Christ Will Come Again...When?

This weekend marks Palm Sunday, the beginning of one of the two holiest weeks in the Christian calendar. On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus' entering the city of Jerusalem in Triumph to an explosion of good will, palm branch waving, and shouts of "Hosana" before undertaking the most important activities of his life.

These events included the overturning of the money-changers tables at the Temple and driving them out of that holy place, and resulted in some of his most famous teachings:

"Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive"

"Many are invited, but few are chosen"

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God"

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted"

He also was asked a question during these final days in Jerusalem regarding which was the greatest of the commandments, and famously replied: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

He even foretold the coming of Christianity itself when he lectured the Jewish chief priests and the Pharisees that "the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

The week which began in triumph and proceeded on through inspiration, challenge, and controversy would ultimately move to his betrayal, arrest, trial, persecution and would end with his death on the cross for all of our sins.

Christians also believe that Jesus Christ is destined to come again in what many refer to as the "End Days", the "End of Time", the "End of the Age", or in the "Apocalypse" period at the end of time. This belief doesn't come from a teaching of men, but from the promise of Christ himself in those same final days of his life.

But when will Jesus return? At what time, on what day, in what year and in which generation of history? Many generations of men, even within the Church itself, have believed that they themselves were living in the end of times, that Christ would be returning in their lifetimes. They have all been wrong, as may those who believe so today.

What did Jesus say of his returning to us? Much, including some signs in the final moments that would signal that he had indeed returned. But the most important thing that Christ taught about that time was this: "of that day and hour, no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Jesus himself did not have the exact information as to his return. That information was and is held in the heart and mind of God the Father alone.

But because no one but God knows the exact hour, that does not mean that we haven't been given clues and signs to watch for that will signal at least the beginning of the end. We are told by James that there will be great economic calamities near the end. Timothy tells us that many men will turn from God and towards physical pleasures, paganism, and selfishness towards the end. Mark tells us that in the final years, Christians will be turned over to authorities, put on trial, and even put to death for their beliefs.

Mark also gave us one of the most important clues when he wrote that before the end times come "the gospel must first be preached to all nations." This simple message in and of itself ruled out all prior times of mankind before our current time. Only now, with the developments over the past century of air travel and the internet, have missionaries been able to reach every corner and every people on the planet with the gospel of Christ.

Christ himself taught that "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven."

Perhaps one of the easiest signs to look for that the world is beginning to enter into the period of the end of times would be the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, an event that is viewed as an impossibility by many in the world today. This event will indeed come to pass, however, if any number of Old and New Testament prophecies are correct. In fact, it is that very Temple that will be at the center of many of the final events involving the anti-Christ and his period of rule just before Jesus' return.

So when will Christ return? As he himself said, no one knows. But we can look for increasing natural disasters, incredible celestial events, the Jews rebuilding of the Temple, and for public persecutions of Christians all around the world as sure signs. If these things happen, you better be ready to get your self and your house in order. If these things have not yet happened, we have not yet likely reached the end of days.

But are we correct? Am I reading these teachings correctly? Are the Christian spiritual leaders? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe on some items, not so much on others. Maybe we just have learned to understand pieces of the final truth. The important thing to understand is that the end will indeed come, and Christ will indeed come again, and you need to love and accept him and try to remain ready. Remember Jesus' most important words: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Without faith and belief in and acceptance of Jesus Christ, you will not make it to heaven.

Jesus taught "Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come...be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come...stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

Mormons Are Christians Too

I am a big fan of the HBO series "Big Love", but the fact of the matter is that it rarely shows what life is like for the average 'Mormon' family in America or around the world. Led on by media depictions of fringe fundamentalists, 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' has gotten a bad name in some circles.

The fact is that the vast majority of the followers of this particular strand of Christianity are regular folks, including many famous people. Donny and Marie Osmond, stars of their own 1970's variety show as teens and now again thanks to recent appearances on the popular "Dancing With the Stars" program are part of perhaps the most famous American Mormon family.

Others who have either been raised in or converted to the faith include the man recently selected as the best 2nd baseman of the 2000's, Jeff Kent, who may one day be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. They also include the recent popular "American Idol' runner-up David Archuleta. And child actor turned adult drama TV star Rick Schroeder converted to the church of which his wife has been a lifelong member.

Perhaps the most important and influential member of the church is former Massachusetts Governor and leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. That importance comes from the fact of his legitimacy as a presidential candidate for a major political party. During the 2008 election cycle, Romney ran a year-long campaign during which he won the Michigan and Nevada primaries among the 11 state primaries and caucuses that he won before dropping out in February of '08.

There have been some who have criticized Romney's faith as 'fraud' and wondered how, if he truly believes in the LDS (Latter-Day Saints) tenets as a man he can be taken seriously as a candidate. That is ridiculous on it's face. It's not like he is worshiping an alien mother ship. And his faith should certainly be no more an obstacle than was that of John F. Kennedy's Catholicism in 1960 or any other Christian believer.

In running for the presidency and having his Catholicism brought up, Kennedy responded famously: "..if the time should ever come when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office." Mitt Romney has taken up that challenge and said that he would "no more take orders from Salt Lake City than Kennedy would from Rome."

That should be the end of that story, unless of course you find something mainstream about Catholicism and crazy about the LDS faith. So what do you know about 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints'? It's time to take a look at some of the key elements of that faith system, explore the legends and the fringe elements, and give you a more realistic picture than what you might have currently in mind.

Let's start with the word 'Mormon' itself, which is generally accepted to mean "more good" and which was described that way first by either Joseph Smith, the founder of the LDS movement, or another early church leader. W.W. Phelps. It is also the name of the narrator of the 'Book of Mormon', the Bible-esque sacred text of the church first published by Smith in 1830.

