“The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on Jesus Christ’s errands, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, ‘Do not be bothered with whether you are being justly dealt with or not.’ To look for justice is a sign of deflection from devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will begin to grouse and indulge in the discontent of self-pity – ‘Why should I be treated like this?’ if we are devoted to Jesus Christ we have nothing to do with what we meet, whether it is just or unjust. Jesus says, ‘go steadily on with what I have told you to do and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance.’ The most devout among us become atheistic in this connection; we do not believe God, we enthrone common sense and tack the name of God onto it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts.”

Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest” Discovery House Publishers

The following was written by Pascal Levensohn, founder of Levensohn Venture Partners. Pascal received a BA in Government from Harvard University. A former Vice President of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco, where he served as a director for six years, he currently serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the Socrates Society, a leadership development program of the Aspen Institute with which he has been involved since 1997. He is a former director of the American Friends of Hand in Hand: Center for Bilingual Arab-Jewish Education in Israel, and the Program chair for the Business Leadership Council of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation.

All this to say that while we do not know him, we so appreciate his heart for Amoun Sleem, someone we support in the Old City. I thought it good to bring my readers up to date on a genuine need in the kingdom. We met Amoun in the Old City in 2001 and were so impressed with her heart to help her people, the forgotten Gypsy society of Jerusalem. She is here with me today in the office, and we are hoping to let people know that while society may have forgotten the Gypsies, the Lord has not. If you feel led to help her help these people, contact me here. Just another way to bless Israel!

The Domari Gypsy Society Community Center in Jerusalem is in Danger of Closing– How You Can Help

by Paschal Levensohn

I’ve written about the Domari, the gypsies of East Jerusalem, on numerous occasions in this blog. The Dom are gypsies of North Indian origin who have lived in East Jerusalem for approximately 800 years. They currently number about 3,000 people, and a courageous woman, Amoun Sleem, leads a group of the Dom who want to break the shackles of illiteracy and subsistence living through efforts at building a community, keeping alive their ancestral shared language, and teaching adults and children computer literacy and basic self-help business skills.

I’ve visited Amoun on numerous occasions over the past five years and met her extended family. I celebrated my most recent birthday in Jerusalem with Amoun and Anat Hoffman of the Israel Religious Action Center. Anat and her colleagues at the IRAC have actively helped the Dom for years and originally introduced me to Amoun.

Amoun and her clan have impressed me as honest, resilient people who would like to be self reliant but have fallen through the cracks of the Israeli social system. Rejected and ignored by Israelis and Palestinians alike, most of the Dom are beggars.

I’ve attached their most recent newsletter Download domari_newlsetter_4_07.pdf which describes their current situation and how you can help. The newsletter notes that a $10,000 matching challenge grant to help the Domari is waiting for anyone to make a tax deductible gift to help them….

The Domari are at the absolute bottom of the socio-economic ladder in Israel and they could use a helping hand. Please join me in helping them to stand on their own.

To find out more about how to make a tax deductible gift, you can contact drc@domresearchcenter.com or Rachel Canar at the Israel Religious Action Center at rachel@irac.org .

I don’t know about you, but I never heard this half of the story.

Blair stepped down yesterday after 10 years in the ‘front office’ of Britain. But lest you think he is retiring to some tropical island to sip Coronas, he is actually going to be neck-deep in Mideast politics. By jove, the Brits are back in “Palestine”! —mary

Jerusalem Newswire

by Stan Goodenough

Jun 29, 2007

After 25 years in British politics, 13 years at the head of the Labor Party and 10 years as the head of government, Tony Blair bowed out as prime minister and Member of Parliament Wednesday and stepped into his new post as special envoy to the Middle East.

Contrary to many expectations, his job will not be to try and come up with ways to restart the quagmired “Road Map” peace plan, according to reports.

Instead, he will focus on finding a fast track to establishing an Arab state called Palestine on the Arab-occupied Jewish lands of Samaria, Judea and Gaza.

Blair, who counts as probably his greatest achievement as prime minister his success at brokering the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement, is on record as saying he believes resolving the “Palestinian”-Israeli conflict is key to bringing peace to the entire Middle East.

Speaking earlier this week in response to speculation that he would be offered the envoy’s post, he said he would do “whatever I can to help bring about a solution.”

His appointment was confirmed by the so-called Quartet of powers – the US, EU, UN and Russia – Wednesday as he was on his way to Buckingham Palace to relinquish his premiership in a day of intense activity beamed to millions of television viewers around the world.

Blair didn’t waste a minute getting started. Barely had he departed the palace as plain Mr. Tony Blair, citizen, than he began work, announcing in a newspaper interview published Thursday that he will make his first trip to Israel and the “Palestinian territories” possibly as early as next month.

Before the sun had set on his first day out of office, Blair had been on the phone to King Abd’allah of Saudi Arabia, King Abd’allah of Jordan, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

All had reportedly welcomed him to his new post and said they looked forward to working with him.

Blair will reportedly be based out of an office in Jerusalem – though he does not recognize the city as Israel’s capital. He will be working with a small team and will be expected to regularly report on his progress to the Quartet.

According to a Quartet statement read out by a United Nations spokeswoman, “The urgency of recent events has reinforced the need for the international community, bearing in mind the obligations of the parties, to help Palestinians as they build the institutions and economy of a viable state in Gaza and the West Bank, able to take its place as a peaceful and prosperous partner to Israel and its other neighbors…

Blair would “spend significant time in the region working with the parties and others to help create viable and lasting government institutions representing all Palestinians, a robust economy, and a climate of law and order for the Palestinian people,” the statement continued.

Putin’s Arctic invasion: Russia lays claim to the North Pole – and all its gas, oil, and diamonds

Last updated at 09:24am on 29th June 2007 Comments (6)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is making an astonishing bid to grab a vast chunk of the Arctic – so he can tap its vast potential oil, gas and mineral wealth. His scientists claim an underwater ridge near the North Pole is really part of Russia’s continental shelf.

One newspaper printed a map of the “new addition”, a triangle five times the size of Britain with twice as much oil as Saudi Arabia.

