rev. Doctor Mark Durie's video: 

 

Clueless politicians, unspeakable evil and spineless Western Christians.

On Saturday, I read something in another blog that was horrifying, moving to the verge of tears and made me angry and ashamed.

I was angry with Western Christians who seem to lack the spine to preach the gospel to our culture and also lack the courage to speak out about the persecution of our brothers and sisters in Syria and other such places.

Further down this blog you will see a picture of unspeakable evil that rivals the distressing picture I posted in January. http://thealmondrod.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-girl-in-blue-story-of-two-little.html

You are warned that the picture is equally distressing. It is a picture of unspeakable evil and of the martyrdom of a sister in Christ.

The famous Anglican blogger, Cranmer, has posted about Syria.

 

 I've used his header because I don't want you to see the image below unless you choose to view it. This header should appear in the links to my post on this subject.

I don't intend to rant about the perpetrators of such evil. 'Vengeance is mine ', says the Lord, 'I will repay'. Nor do I intend to belabour our clueless politicians in the West

I just think that 

it is time Christians in the West started to speak out about the Gospel and about the persecution of Christians elsewhere in the world. 

It is time that the Churches and their leaders ceased from PC navel-gazing and trying to conform to this world. 

It is time to call out people to prayer and to repentance. 

It is time to encourage Christians to share the gospel without fear and in a genuine love for the unsaved.

It is time to preach Christ and Him crucified.

It is time to be a prophetic voice to our nations and speak out against sin in all its forms.

It is time to sow the seed of the Word.

It is time to reap a harvest.

It is time to prepare for the coming of Christ Jesus.

It is time.

Cranmer's post is here: http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/disremembering-syria.html

 You are warned that the picture is extremely distressing. It is a picture of unspeakable evil and of the martyrdom of a sister in Christ.

Letters to St. James - Piccadilly

The CofE certainly picked a dilly when the rector of St. James Piccadilly was appointed in the 1980s with carte blanche to keep it open. Subsequent appointments have continued to career down the broad way on to which he led the church.

The current incumbents have provoked open letters and articles across the blogosphere.

I start with two of my favourite Jewish commentators. 

Melanie Phillips has penned an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. She calls it a church of hate. Melanie Phillips is not an anti-Christan Jew. She understands very well that the decline of healthy Christianity has had a deleterious effect on freedom in general and religious freedom in particular. Do read her article and follow the links.

Daphne Anson has also blogged on St. James, Piccadilly here and here . If anything, she can be more robust than Melanie Phillips.

From within the Christian community, comes Dr. Denis MacEoin's letter to St James. It is exemplary in its Christian attitude. It gives his reasons for supporting Israel and details the homicidal culture that Israel is facing.

I quote:

Let me illustrate the importance of the fence with a single example. In 2005, a young Palestinian woman called Wafa al-Biss was badly burned in a domestic fire, taken to Israel’s SorokaHospital, and treated there for months. When discharged, she was given a permit to return as an out-patient. Some time later she headed for the hospital wearing a suicide belt with the aim of exploding  it among the doctors and nurses who had treated her, as well as however many children she could find. She was caught at a checkpoint and imprisoned. Earlier this year she was released as part of a prisoner release agreement. Within hours she was speaking to Palestinian children, urging them to put on suicide vests and kill as many Jews as possible. And some people wonder why the Israelis need a security barrier.

It is simply wrong, I believe ­ and, I am sure, all Christians believe ­ to flaunt one people’s suffering as righteous while condemning another people for simply seeking to secure themselves and their children from vicious attack. Wafa al-Biss was not a mentally disturbed lone killer manquée, but someone who had every reason to be grateful to the men and women who had saved her life. She was part of a killing system, a system that has taken the lives of thousands of Israel down the years.

Read the whole letter. I would love to see what sort of reply he gets. I looked on the ABC's website for any response to Melanie Phillips, so far, nothing.

However, the putative reincarnation/voice from beyond of a former ABC, to wit Cranmer, has penned a missive on the subject here. I should warn my readers that it is heavily ironic, which some of his own regulars seem to have missed. It took me a little while to realise just how sarcastic he was being.

Another open letter from a victim of Terror and a friend of a murdered victim.