The Book of Mormon is widely regarded within the church as not just sacred scripture, but also as a history of God's relationship with His church in the Americas going back over a 1,000 year period. Smith claims that he received the book from an angel in 1827. It was written on what were called 'golden plates', the originals of which Smith had to return to the angel after translation into English.

The main theme of both the book and the faith is described in it's title page: "convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations." The book teaches at one point that after his resurrection, Jesus visited some of the early inhabitants of the Americas.

It goes on to teach that Jesus is: "God himself who shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people, being the Father and the Son — the Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son — and they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth."

Along with solid Christian themes, the book delves into political and philosophical areas, especially in regards to the idea of American exceptionalism. It calls America a "land of promise", and perhaps in what could be a warning to our current time it teaches that "any righteous society possessing the land would be protected, whereas if they became wicked they would be destroyed and replaced with a more righteous civilization."

Joseph Smith himself was born in Vermont in 1805. In 1823 he claims to have been visited by the angel 'Moroni' who was the guardian of and who first revealed the 'golden plates' to Smith, and who eventually allowed Smith to dig them up and translate them. The translation was completed in 1830, and the Book of Mormon was then first published and the 'Church of Christ' was first formed.

The church in it's earliest days under Smith's leadership grew through periods of drama and scandal spreading from New York through to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois among other stops. Many of it's early leaders who would go on to become legendary figures, such as Brigham Young, came to the church in these years. It was in Illinois in 1844 that Smith met his end, assassinated by an anti-Mormon group inspired in part by his embracing and teaching of polygamy.

One idea that had triggered much hatred towards the Mormons was this introduction of 'the Principle' of plural marriage, popularly known as the practice of polygamy. Smith claimed to be inspired to the practice himself, and it is thus still practiced today by fundamentalist Mormons who believe that they should practice the faith in the way that Smith did. The LDS church officially banned polygamy in 1890 after it was officially declared illegal, and any church member now caught practicing it is excommunicated.

While it is these fundamentalist sects that draw much attention from the government and the sensationalist headline-seeking news media, and while it also is the main story line of "Big Love", this relatively small segment does not represent mainstream modern day LDS beliefs. The bottom line is that the LDS church is a Christian church, it has over 13 million members worldwide, is the 2nd-fastest growing church in America, it believes in the divinity of and teachings of Christ, and is as 'mainstream' as any other Christian faith.

As most everyone who follows this little blog of mine knows, I am a Catholic through and through, and I would enthusiastically encourage every single member of the LDS church, any other Christian church, and any other faith system at all to closely explore and strongly consider joining what I believe to be God's one true church. Catholicism is where I believe the best interpretations of his Word can be found. But for all it's critics out there, the fact of the matter on the LDS church is that Mormons are Christians too.

Britt Hume's Advice to Tiger Woods

Everyone pretty much knows the story of Tiger Woods' recent fall from grace. It became public that the mega-star athlete and corporation head was a serial adulterer. The married Woods is the father of two kids in diapers and cashed in greatly not only on his golfing acumen, but also on a squeaky-clean family man image.

Since the numerous affairs began to become public at Thanksgiving following a late night domestic incident and auto accident at his home, Woods' sponsorship deals have disappeared and his golf career put on hold as his family disintegrated in public.

Into this mess last Sunday waded Fox News political analyst and veteran newsman Britt Hume. On the program 'Fox News Sunday', the network's key Sunday news offering on major events, the panel participants were commenting on the big stories in the coming year. In the category of sports, Hume decided to tackle the immediate future of Tiger Woods, opining that Woods would indeed recover his golfing career this year.

However, Hume did not stop there. He went on to add that though Woods, who is believed to be a follower of Buddhism in his religious leanings, would indeed regain his golfing status, he might have a more difficult time in battling and overcoming his personal moral demons. Here is the full, exact quote by Hume at it's relevant point:

"My message would be to Tiger..turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

Uh oh, take cover, Britt Hume! Head for the hills! Here come the leftists and atheists with their pitch forks! A Christian daring to go on national television and expound that the best course of action for a fallen human being to take would be to turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and redemption? An outrageous scandal in the making!

The responses from the liberals was fast and furious this past week. A perfect example was Huffington Post blogger Eve Tahmincioglu, who termed Hume's commentary "bigotry" and further stated she could only "loosely" call him a journalist. Hume has worked for UPI, has been ABC's chief White House correspondent, and has been in the industry for 40 years, having twice been named 'Best in the Business' by the American Journalism Review.

But that is what liberals do best when their ideals, or lack of them, are challenged. Rather than express their own positive messages that extol their own ideas, liberals attack and smear, taking a page from their Saul Alinsky bible. As Britt Hume showed last Sunday, mainstream America is no longer afraid of these fringe radical attacks on American traditionalism and religious freedoms.

The fact is that the U.S. Constitution does not include any references whatsoever to any 'separation of church and state', and in fact makes numerous references to God, as do numerous other documents including the Declaration of Independence. Rather than stifling or eliminating references to religion, the Constitution simply protects the right of Americans to freely express their religious beliefs without being forced to embrace a state-sponsored particular religion.

For decades now, Christians have been under attack by left-wing radicals who embrace atheist concepts as a part of their socialist or communist agendas. It has been particularly Christians who are attacked because Christianity is far and away the leading religious belief system in America, and because our nation was founded largely by Christians acting on the principles that were espoused by their belief system.

All that Britt Hume did last Sunday was give public utterance to the exact teachings of Jesus Christ Himself. Christ taught "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whomever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." It just doesn't get any clearer than that.

What Tiger Woods did was to sin, plain and simple. Sin has been called "the greatest evil, being the root and source of all evil." Tiger needs to acknowledge his sin for what it is, he needs to seek forgiveness from his God for that sin, and he needs to seek redemption in the only way possible by believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.

Now many believers in other religious systems would take umbrage to that statement. They might believe that there is some other path that Tiger Woods can take to ask for forgiveness and to receive his redemption. Whatever you believe, that isn't the point. The simple point is that Britt Hume, and the nearly 80% of Americans who are also Christian, legitimately believe what he said is plain and simple truth, and that they have a Constitutionally protected right to express that belief.