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Muscle-flexing: Putin has his sights on Arctic oil and gas

The dramatic move provoked an international outcry. The U.S. and Canada expressed shock and environment campaigners said it would be a disaster.

Observers say the move is typical of Putin’s muscle-flexing as he tries to increase Russian power.

Under current international law, the countries ringing the Arctic – -Russia, Canada, the U.S., Norway, and Denmark (which owns Greenland) – are limited to a 200-mile economic zone around their coasts.

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Putin claims that an underwater Russian ridge is linked to the North Pole

A UN convention says none can claim jurisdiction over the Arctic seabed because the geological structure does not match the surrounding continental shelves.

But Russian scientists have returned from a six-week mission on a nuclear ice-breaker to claim that the 1,220-mile long underwater Lomonosov Ridge is geologically linked to the Siberian continental platform – and similar in structure.

The region is currently administered by the International Seabed Authority but this is now being challenged by Moscow.

Experts estimate the ridge has ten billion tons of gas and oil deposits and significant sources of diamonds, gold, tin, manganese, nickel, lead and platinum.

A Russian attempt to claim Arctic territory was rejected five years ago, but this time Moscow plans to make a far more serious submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. A British diplomatic source warned

that Russia was planning to secure its grip on oil and gas supplies “for decades to come”.

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The Russians have laid controversial claim to the North Pole

He said: “Putin wants a strong Russia, and Western dependence on it for oil and gas supplies is a key part of his strategy. He no longer cares if it upsets the West.”

The U.S. state department said the Russian claim was completely unacceptable. “It’s an extraordinary idea and I can’t believe it will go anywhere,” an official said.

A Canadian official called the move a complete surprise.

Green groups warned that the Kremlin claim could devastate one of the world’s last unspoilt areas.

John Sauven, director of Greenpeace UK, said: “We think nations should stop searching for new sources of fossil fuel and focus instead on the alternatives – renewables, energy efficiency and decentralised energy systems.

“Only then will disputes over natural resources become a thing of the past.”

Ted Nield, of the Geological Society in London, branded Russia’s claim nonsensical.

“The notion that geological structures can somehow dictate ownership is deeply peculiar,” he said.

“Anyway, the Lomonosov Ridge is not part of a continental shelf – it is the point at which two ocean floor plates under the Arctic Ocean are spreading apart.

“It extends from Russia across to Canada, which means Canada could use the same argument and say the ridge is part of the Canadian shelf.

“If you take that to its logical conclusion, Canada could claim Russia and the whole of Eurasia as its own.”

by E.W. Bullinger

c.1905

When the Apostle Paul preached the good news concerning Christ and His Church, at Ephesus, his ministry continued in Asia for the space of two years (Acts 19:10). We read that the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed, and that “all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus.” And yet, at the close of his ministry, and of his life, he writes his last Epistle to Timothy, when he says “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand” (II Timothy 1:15): “This thou knowest that all they that be in Asia have turned away from me.”

We are told, on every hand, today, that we must go back to the first three centuries to find the purity of faith and worship of the primitive church! But it is clear from this comparison of Acts 19:10 and II Timothy 1:15, that we cannot go back to the first century. No, not even to the apostle’s own lifetime!

This turning away could not have been merely personal; but must have included his teaching also. For in chapter 2, verse 18, he speaks of those “who concerning the truth have erred.” In chapter 3, verse 8, he speaks of those who “resist the truth.” In chapter 4, verse 4, he speaks of those who “turn away their ears from the truth” and are “turned unto fables.”

It was Pauline truth and teaching from which all had “turned away.” It was this turning away from the truth as taught by the Holy Spirit through Paul, especially as contained in the Epistle to the Ephesians, that led necessarily:

1. To the loss of the teaching concerning the Mystery; that truth concerning the one Body of Christ. The effect of this was at once to put everything wrong ecclesiastically, and to make room for all the various and different “Bodies,” so-called, with all the consequent divisions and schisms of the church. Instead of recognizing “the One Body” which God had made, men set about making their own “Bodies” and Sects! and with this ecclesiastical confusion came the loss of the truth as to the Christian’s perfect standing in Christ as having died and risen in Him.
2. Next, after this, went the truth of the Lord’s promised return from heaven; and of resurrection, as the one great and blessed hope of the church. Other hopes, or rather fears, came in their place, and “death and judgment” took the place of those lost hopes. Having lost the truth of what God had made Christ to be unto us, and the joy as to our standing thus given, in looking for that blessed hope, preparation for death and judgment was the necessary result, and therefore:
3. The next thing to go was the truth as to what God had made us to be in Christ; and “justification by faith” and by grace was lost. The way was now open for the full tide of error to come in: and it came in, like a flood, with all the corruption and superstition which ended in centuries which have the significant description “the dark ages.”

Everyone is familiar with the term, and with the fact. But what were the dark ages? How did they come? They were not brought on suddenly by some untoward event. There must have been some cause, something that made them possible. The corruption was historical. The Eastern churches today are in similar darkness. And the Western churches, where the Reformation has not removed it, are in the same darkness.

The Reformation itself, what was it, but the beginning of a recovery of these great truths? The remarkable fact is that the recovery of these truths has taken place in the inverse order to that in which they were lost.

Justification by grace through faith was the first great truth recovered at the Reformation. This was the truth over which that great battle was fought and won, though the victory was far from complete. For not until the nineteenth century had well begun did the Lord’s return from heaven begin to become again the blessed hope of His church. In later years the subject has become more and more precious to increasing numbers. But this great and “blessed hope” is not yet really learned, because it ought to be the natural outcome of truth received and held, instead of being treated as an independent subject artificially produced. It must come from the heart into the life, and not be merely held and retained in the head, if it is to be productive of the blessed results seen in the Thessalonian church. It must be learned experimentally as a vital and essential part of our standing as Christians, and not be studied as if it were an extra subject, in order to produce Thessalonian fruit. Hence, it is that we more often see prophecy taken up as a study, rather than as the result of waiting for God’s Son from heaven.