Please write on your wall, under the cross, now obscured by the crescent…. “R.I.P Kristine Luken.”
Sincerely,
Kay Wilson – (a British-born Israeli)

The Blog  'Anne's Opinions' carries this:

Sharon and Lesley again at the St James market place today armed with our bag of acrylic paint and wall brush.

With no support from anybody the sense was one of antagonism, being watched as we were by the wardens present it seemed, in case we dared to write on the wall. Seeing our paint Tom, a St James warden approached us to say we could only use their now worn out felt pens. Explaining the uselessness of those pens and the fact that others had used spray paint Debbie, another warden said she’d get us some of theirs. Returning a while later she produced grey – the shade they use to obliterate posts they don’t approve of. In the end Tom told me I could paint one message on a designated spot, provided I was professional and refrained from being abusive. Odd that seeing that others could write what and where they wanted as many times as they wanted!

So I painted This Wall Saves Lives, started to write that 1340 Israeli citizens have died as a result of terrorist attacks since 2000, but Tom’s space and location didn’t permit!

I think this has been through a couple of blogs so I do not know who Sharon and Lesley are, but may the LORD bless them.

An amusing take on a well-known Christmas song

Archbishop Cranmer posted this. If you like Gregorian Chant and have some schoolboy/girl Latin you should find this amusing and musical.

Palliwood in Syria. More lies, more lies.

The excellent blogger Cranmer has a long piece today on the lies of the Jihadists and the Catholic Nun who is exposing the truth.

Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib is a Roman Catholic nun who has lived and worked in Syria for 20 years. She is Mother Superior of St James' Monastery in Qara, and has compiled a comprehensive, compelling and persuasive report (download HERE) into the photographs and videos coming out of Syria being used by President Obama, David Cameron and François Hollande to justify punitive action against President Assad and his forces for the alleged use of chemical weapons. 

Quote and link from Cranmer. The report takes a little while to download but serious reporters need to read it. If you are having problems downloading the .pdf file in Adobe, I suggest opening it with Sumatra . I don't make any money on this, it just worked better for this file. Or you can view it below:

Try ignoring any warning by Microsoft and viewing the document full screen.

 These are real bodies that are being used to fake different scenes. The lack of respect suggests that these children are victims of the propagandists.

Barnabas Fund reports on the work it is doing in Maaloula here

A quote from Barnabas Fund:

Systematically terrorised
The stories they told about what has been happening to our Syrian brothers and sisters are in many cases too disturbing to share. Kidnapping, rape and murder have become the norm.
The Christians feel that they are being deliberately terrorised; that the horrific methods used to kill Christians are intended to frighten them into fleeing the country with their families, thus ridding Syria of Christians.
One Christian leader said:

This is a collective threat against the Christians through attacking their regions in Maaloula, Aleppo, Homs, anywhere, everywhere; an attempt to destroy the very first Christian memory, the oldest Christian heritage.

Yet while the rebels ruthlessly attack Christian buildings and communities, taking their possessions, dignity and even their very lives in some cases, they cannot destroy their faith, which church leaders report is stronger than ever before. I was told of how Christians are meeting daily to pray, clinging to the hope they have in the Lord, and that many people are attending church services and Bible studies in Aleppo, eager to hear the Word of God. 

It's time the truth was told.

I don't have that many viewers and fewer regulars, but I do have some and I appreciate all of you. Now I want to ask you all to do your very best to publicise what follows for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/syrias-al-qaeda-freedom-fighters-invade.html

Over at Cranmer is the linked article. The following quote:

It has been tweeted out, but is grossly under-reported. As Presidents Obama and Hollande prepare to bomb the evil President Assad to kingdom come, those righteous Al-Qaeda freedom fighters have slaughtered a garrison of the regime's soldiers and were then somehow forced to invade the predominantly Christian village of Maloula. The report is patchy, but German intelligence doesn't seem to be able to intercept nuns' telephone conversations.

Courtesy of  our friend Daphne Anson is the following link: http://frontpagemag.com/2013/raymond-ibrahim/al-qaeda-vows-to-slaughter-christians-after-u-s-liberates-syria/

The link pretty much says it all. Except that it seems not everyone is asleep. 

It seems that a lot of the US military aren't too keen on fighting for Al-Qaida. See this article at WND.