Expect further attacks from the liberal media including newscasters from other networks, comedians, politicians, and members of other faith systems. At the same time, it is long past time for the more than 200 million Christian Americans to stand up for ourselves and for Christ in a public manner. If they want a fight, it's time to make it a two-sided brawl, for there is nothing more important to humanity or to individual men than the salvation of our immortal souls.

It is not only truth that Jesus Christ is the only way to true redemption for your sins, for Tiger Woods sins, but it is also truth that you will undeniably and absolutely find the peace of mind and the wholeness of self that all human beings seek if you simply do what Britt Hume advised Tiger Woods to do: "turn to the Christian faith", to Jesus Christ and his Word.

NOTE: This is a continuation of the regular 'Sunday Sermon' series, all entries of which you can view by clicking on that label below this aritcle at www.mattveasey.com

The Two Millenia Miracle

What do you believe about Christmas? At this time of year, billions of people on the planet are celebrating the birth of a baby that happened over two millenia ago in a small town in what we know today as the Middle East. Have you ever stopped to ask a simple question, one that would appear to be logical? That question would be, why?

Let's take a trip back in time. We'll make it a reality trip, one that journeys into the real world of those days and a few more over the ensuing centuries. Starting in first century Bethlehem in Judea, we find it dry and hot. No one exchanged Christmas cards. There were no trees being decorated. No one wore a crucifix around their neck.

Depending on whatever you choose to believe, on one mostly quiet night a teenage girl gave birth in a room, or a cave, or a barn, or a stable. Her child was a son, and she and her older carpenter fiancee would eventually take this child home with them to Nazareth and raise him through boyhood and adolescence into early manhood.

As a man, he would eventually become a preacher and a teacher, extolling men to love one another. Many of his teachings would run counter to the religious and political powers of the day, and he and his followers would eventually be seen as dangerous. He was taken into custody and ultimately killed by crucifixion, typical of political prisoners of Rome in those days.

There is little to suggest on the surface that there is anything special about this story. Baby born in a small town in the middle of nowhere to a teenage single mother grows up to become a somewhat popular preacher and is crucified as thousands of others were who also dared to stand up against the powers-that-be of the day.

In the aftermath of his death, his dozen or so closest followers are afraid for their own lives. They deny knowing him and go into hiding. Over the next few decades they will argue among and splinter apart from one another over how he actually would want them to remember him and continue to spread the word.

A few centuries after his death, with all of those original followers long dead and gone, the mother of a Roman ruler suddenly begins to believe, manages to convert her son, and the once obscure belief system becomes mainstream. What has become known as 'Christianity' grows and spreads.

Over the next 1,600 years the 'Church' of these followers in the teachings of Jesus Christ will explode around the world and across history in numbers of believers, material wealth, and influence. It is estimated that today there are well over 200 million Christians in America, over 76% of the entire population of the United States.

Around the world today there are over 2 billion Christians. One out of ever three people on the planet believe in the deity of that small baby born to that unwed teenage mother in that small town over two thousand years ago. How do you account for that, other than divinely inspired and shepherded miracle?

No matter what the actual day and date may have been, tonight we celebrate the birth of that small boy child. Few could possibly have realized it at the time, but the child born that night in those humble circumstances would be an undeniable light unto the world.

So back to the original question that I asked. What do you believe about Christmas? If you celebrate it, but don't believe in Jesus Christ, then why do you celebrate it? Because everyone else does? That's pretty lame of you. If you don't celebrate it, then how do you account for the miracle of these past two millenia? How do you account for more than 2 billion adherents today? Mass hysteria?

The purpose here was to challenge you to think about not only Christmas, but the particular origination of the holiday, the 'reason for the season', the actual birth of Jesus Christ. Think about how that small child grew into a man about whom it can be legitimately claimed has changed and influenced the world more than any other that ever walked the face of the earth.

The two millenia miracle continues to grow and spread today. Despite constant and increasing attacks on the celebration of Christmas here in America, it cannot be erased from the public consciousness. The reason that Christianity has grown and spread and continues to do so against the forces of secularism, radical Islam, and other sworn enemies is a simple one: it is Truth. Merry Christmas.

Remaining Thankful in the Worst of Times

If we live long enough here on earth, every single one of us is going to experience difficult times. Some of those are going to overwhelm us, challenging us to the limits of our ability to recover feelings of joy, peace, and thankfulness.

This coming week here in America we will celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving Day, a day specifically set aside for us all to give thanks for those blessings that we have received in this life. Though it may indeed be difficult, it is important that we remain thankful in the worst of those difficult times.

As this wonderful holiday approaches, I have been reminded recently of a pair of heartening messages, the first taught by Jesus Christ and the second by the apostle Paul: "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world" and "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

In the first of these statements, Jesus let's all of us know in no uncertain terms that we are indeed going to experience difficult times in this world. We are going to experience physical illness and injury. We are going to experience other people in our lives, at times the very closest and dearest to us, letting us down. We are going to experience death, both of our loved ones and ultimately our own.

But also in no uncertain terms, Jesus declares that He has overcome the world. We have all been promised that if we remain strong in our faith, that one day we too shall overcome the world and join Him in His kingdom in Heaven.

Have you experienced the sudden, tragic death of a loved one, perhaps someone who was your best friend, your partner in life, your husband or wife? Perhaps you have experienced the incredibly tragic pain of losing a child, one whom you raised and taught and played with? Many of us have experienced the loss of a parent, a mom or dad who helped preserve our own deepest feelings of security.

I cannot imagine how those with no faith can deal with these situations and remain sane and functional as human beings. With faith we understand that all is in God's loving hands, and that we are all offered a chance at eternal peace, health, and happiness.