The last of the three truths to be recovered is the truth taught in Ephesians; and it is only in our own day that we see any real sense of the loss, with any real effort to recover it.

The truth of the Mystery, as it was the first to go, so, it seems, is the last to be recovered.

It is with the hope of doing something to recover this truth that these papers have been written on the Church Epistles. May the Lord use them to bring back vital truths to their proper place, that their power may be felt in the hearts and seen in the lives of an increasing number of the members of the Body of Christ.

The cause of all the confusion around is that thousands of those who profess to be Christians know little or nothing of these Church Epistles. There is no other profession which they could enter without being able to pass a satisfactory examination in the text books set forth for that purpose. There is no position in life that anyone could apply for without being asked how much one knew of its duties and responsibilities. But the Christian “profession” is treated in quite a different manner, and as quite a different matter. Anyone may undertake that, and all the while be totally ignorant of these Church Epistles: — “The Creed, the Lord’s prayer, and the Ten Commandments” are considered as sufficient for Christian position and profession. Hence the almost total neglect of these Epistles. The four Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount are taken as the essence of Christianity, instead of the Epistles specially addressed to Churches. Hence the great ignorance of Christians as to all that God has made Christ to be unto His People, and all that He has made them to be in Him. Not knowing their standing in Christ, and their completeness and perfection in Him, they are easily led into error concerning their state and their walk. Many, who know they are justified by grace, yet seek to be sanctified by works.

Nothing but full knowledge of what is revealed for our instruction in the Epistles will effectually deliver us from all the new doctrines and schools of thought which find an entrance into our midst.

May the great Head of the Body the Church, own this effort, and use it and bless it to the deliverance of many from all the variable winds of doctrine, and build them up in their most holy faith.

Warnings of Apostasy

The book of 2Timothy, Chapter 3 should garner more than a passing interest to today’s Christian whose heart is set on contending for the faith. It is becoming increasingly difficult to stay unpolluted by the world; even if it were easy to do that, we still have our flesh and the enemy to contend with. But I rejoice in that God gives us all we need to know to confront apostasy from without and the flesh failings that arise from within. The battle we are in is something we must fight every day. There is no standing still in this walk, if we are standing still we are probably losing ground. The battle marches ever forward and if you are not in it with armor and sword, you should perhaps question your commitment to your faith. Church is not a social club, not a consumer commodity, but an army of soldiers with their eyes on the eternal, willing to go to the cross and deny self each and every day. Compare this with what we are up against. At least it BETTER be our polar opposite or we have other issues:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

There is so much to say on these verses, but just a cursory reading of them should yield at least some basic understanding of why these times are the way they are. But let’s go just beneath the surface.

This word ‘perilous’ alone should help us understand the verses even more – it literally means “harsh, troublesome, hard to bear, dangerous, savage.” Yep, I’m there on this one. And as if to underscore and define that word in every way possible, it goes on to list just WHY it is perilous; topping the list and from which all earthly trouble descends, is the curse of humankind in love with self. Watch the news today, tomorrow, any moment of any week and you will be inundated with self absorbed people committing self-driven crimes against one another. Whether they are stealing money, someone’s wife or kids, or pushing some sort of agenda, it all boils down to people wanting something they cannot have – and in today’s society where we dare not deny ourselves anything, we find a way to get it without thinking of the consequences to ourselves or others.

Webster calls this “narcissism”. The definition officially is this: “self-love; interest, often excessive, in one’s own appearance, comfort, importance, abilities, etc.” Not a popular word, narcissism, has a pretty nasty connotation. No one likes to be told they are narcissistic, but the truth is that the Bible says we all tend toward that in the flesh from day 1. Now regarding the last days, note that the Bible takes the time to point it out so it must be important to know and be warned of, and it tells us that it will be cranked up. Oh joy. Six billion people in love with themselves. Does it get any better than that?

Interesting word, narcissistic. It comes from the Greek narkissos, akin to ‘stupor’. See ‘narcotic’. Really. A narcotic is a numbing agent designed to make us even numb and dumber than we are. Ever smell a narcissus plant? They don’t smell very nice. Get my drift? Excessive love of self dumbs us down to the point where we cannot even think clearly about what we are doing. It numbs us to those around us to the point where we are so obsessed with our own interests we end up doing only what we want and pretty much tell everyone around us to go away, to put it nicely.

Now look at what the fruit of selfishness is: loving money (acquiring for self), boasting (of self),
proud (of self), blasphemy (exaltation of self over truth), disobedient to parents (self-interest instead obedience) unthankful (never satisfied), unholy (tainted by self); unloving (of others), unforgiving (eternal victimhood, always someone else’s fault), brutal and despising good (bent toward evil, unrestraint of self); traitorous (handing over friends for selfish gain), headstrong and haughty (over-valuation of self); and lovers of pleasure rather than God (self-explanatory!). Yep, I see this in the world all the time. But is it just the world? I used to think so, that the church could never display these traits and still dare to call itself called-out and sanctified for Christ. But sadly – no, grievously – I call the church on these things now too. I never thought I would say that but it is true. Next verse: “having a form of godliness but denying the power”. The world? A form of godliness? Not the one I am staring at. Ouch.

The church has embraced psychology, through and through, which is nothing more than a replacement for the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. Got troubles? The bible tells us we make our own troubles for the most part by being narcissistic. The cure? Everything but repentance and utter desperate dependence on Christ. Biblical counseling will force us to have a stare-down with self, so in lieu of that kind of pain we prefer man’s wisdom.

The church has replaced sound doctrine with worldly cultural sewage. The church has courted the world and here we stare apostasy square in the eye because we base sermons around summer blockbusters, beer parties, base TV programs and New Age and Catholic practices. All under the banner of appealing to the self-absorbed interests of the unchurched and unregenerate who have no idea what they need spiritually speaking. If we tell them they are lost sinners, they will reject us and laugh at us, so we court them and buy them off at the cost of their everlasting soul, to our shame, and utterly accountable to God for every bit of it. We are so consumed with self and how we appear to the world we no longer are salt and light.