  And this isn't the only one.

Why does the Mainstream Media promote the enemies of the West? Why does Obama support the Muslim Brotherhood/Al-Qaida?

Why are we being dragged into a war that no-one wants to fight? 

Yet again Goodson's Law provides an unpalatable answer . It's time that the USA took internal action to solve its problems. 

An update from Barnabas Fund:


 

And finally,

 http://barnabasfund.org/UK/News/Archives/Open-letters-from-Barnabas-to-Cameron-and-Obama-on-Syria-28-August-2013.html

Israel is still the only Middle Eastern country where Christians are safe.

Have we forgotten what it was like to be bombed?

I know most Americans have never experienced aerial bombing apart from Pearl Harbor and those who served in the forces, but we Brits have no such excuse.There are still plenty of people around who can remember the Blitz and more than enough War Memorials to remind us of the horrors of the Blitz. (Non-UK readers. This affected many more cities than just London).

You would think that this would give us pause for thought before we set about bombing others. Sadly, it does not seem to be the case. Our politicians are gearing up for more computer-game bombing with real casualties.

A vote against bombing in the House of Commons, when Parliament is recalled, won't necessarily make any difference. 

That there are reasonable doubts about who is responsible for the alleged gas attack does not seem to matter.

That we should wait for the UN Inspectors' report would seem reasonable, but what has reason got to do with anything?

In this article by Jerome Corsi of WND, you will see pictures and videos that cast reasonable doubt over the allegations that Assad is responsible.

This, very chilling,  example and more:

In the Telegraph, a straw poll shows 79% of readers against bombing at the time of writing. There are also two comment articles questioning the reasons for military action. This one questions why Assad would mount a gas attack and this one, MEP Daniel Hannan questions whether the UK has any national interest in Syria.

All this is in addition, to what I have previously posted on the topic here.

And as for the media, especially Al-Beeb, we are presented with images of child refugees fleeing Syria, immediately after reports about the gassing. They fail to mention that these children were not fleeing the gas or Assad. They were fleeing the Islamist rebels who kill Christians. The Assyrian Orthodox Church is fleeing Syria, its ancient homeland.

Syria used to be Christian. St. Paul was converted on the way to Damascus and was cared for by the Jewish believers in Jesus in Damascus.

There is a telling article over at Cranmer by a guest blogger, the Rev. Peter Mullen. I just hope that he is wrong about the historical parallels.

If you throw aside all the political rhetoric and let the trend of events speak for itself, I have to conclude that Obama wants the Muslim Brotherhood to dominate the Middle East.

Goodson's law 

When the consequences of incompetence become indistinguishable from the consequences of malice, it is wiser and safer to assume malice.

Lots of lies in the Middle East

But there are some people who are telling the truth and asking the right questions.

Our good friend of this blog, Daphne Anson has this recent post: A former muslim on intolerance of Israel It includes a video.

There are two excellent articles over at Cranmer. The one is asking the right questions about Assad's alleged gassing of a suburb of Damascus. William Hague believes it was Assad, but if you read the article linked to carefully he has no real evidence. The Telegraph also links to an article about Syrian refugees but does not distinguish who these refugees might be except to mention the Kurds. What about the Assyrian Orthodox Christians who are not part of the rebel movement so beloved of Obama and Hague? They are refugees from their own country.

We might also consider previous experience in Egypt. At Israel Today there is an open letter from Dr Ashraf Rameleh, director of Voice of the Copts. He states that Obama is, effectively, supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

WND has a possible explanation for Obama's apparent support of terrorism. His half-brother is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood!  Read it here and judge for yourself.

There is another excellent article in Cranmer about Anti-Israel propaganda at what used to be the evangelical flagship festival, Greenbelt. Cranmer's post includes a superb summary of the history and legitimacy of Israel which is well worth studying. It is by Fran Waddams of Anglican Friends of Israel.

It includes this telling picture.

In the interests of fairness and balance this is the official Greenbelt position on the debate here. 

Buried in the comments on the second Cranmer article is this analysis by one Carl Jacobs

The actual logic in play is this:

1. The root of the problem is oppression caused by Israeli power.

2. To achieve peace the Israelis must make themselves vulnerable.

3. Eventually the Arabs will stop feeling threatened and everyone will live in peace and harmony.

4. The Israelis as the stronger power (and unstated) because their oppressive behavior is the proximate cause of the problem, should endure the residual death inflicted upon them until the Palestinians come around.