We will all pass on from this earth, that is a fact. Tens of billions of people have lived on this tiny planet over the millenia. Every single one of them has died. That includes our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, his mother, Mary, and every single great or holy secular or religious leader that was ever born.

The great gift that we receive when we have faith in Jesus Christ comes in the knowledge that He died for us. His suffering and death were enormous, painful, and difficult. If you have never done so, watch Mel Gibson's truthful, passionate retelling in "The Passion of the Christ."

Jesus Christ experienced people turning away from Him, from the very Word of God. He experienced His closest friends denying they even knew Him. He experienced physical pain and psychological torture. He experienced public mockery and challenges to His sanity and His soul. And He finally experienced suffering and death on a cross.

He experienced all of this so that we might learn the truth that there is more for us beyond this world. He has promised us that if we follow and believe in Him, that we will join him in eternal peace and joy with God in Heaven. Every one of our friends and family members who has ever passed away has also had this opportunity.

We can be secure that those who have died believing in Him, even should that sincere belief have come in their final days or moments, are with Him now in Heaven, and that we will see them again one day. Also, those who left us as innocents are absolutely together with Him this very moment. It should be our life's primary purpose to ensure that we accept Jesus with faith so that we can indeed join them one day.

In the second statement that I mentioned earlier, Paul implores us to "give thanks in all circumstances" because whatever it is that we are going through, if we truly understand God's love in faith then we understand that we are never, ever alone in our difficulties.

Many of us have been given the gift of family and friends to help us through the difficult times that will inevitably visit us. These people are the ones who will stand by us and stay with us, no matter our troubles. They will be there to offer a shoulder to cry on, arms to wrap around us and comfort us, words to encourage and strengthen us.

But even if we have few friends and family, we are still never alone. Even when your friends and family are not physically there with you, you are still never alone. Even if it is that one person who seemed to always be there for you who has been taken from you, you are still not alone. In every moment of your life, God is there. You only need turn to Him and acknowledge Him.

Paul teaches that it was God's will for you to be thankful in all circumstances, including the worst, most difficult, and most painful. He teaches that it is in Jesus Christ and His teachings and example that we are to find the ability to give that thanks.

No matter how difficult the event, no matter how painful the experience, there are others here on earth who are suffering more right now and who have suffered more in the past. Every one of us is promised that peace, joy, and love with God in eternity if we remain faithful.

As this day and season of Thanksgiving comes to us, we should always remember and be grateful for every good time that has come to us on this earth. We should be thankful for the gift of every good moment that we were ever given with every good person in our lives. But no matter what, most of all we must overcome earthly pain and loss, and remain thankful for what will last forever - God's undying love for us.

Christian Plight in the Middle East

Pope Benedict XVI’s recently concluded visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, highlighted the demographic and political decline of Christian communities in the region. Nearly a century ago Christians accounted for 20 percent of the region’s population — today they number less than 5 percent. Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christian social and political growth is taking place. Elsewhere in the region, a dwindling Christian population is getting close to extinction as a result of Muslim intimidation and violence and, lack of economic opportunities leading to ever increasing emigration.

Significantly, in preparation for the Pope’s visit, few commentators reminded us that the Middle East was once the heart of Christianity, that cities such as Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem were once major Christian centers and, that the modern states of Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey were once part of the Christian Byzantine Empire. The Jihad out of Arabia by the Prophet Muhammad’s successors forced the vast majority of Christian and Jewish populations to choose between conversion to Islam or becoming a dhimmis (a tolerated, heavily taxed and humiliated second-class citizen — manifesting itself in, for example, the invalidation of their court testimony against a Muslim’s and, the restriction against building church spires that exceeds the height of a mosque). This process of Islamization took root and through the centuries millions of Christians converted to Islam by the sword and/or for economic survival. Christian communities that survived intact were usually mountain dwellers, specifically the Lebanese Christians.

In modern times, Christianity became a small minority in the region where they once constituted an absolute majority. In the 19th century, the arrival of western Christian missionaries revived, in small measure, Christian community life. American missionaries built universities in Cairo, Beirut and in Turkey. Catholic and Lutheran schools (grade and high schools) revived education among native Christians but not much reverse conversion occurred. The fear of death on account of apostasy prevented large scale Muslim conversion to Christianity.

The rise of Arab nationalism gave Christians a role to play in various Arab States. Christians seeking to be accepted as equals by the Muslim majority championed various universalist movements. Men like Michel Aflaq founded the Ba’ath Party, an Arab national socialist party that drew its inspiration from European dictatorships such as Germany and Italy. Khalid Bakdash, established the communist party in Syria and Lebanon, and George Habash formed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist-Leninist Palestinian terrorist organization.

The participation of Arab Christians began to diminish in the 1970s following the Six-Day War, when Israel defeated the much superior forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq with contingents from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and Yemen. Simultaneously, there was a meteoric rise of Islamism fueled by Saudi Wahhabi petrodollars. Millions of Egyptians and Levantines pouring into Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in pursuit of job opportunities became Wahhabi devotees.

The resulting decline of Arab nationalism affected a change in the Arab psyche; an intense anti-Western attitude arose among the masses and the elites alike. Arab Muslims wanted an authentic Arab answer to their political, social and economic plight, and Islamism became the answer. The success of the Iranian revolution also stimulated a Sunni-Islamist response. National identities retreated as religious consciousness advanced. The importation of ideas from the west during earlier decades, which pushed modernization and enlightenment in the Arab world, was gradually replaced by religious values centered on Islamic spirituality and conservatism. Political Islam became a force that attracted the young and educated.

Back in 1991, this writer interviewed Bethlehem’s legendary Christian mayor Elias Freij, who noted that 40,000 Christians had departed the area. He said, “Go to Santiago, Chile, that is where you will find the Christians of Bethlehem.” When asked why, he replied that “It was difficult for Christians here.” Privately however Christians in the Bethlehem-Beth Sahor-Beth Jala triangle, plead with westerners to let the world know about their oppression at the hands of Fatah gangs. Palestinian Authority (PA) officials intimidate Christians into selling desired properties at undervalued prices. Christian girls are victims of harassment, rape and forced conversion, and Christian-owned businesses are often torched by PA-sanctioned gangs for non-payment of protection money.