Timothy goes on to advise us as to how to confront apostasy, if there is anyone left in this generation who is convinced we are neck-deep into it:

10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,
11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Verses 2-5: MEN WILL BE…. Expect it. AND: “From such people turn away”.
Verses 10-17: BUT YOU…complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Let us not smell like the narcissus – the world.

Do not be weary in well-doing! Press on, and Maranatha.

Mary Danielsen

By Scott MacIntyre

Beyond my occasional musings in discernment ministries, I do have a life and work full time in a para-church ministry to children, youth, and adults. It enables me the opportunity to talk to a fair number of people in the course of a year from a wide variety of evangelical persuasions.

I am constantly amazed (trust me…it’s a tough job to be in a state of perpetual amazement) at the ignorance among Christians to what is being heaped upon them in their churches. Most have heard of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, but few are aware of the iceberg of agenda that floats below the surface out of sight. Almost no one I’ve talked to has even heard of the Emergent Church, let alone Brian Maclaren. Additionally unknown is anything about Contemplative Spirituality, Mysticism, and a host of other New Age practices creeping into the church.

But while most have not heard of these things, many have been exposed to them in ignorance. Most pastors are not going to stand up and say, “Okay folks, today we’re going to do a paradigm shift in the church into Contemplative Spirituality”. Indeed, even the culpability of most pastors may be in ignorance. As they read magazines, books, and attend conferences, it is unlikely they will hear “Okay, pastor, today we are going to help you transition your church out of Bible teaching and into a pragmatic admixture of Christianity and New Age Mysticism”. Yet a pragmatic admixture of teaching is exactly what they are receiving.

Perhaps some will accuse me of arrogance at this statement, but the Church is asleep in the back seat, and many pastors are asleep at the wheel. In fact, if pastors would wake up they might discover they’re not driving, but being towed. Wake up, pastors. Wake up, Church. The people who are towing the church are no longer even proclaiming the Word of God. They are serving you a fabricated admixture of biblical and unbiblical teaching that is cloaked in terminology that appeals to our traditional evangelistic foundations. We are falling prey to church idiom while failing to understand what is actually being said. The church is being rallied to action, but that action may not even be biblical.

We in the church have been lead away from the truth of God’s Word with such incremental but deliberate slowness, that what is being taught now doesn’t rouse our sense of danger, let alone our need to be good Bereans. That is why someone who will read an article like this or other teachings calling for discernment will view it as some kind of ‘witchhunt’. But as Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3:13, we have been deceived, which means to have ‘wandered’ from the truth. When one gets lost in the wilderness, they likely did not run 180 degrees from home but wandered away a degree at a time.

So it is that the Church has wandered from the truth of Scripture. We have satisfied ourselves with the things of the world, and warmed ourselves by their fire. We have been comforted by the world’s psychology, and intrigued by its philosophy. We have developed an admixture of the world and our Christianity that attempts to satisfy both the old man and the new man simultaneously. We suppose an ability to flirt with the world without actually hopping into bed. If you don’t believe it, then take note of the agenda being proposed by the drivers of the tow truck. The priorities of the world have suddenly become the priorities of the church. And these are not only the priorities for the alleged good of mankind, but also the world’s priorities for religion. A great unification is taking place.

A non-Christian man told me recently how thrilled he was with seeing Rick Warren on one of the television interview programs. He was excited to see someone finally calling for the religions of the world to work together for the good of mankind. This man oozed with warm fuzzy admiration for Rick Warren’s ‘three-legged stool’ model of government, business, and religion working together. I quite imagine that the church (what’s left of it) will look up someday to see the butt of the anti-christ sitting upon that stool. It will be a ponderous load.

So my fellow laborers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are at a crossroads. It is time for the Church to say, “this is where I get off”, and return in repentance to the ways of the Lord. It is time we stop wandering away from the truth of Scripture. The voices of self-appointed leaders have called us away from our first love. Be more than a little skeptical of the momentum of critical mass that is now driving the church. Ignorance has a destination. Is that where you really want to go?

You can take the wisdom of this world

And give it to the ones who think it all ends here — Bruce Cockburn

For most of Western history, children have been reared in the ‘authoritarian’ model of parenting.
Oh, how things have changed. Where are we at with parenting and how did we get here? As Father’s Day approaches, let’s look at this very important subject.

The authoritarian parent values obedience, clearly communicating to the child what to do and what not to do, the rules being generally unbending but consistent. This parent pours the “right” information, subjectively speaking, into the child who is considered an empty vessel. Misbehavior is strictly punished. The teacher (the parent) instructs the student (the child) on each act (such as sow the seeds and weed the fields). The child learns by imitating the expert. In the positive, those who were raised in this way knew what was expected of them and subsequently found their way in life by keeping the rules, being polite and respectful of others, and being responsible. To their credit, the authoritarian parents really did instill in their children a sense of right and wrong, of learning the consequences of their actions, and it had a preserving effect on us, instead of the rampant ‘spoilage’ of successive generations. In the negative, there was a tendency, depending on the personality of the parents, to keep the kids at arm’s length and concentrating on ‘perfecting’ the child instead of just accepting them for who they were, flaws and gifts, giving a sense of security not based on performance. As the 20th century reached it’s midpoint, those whose parents tended to be overly strict soon found themselves in the throes and temptations of rebellion, as ‘thou shalt not’ became, ‘just watch me!’. This parenting style then gave way to Dr. Spock’s “permissive parenting” of the 50s and 60s.

Permissive parenting had it’s own flaws – instead of following, children were encouraged to think for themselves, avoid inhibitions, and not value conformity. Parents took a “hands-off” approach, allowing children to learn the hard way from their behaviors, giving less and less guidance and keeping children naive while the rest of the world became more cynical. Misbehavior was usually ignored which was a double curse for those at the mercy of the bullies and rebels among us. With no intervention, the bully wins, while the passive/conforming child loses and is seen as a ‘loser’. Although those raised in this style tend to be creative and original, ignoring misbehavior gives no information about expected behavior, which by default leaves off any spiritual (Christian) guidance whatsoever.