The Middle East conflict is a lab experiment for Left wing non-violent conflict resolution. Their world view is tied into the success of their efforts. They want it to succeed because their world view tells them it must succeed. That's why they would be shocked at the slaughter attendant to Arab victory. Their world view won't allow them to predict it.

carl

23 August 2013 13:14

I think he's right about the general mass of Left-wing/Liberal opinion. I'm not so sure about some of the leaders.

We need to ask some simple questions.

1. Who is killing Christians and other dissidents from Islamism?

2. Who is protecting Christians and other dissidents from Islamism?

3. Who has a history of faking massacres for Western consumption? See here or search for 'Pallywood'.

4. What happened after our other efforts to liberate Islamic countries? 

Then there is Goodson's Law.

And finally, the acid test as proposed by the Lord Jesus, 'By their fruits...

It isn't really that difficult to work out who the liars are.

And the bad news from the UK...

Probably Britain's most-read Christian blogger, Archbishop Cranmer has published three scarey stories in the past two days.

1) He has blogged on Channel 4's proposal to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer during Ramadan.

2) He has posted a comment on the Welsh Assembly's desire to make Organ Donation virtually compulsory.

3) and most recently on Police persecution of Christians. The video with this latter blog is worth watching as it is very pertinent for the UK Church.

It's all recommended reading but I've included the video for the rest of its content.

We desperately need a revival.

Archbishop Cranmer savages Church of Scotland report

The ever excellent Archbishop Cranmer has posted a scathing rebuttal of the 'theology' underlying a Church of Scotland report. The report recommends a theological position that states,

"Promises about the land of Israel were never intended to be taken literally, or as applying to a defined geographical territory. They are a way of speaking about how to live under God so that justice and peace reign, the weak and poor are protected, the stranger is included, and all have a share in the  community and a contribution to make to it. The ‘promised land’in the Bible is not a place, so much as a metaphor of how things ought to be among the people of God. This ‘promised land’ can be found – or built – anywhere."

  Cranmer clearly understands what I am trying to do here at The Almond Rod. To wit: demonstrate that a living faith in Jesus the Christ must accept that God's promises to Israel are essential to our understanding of Jesus as Messiah.

He cites an article in the Jewish Chronicle and also lists an extensive range of facts about the history of the Land. Cranmer's final paragraph reads as follows:

God promised Abraham that his descendants would have a land, and would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Israel is a fulfilment of that promise. We thank the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the restoration of the Jewish people to their land, because it was a promise that He would so. And if that was not a promise, then Jesus is not the long-promised Messiah, and our promised salvation is nullified in a myriad of meaningless metaphors.

Amen to that Your Grace, amen to that.

I nearly forgot. He precedes his report with a superbly ironic image from the days when the Church of Scotland was doctrinally sound and fervently Zionist.

It is the the motto of the Church of Scotland. The image is instantly recognisable as a representation of the Burning Bush and the Latin 'Nec tamen consumebatur' translates as 'Yet it was not consumed'.  If Moses hadn't believed God literally, the Israelites would still be in Egypt!

Conviction or Condemnation? Advice to Cranmer and others.

Perhaps Your Grace should consider this:

Do you feel battered, bruised, manipulated, wronged and devastated? Then you have been bludgeoned by the Enemy. Seek healing and return to the fray.
Do you feel convicted, cut to the heart, burdened with a guilt that can only be purged at the Cross? Then you have been cut by the Word of God and convinced by the Holy Spirit.
I'm betting on the former.

The Enemy can only destroy. God cuts only to bind up and heal.

The Enemy will hit us with lies that if they were true would be utterly destructive of our Christian witness and ministry. He will twist, distort, bend, misrepresent, suppress the truth and suggest a falsehood. Moreover, he will use those we thought were our brothers and sisters in Christ.

All this is persecution and the Cross. The servant is not greater than His Master.

The Enemy will tell you that you have wilfully and/or thoughtlessly given offence. He will not tell you that he has deliberately, and with malice aforethought, taken offence.