Arab-Palestinian Christians are afraid to complain to the foreign press for fear of retribution in the form of rape of their daughters or wives, murder and beatings. Often times, they are required to make anti-Israel proclamations as an offering of loyalty to the Palestinian cause.

The persecution of Christians is pervasive throughout the region. In Lebanon, Hezbollah is likely to take over control of the government following the upcoming June elections and eventually modify the secular nature of the state that was created by the French ostensibly to accommodate Christians in the Levant. And in Egypt, Coptic Christians, about 10 percent of Egypt’s 75 million, are feeling the brunt of the increasingly radicalized Muslim population which has drastically curtailed Christian employment in government, and reduced their once dominant role in the Egyptian economy. Muslim violence against Christians in Egypt is ignored by the Mubarak regime. Churches are torched and young Christian girls are raped and forcibly converted to Islam. Relatives who go to the police end up being beaten and having to serve time in prison.

Six years ago, the Christian population of Iraq was about 1.5 million. The deliberate murder of Christians by their Muslim neighbors and various jihadi groups has caused them to flee, reducing by half the current number of Iraqi Christians

The apparent triumph of radical Islam in the Arab Middle East bodes ill for the remaining Christian minorities. Pope Benedict’s visit to the region should prompt the Holy See to launch a worldwide campaign that demands tolerance, religious freedom and human rights for all minorities in the Muslim world. The Pope must put aside political correctness and multiculturalism, and rally the Christian world including the European Union and the United States, to demand reciprocity from the Muslim world. If Christianity is not allowed to exist freely in the Arab-Muslim world, then Muslims minorities should not be able to erect mosques, and enjoy full equality in the democratic west.

WRITTEN by Joseph Puder for The Bulletin on May 26th, 2009. As always, the title of this item is a link to the original article

National Day of Prayer

In 1775, the First Continental Congress called for a National Day of Prayer. In 1952 Congress established the NDP as an annual event by a joint resolution, signed into law by President Truman. In 1988, the law was amended to designate the first Thursday in May for NDP, and was signed into law by President Reagan.

The mission of the National Day of Prayer Task Force is to communicate with every family the need for personal repentance and prayer, and to mobilize families to personal and corporate prayer, particularly on behalf of the nation and those in leadership on all levels of local, national, church and educational areas of influence.

In 1800, John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife Abigail, "I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof!" It was his last year in office, but the first year any president occupied the White House.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had Adam's quote lettered in gold in the marble over the fireplace in the State Dining Room of the White House.

Indeed, prayer is the only enduring path to hope and change, and our nation needs a lot of both right now. However, the current inhabitant of the White House will not be observing NDP. Robert Gibbs told his press club, "We're doing a proclamation, which I know that many administrations in the past have done," but Obama will not be inviting faith leaders to the White House (like Wright, Pfleger and Farrakhan?), or attending any of the events associate with NDP.

That notwithstanding, The Patriot Post's National Advisory Board and staff invite you to join us, and millions of our countrymen, in prayer for our nation today at 12:00 local time. The NDP theme for this year, "Prayer ... America's Hope," is based on Psalm 33:22, "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." Link to the National Day of Prayer Web site (www.ndptf.org) for more information.

WRITTEN by Mark Alexander, publisher of The Patriot Post (http://patriotpost.us), in his email essay dated May 7th, 2009

The Temple of You

We've all done it from time to time, taken a good, hard, long look in the mirror. That isn't meant to be rhetorical. I mean actually looked at our visage as it is reflected back to us, our physical appearance. The reactions to that visage spread out across a wide spectrum from "yeah, baby, I got it goin' on" to a panicked scream. People who don't like what they see have sometimes taken extreme measures to change their bodies, but this does not always change the reflection. Some of these include turning to an eating disorder such as anorexia and bulimia, even plastic surgeries that are not for some medical necessity. Some decide they just want to forget or push away the image. They turn to the bottle or to drugs. Some need constant reinforcement of their worth, and in doing so turn to numerous sexual partners in an effort to constantly stroke their egos. This isn't going to turn into one of those 'hell fire and brimstone' speeches against the evils of the flesh. God knows that I have fallen victim many a time in my own life. Taking control of some of these reactions to the reflection has taken me most of the 47 years that I have looked in the mirror. But maybe it would have all clicked in a bit sooner, and maybe I would have control of my weight and its related concerns, if I had the experience that I had a few days ago at an earlier point. In the past few days I have been re-exposed to an old, famous quotation, and had it more clearly expressed and explained, and I hope that this renewal finally changes my approach to this problem. We have all likely heard the old saying "Your body is your temple", but how many of us have really ever thought much about the meaning behind that saying? The saying comes directly from the Bible. From Saint Paul's first letter to the Corinthians comes this exhortation: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." For each of the more than two billion Christians on the planet, the message should be clear, but it's amazing how little emphasis we place on these simple but vitally important ideas. We all know that the Holy Spirit of God Himself dwells inside of us. That our bodies have been "bought at a price" refers explicitly to Christ's selfless, sacrificial death on the cross so that our bodies and souls might be saved from death itself and eternal damnation. When we abuse or misuse our bodies with drugs, drink, food, mutilation, sex and other measures we are taking that gift of redemption, throwing it to the ground, and stomping on it. We are supposed to "honor God" with our bodies but we do just the opposite. This idea also goes directly to our treatment of the most innocent, those who depend entirely on us for both their perception of their bodies and the direct treatment of them. It goes to the children to whom we are responsible, from the unborn in the womb to the infants, toddlers, pre-teens and teenagers under our daily care. All of this responsibility goes directly to the struggle that takes place every single day in every single human life everywhere in the world. It is the struggle between good and evil that has taken place since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, and since the snake known as Satan was set against our heels. Satan finds that weakness in each of us and tempts, distracts, suppresses, and amuses us all. For the vast majority of us the instrument that he uses against us is our very own body. Pope John Paul II, perhaps the greatest spiritual leader of our time, spoke directly to many of these issues in his 'Theology of Life' talks and his most famous encyclical 'Humanae Vitae', which is a must-read for every Catholic. There are many avenues we can take to begin overcoming our own personal demons, those things that cause us to turn our temple into a slum. But our efforts will be far more effective if they come within the context of a knowledge that when you fight for your body you are fighting a war against evil. It will not be an easy fight, and it will definitely be a life long fight. You will win some battles and lose some. The harder you fight against evil, the harder it will fight back. But ultimately you will always win, because God is on your side. You just have to be willing to believe in Him, receive Him into your life actively, and He will fight alongside of you. He will help you to put out that final cigarette, lose those fifty pounds, put down that bottle, end that affair, escape that sexual hedonism, accept a healthy body image. And as you win, He will help you to tear down the slum that your body has become. He will help you to work from the base that is already there and is always solid to finally build up the 'Temple of You'.