So far, we haven’t seen or heard anything reflecting our heavenly Father’s model for parenting. Sad, yes. But considering the invasion of psychology into our everyday lives beginning in the 50s, no surprise. Just watch some of the sitcoms from the 50s and 60s and you will hear that new-fangled ‘psychology’ jargon thrown around with pride and authority. Yep, even on Leave it to Beaver. Just watch it sometime. Guaranteed to bring a smile and a cringe both.

Anyway, things don’t get any better. In the 70’s, the feminist movement, the ugly twin sister of psychology and destined to become the single most destructive force to society since the fall of mankind, brought a brand of ‘separation’ parenting into the culture. Unlike the child-oriented 50’s and 60’s where at least one consistent adult was available to patiently guide self-discovery to the consequences of actions, today’s society is fast-paced with a multitude of adults playing into the child’s life each week. Without parental limits and guidance, children get confused, feel insecure, and learn how to manipulate the guilt-ridden, indulgent adult who is obsessed with ‘quality time’. All this because the world convinced the ladies of child-rearing age that they could ‘have it all’ – kids, job, mortgages that would make our grandparents roll in their graves, and keep the man happy too. ‘Having it all’ has actually bankrupted us all in every area that matters: sky-high divorce rates, miserable children, tired women who are still selfishly looking for ‘more’. Now, lest you misunderstand me, I am not talking about those who need to work due to chronic illness in the family, or any other legitimate family need that both spouses agree is workable for their own families. So please don’t over-react as I too was an impressionable daughter of the fems and I know exactly how it works. But ladies – and I mean believers – whether you believe it or not, whether you know it or not, you have been deeply affected by the feminist movement – you have just been so conditioned by it you no longer even recognize it. But that is a different article altogether, and one guaranteed to upset some sisters. Oh well, stay tuned.

Let’s see, where was I? Oh yeah, it’s 1980 or so, and I have just had my one and only child. As soon as I get home from the hospital, I get out my mother’s worn-out Dr. Spock book, thinking I have some vintage and time-worn advice at my fingertips, some gold nuggets of wisdom that should make me quake with reverence, right? Gee, no. What a let-down. Now, as a very young believer, I realize that aside from how to sterilize bottles, it’s pretty much useless to me, since no one can really tell me whether I should let her cry all night or jump at the tiniest peep; either way, my 8-hour straight sleeping shifts are over for a while and this basic need for sleep is all I care about right now. So we muddle through, waiting for the day when we can actually teach her God’s ways, when she can comprehend and interact and exercise her little flesh tendency to rebel. Of course, her first word was ‘dada’. Was I offended that it was I who had actually spent most of the time carrying and caring for her up until then? Of course not, I had no time to react since her second word was ‘NO!’. Now I had another problem and ‘mama’ would have to wait for a while. Having been newly introduced to my own sin nature, my wounded ego would have to wait as I had bigger fish sticks to fry. Now for sure, Dr. Spock was a wash-out, a total waste of $5.95 in paperback. I think I tossed it into the diaper pail.

There’s nothing like having a child to make you look in the rear view mirror about how you were raised. I looked back nostalgically on my own upbringing, happy to have been someone who could count ‘penny candy’, Jiffy Pop, pre-cable TV, 50-cent movies and lazy summers outside as part of her lifetime. Ah, the warm fuzzies. But when it came to TRUE parenting wisdom, I found myself more than a bit grieved that the one thing I had really needed – the true gospel of salvation – was never a part of my youth. Religion? Yes, we ‘fulfilled our obligations’. Saving faith? Nope. Ouch. It took me many years to make peace with that realization, and a firm resolve – vow, even – to counter that influence, or lack thereof, in my own parenting. Was I initially resentful about that? Yep, I was. But I learned that God only is faithful, and uses all things in our lives for our good. I just poured some grace on the situation, and God has met me there. It took a while though.

But where was I headed here? Ah, the 80s. The latest thing for the unregenerate parent of that day was what I call ‘Privileged Parenting’. What were the young couples of the day doing with all that double income? Remember the acronyms that flew around then? D.I.N.K.s – “Double Income, No Kids”. Or this one: O.I.N.K.s: “One Income, No Kids”. T.I.C.K.s – “Two Incomes, Couple of Kids”. And I could go on and on. Hippies, Yuppies, X-ers, Latch-Key Kids, Garbage Pail Kids, let’s give them all a nickname so we can put their upbringing style into perspective and explain away why they ‘are the way they are’. Funny, right? Not so much. The 80s kids, if their moms and dads ‘had it all’, should have also ‘had it all’. But this is not the case. As our society careens out of control and straight for the apocalypse, our kids are more messed up than ever.

I remember when the big deal of the 80s was privilege. The prevailing idea was that as soon as the child was born, you enroll them into the trendy preschool. Prepare to amaze and impress your friends and family as they see what all that income can buy. The idea was to get on a waiting list and then within a couple of years junior will be light-years ahead of Simple Johnny who is languishing in the public schools, or worse, yet, taught at home. The idea was to boost the parental ego and spend that extra money on the perfect child who will be fluent in Latin by the 1st grade. And if you can’t afford that, at the very least get them a 386 desktop computer loaded up with the latest software so they can at least compete and be reading Tolstoy while lounging in the baby pool. The pressure was on and many well-meaning parents who wanted to give their kids ‘everything’ caved to the Spirit of the Age, producing children with no desire to look heavenward. Why should they, with all the distractions that materialism brings?

