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.

A Parable written in the desert sands?

This is an amazing story in its own right, but as I read it, I began to wonder if it was a word from God, a parable for our pastors and leaders in the West. In short, did the physical desert have something to tell us about the spiritual desert that is Western Christianity?

I came across it in 'The Telegraph' a UK national newspaper. The first thing worthy of note is that it mentions answers to prayer!  This is all but a miracle in the current socio-political climate.

The article is by a Geoffrey Lean, a journalist specialising in environmental issues. I have no idea what he may or may not believe but his article is fascinating.

The underground forests that are bringing deserts to life.

An Australian missionary, one Tony Rinaudo, working for World Vision, one day gazed despairingly out on the unforgiving desert, wondering: “How many saplings, how many people, how many millions of dollars would I need for this?” 

Driven to prayer, he says, he “saw for the first time what had been there all along. Seemingly useless small bushes scattered over the dry land, which we had despised as weeds, were actually the outward signs of a vast underground forest.” (quote from Geoffrey Lean's article)

He realised that what was thought to be scrub and weeds were in fact shoots from the buried stumps of long-felled trees.

Anyone who knows the Tenach/Old Testament should, by now, be thinking of Isaiah 11.

Once he realised what was happening, all that was needed was pruning, protection, provision and then trees! Followed by praise, to wit:

Rinaudo – who now works internationally for World Vision – still finds that previously “hopeless” people “dance and sing” when they discover the underground forest, and how they can “change their lives, and the world, with a pruning knife”.

The meaning of this parable.

Pastors, priests, presbyters, prelates, preachers, patriarchs, prophets, popes or whatever you want to call yourselves, this is for you.

In the arid desert of Western Christianity many of the people you serve, note serve, do look like weeds and scrub. As a preacher and a teacher, I know the feeling. We need to see that many of them have been battered by life and by something that looks a lot like the church. They are haphazard Christians with shoots that go all over the place.

Like the forest, can two thousand years of Christianity just disappear? We have a godless younger generation, but there are still many of the older and middle generations who know something of Christ.

Firstly, you pray.  

Let God show you who these people are and what they are really like in His sight.

Secondly, you prune.

John 15:2 Starting with your own heart and then, with divine wisdom, lovingly discipline the disciples. This is the Cross, this is sacrifice, laying down our lives for God and our neighbours. Our pruning hook is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Go carefully here.

Thirdly, you protect. 

Which is to say, protect the Church from false teachers and false prophets. Watch out for the wolves in sheep's clothing, the demons disguised as angels of light. Guard your pulpit. If the Bible says it is sin, it is sin; no matter what the world, the governments and even some senior leaders in the Church may say.


Fourthly, you provide. 


Which is to say, you preach and you pray. May I refer you to Acts 6:4  and also to God's-conditions-for-revival-taken-from.html

Fifthly, by God's Grace and Spirit, you praise.  

So many forget to thank God for what He has done, but if you want to preserve all that has been so hard to win, then praise God and give Him the Glory.

There are 7000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. God's-power-and-compassion-our-weakness.html

There's the parable and the sermon outline. It's not exegeting scripture, rather using scripture to exegete Nature. 

So please, prayerfully consider, is this not God's word to us; a parable written in the desert sands?

You can see and learn more about Rinaudo's method below and even more here.

Some people get it and some just don't.

Reading through 'The Telegraph' online, I found six articles that I think are of interest. Four of them are perceptive and, in my opinion, understand the problems facing us all. The other two are liberal nonsense.

The nonsense first.

Mehdi Hasan has penned an opinion piece that defends Islam as not being responsible for terror. He quotes a briefing piece from MI5. This is the same MI5 that missed the suspects. Possibly not the best authority to quote.

Near the end of his article Mr. Hasan writes. "Few want to discuss the role of British foreign policy in helping to radicalise these young, disaffected individuals" This is not a mile away form Michael Adebolajo's attempt to justify his part in the murder of  Drummer Lee Rigby.

I'm not suggesting that Mr. Hasan is justifying violence, only that he does not understand the realities. He shares the same misguided worldview of the deluded, brainwashed and drug addicted Micheal Adebolajo.

Christina Odone, who often writes sensibly, has been taken in by the, self-proclaimed, Muslim Council of Britain. It's mostly wishful thinking. She should read my previous post on Islamic Reformation. The first paragraph should put her right.

Now for the sanity.

Daniel Taub, Israeli Ambassador to the UK , writes that a boycott of Israel will not bring peace closer. It's worth remembering that the UK's somewhat qualified support for Israel is part of the Islamic grievance.

Film-maker Robb Leach writes about his encounter with Islamism in his own family. Anjem Choudary, surprise,surprise, figures prominently.

Con Coughlin, not my favourite - I usually find myself disagreeing with him, shows that this time he gets it. He argues, quite persuasively, that the West has fought for the ordinary Muslim.

Finally, Alan Johnson has decided that we need to talk about Islamism - don't we just! He understands as this quote shows:

Religions, in other words, can't just be analysed as barely distinguishable forms of the same impulse, as if we were all in an A Level Religion class. They have radically specific contents, unique and conditioning histories, and those differences matter profoundly when they bump up against the secular world.

He really gets it!