Cast Off Whatever Drags You Down

I have seen it lamented in numerous publications and on broadcast television that there is a general negativity out there among today's youth. And when they talk about 'today's youth' in this fashion, they haven't been referring only to the old stand-by of 'teen angst.' It is a phenomenon that seems to be embedding itself in the entire under-30 generation. Where does such wide-spread negativity come from? I am going to blame two places. First, the old bugaboo of increasingly destructive and negative media. There is no doubt that over the past couple of decades, beginning with the explosion of interpretive music videos on MTV in the 1980's and expanding through ever more dark and violent motion pictures and television shows since that time, those 'today's youth' have been inundated with negative sounds and images unlike any generation before them. It has grown to the point where some visuals or words that would have been completely taboo when I was growing up just as recently as the 1960's and 1970's have now become mainstream. There is a continuing regression in the influential pop media areas of song and motion picture as far as morals. But it is a total copout to blame this all on media, for the second place that we can lay the blame for the ennui of 'today's youth' is right at our own parental doorsteps. We allowed ourselves to get sucked into this lifestyle, these lower forms of expression. As the 'Pandora's Box' of sexual, artistic, lyrical, visual and other expression was cracked open over the past few decades, we were seduced by newly liberating 'freedom' of expression. Little did we know that we were not becoming more free, but were becoming more enslaved. Sin creeps into lives in an insidious manner. It doesn't usually explode on us. Sin slips up behind us, envelops us slowly, sinks in deeply, and drags us down slowly. For the most part my generation did not turn off the television, did not turn off the music videos and radio songs, did not stay away from the motion pictures and television shows. In fact, we embraced them, and our kids watched our behavior, as they always do, and not only modeled it but went beyond it as society 'opened up' even further. I firmly believe that this overwhelming exposure to negative and sometimes profane media is at the root of the problems of 'today's youth', but that there is little or nothing that we can do now to shut it down. You truly cannot close that box once it has been opened. But we can do a couple of things. For one, we can expose ourselves to this media in a more discerning manner. There are positive lessons that can be taken from any story, song, or program and we need to understand that and search for them. If we find no redeeming value in something, then we simply must respond by publicly denouncing whatever the medium might be. We can also begin to publicly and outwardly stand up for the positive values and traditions of our Church. The lessons taught by Jesus Christ and his true followers down through the ages are things that we all should be exposing ourselves to more, and should be exposing our families to more. Turning to Christ is always the best and most effective thing that anyone can do in times of trouble, and the same is true for today's youth. Finally we can realize that there is a great deal of positive, affirming, enlightening media available out there in song, on television, and in theatres. We just need to be more discerning in seeking it out and exposing ourselves to these outlets and resources. All good music does not need to be profane. All interesting films do not need to be violent. All entertaining television does not need to be sexually exploitative. We need to make better choices in our lives a little at a time. For those with young children, you need to take control of what you allow them to be exposed to, and ensure that they are exposed to frequent positive messages, especially the Word. For those with older kids, it may have reached the point where your influence is not enough on its own. In that case, we have to hope that they are intelligent enough to figure the 'right' and the 'good' out for themselves as they get older. To today's youth my message would be to search your life, to search your habits, to search your influences closely. Whatever you come to realize is dragging you down, cast it off, remove it from your life. And if you take the next step of replacing it with more exposure to Jesus Christ and the Word, you will be amazed at the positive transformation in your spirit.