So 20 years later, where are our privileged kids at? The Self-Esteem Generation is over-praised, over-indulged, crumbles at the first note of criticism, is narcissistic, often angry and unable to compete so they do almost nothing at all. When you give ribbons and rewards to those who do not deserve them, you lower the bar and dismiss those who really did work for something. Of course, not all of the 80s kids are like this – there are some who understand the concept of fair competition and working for an honest reward. But parents, if you raised your kids to think that they were the center of the universe, guess who has to deal with your misguided parenting? That’s right, the rest of the world. All those toys and gadgets you gave them did nothing to build character or prevent their anger and disappointment at a world that does not do their bidding. All those drugs you gave them because they didn’t want to be productive only serve to tell them it’s OK to tune out. All those ‘free parking’ passes did not show them their need for a Saviour, did not prepare them to be wrong, disappointed, poor, sick, or compassionate. Increasingly as a society, we value personal freedom, control, and materialism and shun self-denial and restraint. If someone does us wrong we sue. Heaven forbid we should not have things easy, while love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control are maligned. So now what? What happens when these young adults realize there will always be someone who is smarter, prettier, richer, and has more on the ball than they do? Will there be, for example, violent crimes on our campuses out of sheer envy? Could that actually happen? Yes, it did, just recently at Virginia Tech. That kid was spoiled and privileged, and yet when he found out the world was not his oyster, he blamed everyone but himself. We are all paying for their selfish-steam.

We just had Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day is on the radar. If you have youngsters, and you want to world-proof them, here’s the scoop: you don’t need special parenting classes. There is no magic formula or pill. No programs needed. But you will need the Bible, the only real child-rearing handbook. God made your kids unique and your gene pool pre-determined before the foundation of the world. Every human is born with a birth-defect – you have given birth to genetic sinners; and you also have the sin defect. Raising kids is a chance to see your flesh walk around in someone else, and it is not pretty. Is this by Design? If you as parents do not see these simple things, you will need to humble yourselves before the Lord and start there, realizing that in yourselves is no good thing. When a baby is born, we spend a lot of time figuring out who they look like and where they get their traits, but we also need to look into the fact that the sin nature is their inheritance too.

So, once you see your dependence on Christ to rear these temporary gifts to you, you have only one goal – to get your kids to understand their need for a Saviour, and then teach them the difference between the flesh and the spirit. Instead of keeping them relying on you, you want to get them depending on their Heavenly Father ASAP. There really are two phases to parenting. The early phase, when you discipline them based on God’s law of right and wrong showing them their true hearts, and the later phase, when they prove themselves accountable to understanding both right and wrong, (you need to watch for this) and then you switch gears to hold them to God’s standard with consequences. It is similar to how we become born into God’s family, and how He brings US to the point of the new, eternal birth; teaching us the law to bring us to accountability, and then His Spirit indwells us and brings us to maturity. Practically speaking, once they commit to Christ you seek to teach them how to walk in the Spirit so they will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. It takes commitment, time, and energy, and a growing Biblical view of all things. As you grow in Christ, they reap the benefits. Your kids need to see you doing spiritual exercises. Your kids need to be firmly told what is expected of them in all loving kindness. They need consistency and the constant example of the sold-out, world-proofed life. The alternative? You could model for them the life of the flesh and then we will all reap your lack of commitment later on. What will it be? Let us be like Joshua, who declared: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

The following was not written by me, heaven knows I wish it was.
My deepest thanks to this Pastor for putting into words something that must be said — Mary

by John Schmidt

The Los Angeles Times printed a special report last year that stated, “People are leaving the ministry in droves because it’s too difficult.” Their research is accurate. Greater numbers of those who felt called to put themselves on the line to shepherd the flock of God have stepped aside from leading. There are varying surveys that have judged between 17000 to 50000 annually depart from the formal church. This is alarming and dangerous to the spiritual fiber of our nation.

Spiritual leaders are prime targets in these last days. The Bible tells us that if you strike a shepherd, the sheep will scatter. Entire congregations can be wiped out with a single blow to one shepherd. For this reason they are the number one public enemies on Satan’s hit list. Like the classic “Far Side” cartoon, pastors are born again with an unfortunate bull’s eye shaped birthmark emblazoned on their back. It is constantly sought out by the powers of darkness. Corresponding with this gigantic loss of shepherds, new studies are providing growing evidence of a great loss of churches also. A study in “Exit Interviews” by Hendricks shows the appalling results of the loss of ministers is that there are now 53000 people that are leaving churches weekly and are not coming back. George Barna’s research sadly declares that we are losing one percent of our churches in America every year, as godly warriors depart from the battle arena. As shepherds leave, sheep leave. The LA Times’ report indicates that the Anglo pastors are being especially hard hit as they minister to the affluent who, in their consumer mentality, have higher expectations of being served.

In the 30 years of ministry that I have had the privilege to serve, radical changes and unreasonable expectations have taken root that catapult this great exodus. The pastoral role moved from simple shepherding to being CEO, CFO, resident lawyer, visionary, program manager, God’s perfect counselor on all matters, fidelity fixer, facilities superintendent, perpetual committee member, human resources director, successful fundraiser, par excellent communicator, career advisor, marketing supervisor, politician, spiritual example, masterful preacher, artful teacher, community leader, welfare administrator, contractor, organizational appeaser and too often people-pleaser. Ah, and oh yes, perfect spouse, and perfect parent with perfect children in the perfect home.

Now add the vast array of parishioners. While the majority of believers are honest and loving, there is a growing company in the discontent category. A modern contingent of last day human beings are placing new stresses on the godly leaders. Pastors today minister to people who are genuinely heathen. Some, raised in dysfunctional environments, were badly abused and never healed. Without God’s healing hand certain ones become victims who look for revenge on the leaders of society. Pastors are sitting ducks.

And don’t leave out our own home grown hypocrites, many who have truly risen to the level of Pharisee. These individuals devour positions of power without the need to live the life of Christ on a daily basis. Blanketing their own sins in a religious spirit, they are quick to judge and are skilled at group manipulation. Hard to move, hard to change, they hinder the progress of the tender shoots who would love to follow God. Whatever the cause of their internal pain, their uncontrolled anger, there lurks just below the surface a violent willingness to bring down those in authority.

The picture isn’t complete without at least a dishonorable mention of being given to the demonic stirrings in congregational life. Spiritual leaders wrestle not against flesh and blood, but the powers and strategies of Hell. Most of the muck that is tossed in mud slinging has its origins in the primordial goo of the cesspool of Satan. Innuendo, lies and elaborate scenarios of wrongdoing are constantly concocted and thrown on the walls through uncontrolled tongues of gossip. The Evil One has ruined more lives of honest and faithful leaders by masquerading as an Angel of Light and getting people to believe lies as truth, than by any other means in Christian history. Rumor, not truth, is the enemy. The Father of Lies is well aware of the power of his choicest weapon. It is the dagger plunged deep that assassinates the soul of God’s messengers – too often thrust by the closest confidants in unsuspecting moments– “Et Tu Brute” (Psalms 35).

This soul death is the work of evil spirits. Many a pastor hobbled away from his serving and could not rekindle the passionate fire of God’s calling again for just such a cause. The flame was snuffed out by the mocking “ahas” and condemning smirks of Satan’s hordes who gleefully turn their attention to the next in line to be devoured.

Long hours of work coupled with unending demands leave open the doors of discontent. It is one of the lowest paid professions, requiring considerable education and the expected ability to do most everything you can imagine in a thankless world. As one survey showed, pastors are “the most occupationally frustrated people in America.”, with 70 % having no close friends and low self esteem. Is it any wonder that many walk down the wrong avenues to feel appreciated and loved? They are overworked, underpaid, serving with little respect in society, vulnerable to the unlovely, and a constant target of evil. Many ministers break under such burdens. Anyone could.

If you remove one pastor and cause a church to scatter – then another and yet another, corruption seizes the land. “When one minister disappears from the radar screen, there is always another to stand in his place.” Or is there? Each servant is as unique as a spiritual snowflake. What crystallizes in them is a one of a kind insight into God. A “Minister of God” is so rare, so valuable that they should be treated as a diamond in the rough. There is no way to replace even one gift of God.

How do you measure a minister’s worth? Are they to be measured on their skills, education and achievements.? I think not. Are they to be gauged by “getting the job done.” No. They are not to be evaluated in human terms at all.

The great prophet Ezekiel had a message for Israel. He was to lay around – and do nothing but stay on his left side for 390 days and another 40 days on his right side while eating dung (Ezekiel 4:4-6). How do you measure his pastoring skills? According to 2 Peter 2:5, Noah was a righteous preacher. Yet he had no converts after 100 years of preaching. Was he a bad preacher? Jonah refused to take the message of God to Nineveh and only reluctantly spoke it after being thrown up on its shores with God’s ultimatum. After his nation saving sermon he sat under a tree regretting his action – being mad at God. Would you consider him to be an accomplished spiritual leader? But these three, the lazy, crazy prophet, the zookeeper/desert boat builder and the whining coward, are considered giants in the Kingdom of God. Perhaps our method of judging spiritual leaders is flawed.

Could it be that we are judging spiritual leaders on the scales of human understanding? Has the methodology of corporate evaluation replaced the wisdom unveiled by spiritual discernment? I want to address this subject at another time. The deplorable treatment of the Lord’s Shepherds saddens God, even angers Him. These servants and their message are being rejected, much like the Old Testament Prophets just before the Captivity.

It is time for a Believer’s Revival. We need a Revival of Respect and Honor in the Lord’s ministers – His Anointed Shepherds. Rediscovery, restoration and re-investing honor in the gift of shepherding is vital to a great spiritual reawakening in America. This nation has aligned itself with the works of darkness and has become so adept at tearing down that it has misplaced its tools of building up. The rebuilding must begin at home with the family. It is in these incubation chambers of society – the living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms of the saints –that true respect for shepherds is formulated. Here, the Holy Spirit has His most profound influence. What goes on behind these closed doors determines the effectiveness of church leadership. For it is behind the cloistered walls of these private homes that either the most stinging condemnation or the most precious aromatic fragrance of blessing the shepherds of God’s Kingdom takes place. It is either the labor room of gossip or the “ground zero” of honor. Our homes are the altars of Revival. At these altars the shaping of human lives into great men and women of God, who highly respect God’s called out leaders, is to take place.

I Timothy 5:17 says, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” (NAS)

Before we understand double honor, it might be wise to define honor. So much disrespect reigns from home to politics that living examples of honoring someone have all but vanished. The meaning of the word is discovered in fixing high value to someone or something, such as your most valuable possession. After careful consideration, you choose to place the highest degree of respect on the man or woman of God and reverence them.

Respect means to give favorable regard to a person and to refrain from interfering with them. And to revere a person is shown by displaying tenderness of feeling with a profound admiration for them. You deem them worthy of your finest thoughts and actions. In sincerity and simplicity, you determine them to be deserving people, worthy of your care and concern, for they are gifts sent from God to guide you to the Savior of your soul. It is a heart matter first and foremost. Now that you have a picture of what it means to honor a shepherd in your heart, double it and you will come close to God’s definition of double honor. Do twice as much as you are planning now. You cannot respect His shepherds enough.

Verse seventeen especially indicates that double honor is to go to those who work hard at preaching and teaching. The Shepherd’s value is in their gift, not in their achievements. They are to be respected because God sent them your way to speak His words to you and to prepare you to do the work of the ministry. As the book of Acts indicates, everything possible must be done to eliminate any burden from the plate of the Shepherd, except prayer and the ministry of the Word. A good goal for any congregation would be to help the Pastor dedicate 85% of his time to these two vital functions of the church. The people must lower their expectations of him as a ” jack of all trades” and director of the church corporation. At the same time God’s people should raise their expectations of the shepherd in spiritual matters. Wouldn’t it be amazing to find your pastor on his face before God for you, instead of disturbing him out of his numerous staff and business meetings?

After true respect has been restored to your heart by the Holy Spirit, there are endless things that you could do to show your respect. They come naturally, for out of the abundance of the heart our mouths speak and actions form. If you want to bless a shepherd, be a faithful and zealous follower of Christ. Each time he speaks, really listen, take it to heart and start living it. Each minister comes with a message. Their message from God is far more important than their skill in delivering it, or the humor they use, or the manner in which they dress while presenting it.