The Greatest Question Ever Asked

About a half century ago, literally on the other side of the world, the Reverend Billy Graham was delivering one of his typical fire and brimstone sermons 'Down Under' in Australia. The theme of his sermon that day revolved around what he called "the greatest question ever asked by any man." That questioner to whom he was referring was a bit notorious. It was Pontius Pilate, the first century Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea who has become legend for having condemned Jesus Christ to death by crucifixion. While being questioned by Pilate, Jesus stated "...for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Pilate responded with his simple question that has resounded through history as that greatest ever to be asked: "What is truth?" However, Pilate asks his question dismissively of Christ. As he asks the question, he waves Jesus off and walks away, as if to say 'yeah, right' or 'gimme a break'. But it is not as if Jesus Christ had never answered this question, for he had done so on numerous occasions previously, and none more famously than is presented in the Gospel of John. In John 14:6, Christ proclaims that he is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Today's world is full of what have become known as 'relativists' who claim, as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said: "You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist." In philosophical circles, this has become known as 'Moral Relativism', that what is right for you is right, and what is right for me is right. There is one huge problem with all of this, of course. No two individuals, or groups of people, or religions can always both be 'right' in a relative way. If I claim that a certain patch of land is mine, and you claim that same patch of land is yours, then we have a legitimate dispute that cannot be resolved by any claim that we are both right. The fact is that, as Reverend Graham put it on that evening in Australia, when Jesus Christ makes the statement that he is "..the Way, the Truth, and the Life" he did not stop there. His statement finished with "No one comes to the Father except through me." This leaves you, that means anyone reading this, anyone who has been in existence since that time who has heard that claim, with only two choices. Either Jesus Christ was everything that he said he was, or he is a liar, a fraud, and a scoundrel. Your choice. That is the basis of the entirety of man's decision making process since the time of the beginnings of Christianity. The great joy is that so many have come to understand the ultimate truthful answer, that Jesus Christ is indeed the Way to a personal relationship with God, that he is the Truth of existence in every word that he ever spoke, and that he is the Life that we all seek in eternity. Christianity rose from the humble beginnings of a few dozen close followers to the largest belief system on the planet in just over two millenia. It did so despite being the direct target of those who would have stamped it out wholly and utterly, at times when it appeared the odds of its survival were insurmountable. It ultimately grew strong and prospered because at its very heart is that ultimate Truth that is the answer to the greatest question that any man has ever posed. The answer to Pontius Pilate's question of "What is truth?" is Jesus Christ. If you haven't come to that realization yet, I implore you to look closer. Get yourself a Bible, turn to the New Testament, and read Christ's words. They will inspire you if you have never taken that time before, and the more you read, the more you will understand. The more you understand, the more the Holy Spirit will fill your life. The more the Spirit moves within you, the closer you will get to understanding and accepting that Truth. And as we have come to know, the Truth shall set you free.

How Would Jesus Vote ?

'What Would Jesus Do?' is a popular saying sometimes shortened to the simple acronym 'WWJD' on bumper stickers. A new play on that might be 'HWJV', or 'How Would Jesus Vote?' Now some might say that it is more than a bit presumptuous for myself or anyone else to try and get inside the head of Jesus Christ and determine who he likely would vote for in Tuesday's U.S. Presidential election. But I definitely do not think that it is a question that should not be at least thought about and explored. Let's look at the issues, and see how one might interpret Christ's view of them. He was not against taxes, telling us directly that we should "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and render unto God that which is God's." What Jesus was about on this issue was excessive taxation, and so we find that He understands the necessity of taxes to support public works, but is against over burdening the taxpayer. On the issue of taxation, Barack Obama claims that he will give a 'middle-class' tax cut, but will raise corporate taxes. Of course as has been proven time and time again, corporations who have their taxes raised will not take on this burden, they will pass it along to their customers in the price of the goods they sell. In addition, if their tax burden gets too high, it has often resulted in businesses laying off workers, even shutting down completely. So as we see, Obama's plan might give that middle-class a tax cut on one hand, and effectively take it away or even worsen the situation on the other hand. With John McCain, the 'Bush tax cuts' due to soon expire, tax cuts that stimulated our economy, will have an advocate to keep them going. Those are very real tax cuts that have already been given to the middle-class. If allowed to expire, as Obama wants, they will result in a tax increase to that middle-class. The fact of the matter is that on taxes, in my opinion, Jesus would be squarely in the McCain camp. Let's move on to the important issues of judicial appointments and the key issue of abortion. This one is almost a no-brainer. Obama supports a woman's perceived 'right' to 'choose' to kill her baby as a method of birth control, even up to the point of not providing medical care to a child that survives the abortion procedure. That is not an exaggeration, that is his actual position. John McCain believes that the abortion procedure should only be a last resort for medical reasons, and would appoint justices who would hopefully overturn the 'Roe vs. Wade' decision that has resulted in a holocaust of millions of American babies begin killed over the past 30+ years. The fact is that without the 'Roe' decision, tens of millions of Americans would have lived, and had their own children. Just imagine what some of these young people might have accomplished had their parents chosen simply to allow them the most basic gift of the life that those parents got to live. Let's move on to the recent issue of war and national protection. Clearly, Jesus would have been against war as an action, because by it's very nature it involves the taking of human life. Just as clearly, Obama would like to end the current war actions in the Middle East and 'bring home the troops'. McCain would just as clearly continue the actions of our military in battling Islamofascism. The fact is that Jesus certainly would not have taken his 'turn the other cheek' teaching, one that he directed towards individuals to seek reconciliation rather than retribution, to apply to nations trying to defend the existence of Christianity. If you don't understand that the radical Islamists in the Middle East fully intend to destroy Western civilization, Judaism, Christianity, and every other 'ism' that stand in the way of their world dominance, then you simply are not educated enough on this issue. If the U.S. pulls its troops out of the Middle East before strong, stable democracies are formed there that can stand up for themselves, then the Islamofascists will overrun the region. If you say 'Who cares?' to that, then you are extremely naive. Jesus Christ was far from naive, and would understand that a war to stop Adolf Hitler from dominating the world and spreading racial and religious hatred, a 'Cold War' to stop Soviet socialism from dominating the world and destroying individual freedoms, and a war to stop Islamofascism from dominating the world and destroying His message would need to be fought. Sometimes making the hard decision in life, and having to roll up your sleeves and fight, is the only way to defend freedom and even life itself. War to save lives? That is exactly right. The Church has always supported the idea of a 'Just' war, and so would Christ. He thus would not support us coming home, turning our back on world responsibilities, and allowing the systematic ethnic and religious cleansing, death, regional conflict, and destruction that would result from our leaving the Middle East. Finally, on the issue of health care for all, would Jesus support the government giving away a poor quality of health care at a burdensome cost to everyone in massive tax increases, or would he support continuing to allow the greatest medical and health care system in the history of the planet to remain the way it is? My belief is that he would keep the current system that allows freedom of choice, opportunities and incentives for research into further advances, advanced care like none other in the world, and that still finds a way to give basic care to the most indigent who walk through emergency room doors. He certainly would not support a socialized system such as the all-inclusive government health care of Canada, where citizens literally die while on a waiting list for operations, and where in desperation they cross the borders to partake of the current American health care system. Jesus certainly would be attracted to the idea that Obama is part African-American, and thus would take that social aspect into consideration. Of course, he would also be attracted to Sarah Palin's candidacy as Vice-President on the Republican side, and the fact that she very well could end up as the first female President. My guess is that Jesus would not in the end be swayed by race, sex, religion, ethnicity, or anything other than who would be better at guiding the nation under a Christian ideal. No matter what campaign rhetoric might say, both candidates would support aid to the truly poor and needy in our country. This election's 'Choice' has perhaps been clearer than any in history. You can choose to vote for Obama: raise taxes, spend ourselves further into debt, embolden terror regimes, kill more babies, trash our Constitution. Or you can choose to vote for McCain: controlled taxation, reduced spending, strong military defense, supportive of traditional American values, and perhaps most importantly an administration that will value human life. Many opinion polls, broadcast news shows, entertainers, and liberal print media are trying to sell the public that this election is already over. Republicans, conservatives, traditional Americans, just stay home because you can't win anyway. I say this election is going to shock the liberal elements with its closeness, and two nights from now they will be wondering what could have happened to those big leads that they were being sold. I also say that, if he were alive today and a U.S. citizen, the answer to the acronym 'WHJV' is that Jesus Christ would be voting for John McCain for President.