If you would like to find practical ways to honor him, give him all of his nights off for a year to use as he sees fit. Restrict him to a forty hour work week. Advise him to give the rest of the time to his family. The Elders of the church can take the rest of the load. Maybe they should experience the weight of ministry for a season. Cut programs. Make a vow, not just a weak promise, to the Lord to never lift your voice in any criticism or be a listening participant in any negative gossip about the Shepherd, his family, or about any of the leadership of the church.

Since many problems stem from lack of money and lack of growth, make two additional goals that will change the life of the church. First, spend more time winning the lost than supporting the saints. Second, do not settle for less than 100% of the congregation giving 10% of their income to the Lord through your church so the minister can give all his time to ministering the Word and Prayer.

Double honor does have it price. The price is opening your heart to God and closing your mouth (and thoughts) to criticism. A Believer’s Revival concerning their shepherd would blast down the gates of Hell and throw open the windows of Heaven.
Double Honor, not double disgrace, is the goal.

Officials: Troops at Israeli border, could launch surprise attack

Syrian President Bashar Assad

TEL AVIV – Syria, aided by Iran, has deployed a strengthened army along Israel’s northern border and is prepared to launch a surprise war against the Jewish state, according to senior Israeli security officials.

The development comes as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday told the Knesset he is ready for direct negotiations with Syria aimed at an Israeli retreat from the Golan Heights, strategic mountainous territory that looks down on Israeli population centers twice used by Damascus to attack the Jewish state.

With Israelis this week commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War – when neighbors Egypt, Jordan and Syria attacked the Jewish state – Israeli security officials told WND Syria has prepared for a confrontation and is capable of launching an immediate war.

The officials say the Syrian army is deployed along the Syrian side of the Golan Heights with strengthened forces after carrying out the past few weeks stepped-up training of troops. The officials noted the open movement of Syrian Scud missiles near the border with Israel and said Syria recently increased production of rockets and acquired missiles capable of hitting central Israeli population centers.

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The Syrian army has improved its fortifications, according to the Israeli security officials, and has received modern, Russian-made anti-tank missiles similar to the ones that devastated Israeli tanks during the last Lebanon war, causing the highest number of Israeli troop casualties during the 34 days of military confrontations. Syria also received from Russia advanced anti-aircraft missiles.

The officials noted Syria stepped up the pace of weapons, including rockets, being shipped from the Syrian border to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Just yesterday, a truckload of weaponry meant for Hezbollah was confiscated by the Lebanese army.

Yossi Baidatz, chief of military intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces, said the Syrian-backed Hezbollah is rebuilding its forces in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border in areas where international forces are deployed with the specific charge of preventing the Lebanese militia’s rearming.

The security officials said the greatest threat Syria poses to the Jewish state are the country’s missiles and rockets. They noted Syria recently test-fired two Scud-D surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles, covering most Israeli territory. The officials said the Syrian missile test was coordinated with Iran and is believed to have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles had.

In addition to longer-range Scuds, Syria is in possession of shorter-range missiles such as 220 millimeter and 305 millimeter rockets, some of which have been passed on to Hezbollah.

Israel also has information Syria recently acquired and deployed Chinese-made C-802 missiles, which were successfully used against the Israeli navy during Israel’s war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia last July and August. The missiles were passed to Syria by Iran, Israeli security officials told WND.

Israeli security officials said Syria is preparing for a summer war. But they said there was an argument within the Israeli intelligence community whether the military build-up is for an attack or is meant by Syria to pressure Israel into vacating the Golan Heights. Some officials said Syria estimates the U.S. or Israel will attack Iran, and Syria will be drawn into a larger military confrontation by opening up a front against northern Israel. Also, the officials said, Syria may believe Israel will attack first and its preparations are defensive in nature.

The Israeli army is not taking any chances. The Israel Defense Forces Tuesday carried out a mock attack on a “Syrian” village during a major exercise in the Negev. The Israeli soldiers besieged and occupied the village, designed to be similar to towns on the Syrian side of the Golan. Similar war exercises were carried out in Israel the past few months, including a mock attack on Damascus.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has multiple times told his state-run media the past few months Damascus is preparing for war. He warned Israel to evacuate the Golan Heights.

This past weekend, Assad called for “better cooperation” between Damascus and Tehran in “the confrontation with the Zionist regime and the USA,” according to a report published Sunday by Iran’s official state news agency, IRNA.

Yesterday, an official from Assad’s Baath party warned in a WND interview if Israel doesn’t vacate the Golan, residents in the strategic territory would launch “resistance operations” against Israeli communities.

Meanwhile, Olmert yesterday told the Israeli Knesset he is willing to hold “peace talks” with Syria without any preconditions. At the same Knesset hearing, Israel’s security cabinet decided to establish a ministerial committee to discuss the security threat posed by Syria. The committee, led by Olmert, is made up largely of the same war lawmakers who helped shape Israel’s war against Hezbollah last summer. Those lawmakers were slammed in a recent government war probe for multiple failures during the war.

Olmert – faced with devastatingly low poll numbers and calls from the public and senior officials to resign – reportedly directed staffers at Israel’s Foreign Ministry to prepare for the possibility of talks with Syria.

Some analysts here have speculated in the Israeli media Olmert’s ratings could rise if he reached out to his leftist base and conducted negotiations with the Palestinians or Syria.

According to the Israeli media, Olmert tapped third parties to approach Syria to feel out whether Damascus is seriously interested in negotiations.

Syria, which signed a military alliance with Iran, openly hosts Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. The U.S. accuses Syria of fueling and aiding the insurgency in Iraq. Israel says Syria has been allowing large quantities of weapons to be transported from its borders to Hezbollah. Syria has been widely blamed for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria is accused by Israel and pro-Democratic Lebanese politicians of fueling instability in Lebanon the past few weeks by backing Fatah al-Islam, a group claiming connections to al-Qaida that has been battling the Lebanese Army since May 20, killing some 107 people, including 47 soldiers and 60 terrorists.

The clashes erupted just before the U.N. was set to call for the establishment of an international tribunal to try the killers of Hariri. Syria has been widely blamed for the assassination and for a string of subsequent attacks that have rocked Lebanon.