End of Days?

It happens every once in awhile that I sit down to watch some TV, nothing special is on my agenda, and a show or movie catches my attention and ends up drawing me in to watch the whole thing. It happened yesterday with Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1999 apocalyptic tome "End of Days" on the 'Encore' movie network. First you need to understand that I grew up in the whole Schwarzenegger-Sylvester Stallone-Bruce Willis-Harrison Ford-Clint Eastwood era of movie watching, and I simply enjoy most of these guys action adventures. They have probably delivered more memorable one-liners than any group in the history of cinema, and their films have come during the era when special effects have allowed almost anything to happen and seem realistic. The plot of "End of Days" finds Schwarzenegger as an ex-cop turned private security specialist, providing security along with his partner played by Kevin Pollack for a wealthy Wall Street financier played by Gabriel Byrne. Problem is that Byrne's character's body becomes taken over by Satan himself, whose goal is to mate with a chosen human woman in the final hour before the end of the Millenium. That chosen woman is played by the beautiful Robin Tunney, and the film also is highlighted by one of the final appearances (the last in a major film) by veteran actor Rod Steiger. As the rest of the world prepares to celebrate the coming of the year 2000, the officials of the Church are trying to track down and stop the mating process of Satan and his chosen concubine, which per the story line will result in the birth of a child who will usher in a 'hell on earth' scenario. Schwarzenegger is the unbelieving, pragmatic dupe whose own wife and daughter were brutally murdered a few years earlier, who has descended into a battle with alcoholism in the aftermath, and who is just moving through life using his particular 'skill set' in providing private security services. He finally is forced to realize that he is providing those services for the Dark Prince himself, and begins a mission to protect Tunney from becoming the devil's mate that she was born to become. In the end, it is only through Arnold's own personal revelation, his own belief and faith, and his own self-sacrifice that he can finally hope to overcome evil and save the woman and the world. Around all of the outstanding special effects, and there are many here that still hold up great even a decade later, and a bit of a typically overblown Arnold story, there are outstanding themes and lessons to be learned. First, the idea of the 'end of days', the 'end times', 'Armageddon', the 'apocalypse' is addressed in dramatic form. It has been addressed better and more believably in other places, but this pop version of the story returns the idea to the front of your consciousness. If you are an unbeliever, little but being smacked on the head with a board by God Himself will wake you up. But to believers, we know that it will happen, it's just a matter of time and exact details. The fact is that God gave us a primer, he provided us clues, in the Bible's final book. Of course, no one knows when the exact end of time will come, that is God's information alone. But he just as obviously wanted man to know that the time was coming, and wanted us to have final opportunities to come to love and accept him before any final judgement. The Book of the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John, provides much that points to things happening in today's world that should give one pause. The book provides basically that there will be seven cycles of events that will lead to the return of Jesus Christ and the end of days on earth as we have known them. Some of the signs are generic, and could apply to any time in Earth's history: false prophets have always existed, there have always been wars and rumors of war, famine, earthquakes and other natural disasters. But what is revealed to St. John is that these things will become more and more frequent, and more and more devastating, as the end approaches. To say that this has not been happening, for whatever reason that they may be happening, is to simply deny reality. Another sign was that the Gospel would reach all corners of the world thanks to instant communications. This sign was not completely possible until recent years with the development of the internet, high-speed travel, and other modern realities that allow the Word to spread to every corner of the globe. The signs include the return as well of a restored Roman Empire, the return of Hebrew as a language, and the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Israel. Rome is reborn in the EU, Hebrew was a dead language until the nation of Israel restored it's teaching, and now some are planning to construct the Temple as well. You see this actually happening, you will know that the time is coming. And then there is the famous 'Mark of the Beast' most widely known under the number '666', and the fact that all will be required to accept this to buy and sell and move about somewhat freely. It has not been until today's coming technologies of microscopic bio-chips and other ID technologies, the development of cards replacing currency, bar code technology, and other inventions that has made this final piece of the puzzle clearer. You can argue all you want about any of these 'signs' individually, but it is the combination of them that signals the coming of the End Times. I have faith, and personally believe that all these things will happen. Whether they happen in my lifetime or not is not for me to say. But I would say to you that if you are intelligent, and if you have any established Christian belief that you take seriously, then you need to keep your eyes, ears, and heart open for the signs as they come closer and closer together, signalling the "End of Days". As is always the case, the title of this entry is a link to more information on the topic, this one taking you to a YouTube free internet film series on the topic.