22.10.2007 – 08:02 CET | By Renata Goldirova

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Although the ink on the new EU treaty deal is barely dry, several names are already being floated as possible candidates for the European Union’s first-ever president – among them Tony Blair, former UK prime minister.

“He [Tony Blair] is a very remarkable man, the most pro-European of all Britons. It would be quite a smart move to consider him”, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday (19 October), triggering speculations about who could be given a high-profile job after the new Lisbon Treaty enters into force, set for mid-2009.

A similar message came from UK prime minister Gordon Brown, who said Mr Blair would be “a great candidate for any significant international job”. However, he added it was “premature” to debate the list of possible candidates before the treaty is ratified.

Although the job comes with no executive powers, the new president of the European Council – a body representing EU governments – is expected to be a top politician. The first president is also expected to set the job description for future presidents.

The post is a two and a half year term, but it can be held twice. The system replaces the current situation where the post rotates among member states every six months.

But despite his high-profile career, giving an EU post to Mr Blair would probably cause some strong controversy.

Critics continue to point to his support of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 – something that caused a deep rift in the EU. Others question his commitment to the European project, given the fact that London does not participate in some key common policies.

A spokesperson for former UK leader told British media that Mr Blair – who is now the quartet’s envoy to the Middle East – was “focusing on his current role”.

Luxembourg’s prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Poland’s former president Aleksander Kwasniewski have also been tipped for the top job.

Foreign affairs representative
Meanwhile, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso – reportedly eyeing a second term from 2009 – has welcomed prospects of a permanent EU president, saying it will bring “more stability and continuity”.

“It is better for the commission president to have relation with the president on permanent, well-known basis than to establish relations every six month”, Mr Barroso said despite his recently expressed concern that the EU president post will shift power away from EU institutions towards member states.

Similarly, Mr Barroso praised the newly created post of EU foreign affairs representative, combining the two current jobs of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

“A great part of our work in the commission is spent on articulation [...] to the council”, Mr Barroso said on the position, which is expected to improve the European Union’s profile on international scene and – perhaps – finally give the world a single phone number to call in Europe.

Unlike the EU president, the appointment of the foreign affairs chief to set to be controlled by the European Parliament as the politician in question will also be a vice-president of the European Commission.

Sweden’s foreign minister Carl Bildt has been cited as a possible candidate for the post.

© EUobserver.com 2007
Printed from EUobserver.com 30.10.2007

TESTING THE FAITH

Crystal Cathedral conference accused of twisting biblical Christianity

Crystal Cathedral

It’s an all-star conference set for the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., Jan. 17-19.

Former President George H.W. Bush will speak.

Chuck Colson will make a presentation.

Larry King will be there.

Rupert Murdoch will address attendees.

Ben Stein will appear.

And Kay Warren, wife of Saddleback Church mega-pastor Rick Warren, will join Robert Schuller, the white-haired, bespectacled purveyor of “possibility thinking.”

What could such a diverse group have in common? What’s the topic?

Well, it’s a little vague.

It’s called the “Rethink Conference,” and Schuller promises 30 “Aha!” moments from the 30 different speakers confirmed for the event.

Not everyone is thrilled about this meeting of the minds. Some, including Christian author and former New Age devotee Warren Smith, suspect an agenda to subvert the church – to take the focus off biblical truth and absolutes.

“From my perspective as a former New Age follower, I believe that Robert Schuller’s mission has always been to ‘rethink’ and ‘change’ biblical Christianity into something ‘new’ – as in New Age/New Spirituality,” he says.

Smith’s “Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church” documents Schuller’s contacts and endorsements of New Age stars such as Gerald Jampolsky, Neale Donald Walsch and Bernie Siegel.

“As a former New Age follower I could hardly believe it,” says Smith. “On October 17, 2004, more than 20 years after his first appearance on the ‘Hour of Power,’ New Age leader Gerald Jampolsky was once again Robert Schuller’s featured guest. I was not surprised on one level, because I had always been aware of Schuller’s affection for New Age teachings. What did surprise me was Schuller’s willingness to still be so openly aligned with a veteran New Age leader like Jampolsky.”

Banner promoting coming ‘Rethink’ conference

Smith says it was Jampolsky who first introduced him to “A Course in Miracles,” the best-selling book New Age bible that taught him “there is no sin,” “a slain Christ has no meaning” and “the recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.”

All of Jampolsky’s books, according to Smith, are based on “A Course in Miracles.” But yet, there was Schuller on his TV show recommending all of Jampolsky’s “fabulous” works. He even noted he sold some of them in the Crystal Cathedral bookstore. And, according to Smith, for awhile, Schuller even hosted “A Course in Miracles” study groups in his church.

It’s not a one-way street, either, says Smith. New Age leaders like Walsch, author of the best-selling “Conversations With God,” and Jampolsky go out of their way to praise Schuller, too.

“They know that Robert Schuller has always been open to spiritual compromise,” he says.

According to Smith, Schuller has always “done a good job of softening up the church” for what he sees as unbiblical New Age ideas. And that’s just what he expects the “Rethink Conference” is all about.

Well, it’s a little vague.It’s called the “Rethink Conference,” and Schuller promises 30 “Aha!” moments from the 30 different speakers confirmed for the event.

Not everyone is thrilled about this meeting of the minds. Some, including Christian author and former New Age devotee Warren Smith, suspect an agenda to subvert the church – to take the focus off biblical truth and absolutes.

“From my perspective as a former New Age follower, I believe that Robert Schuller’s mission has always been to ‘rethink’ and ‘change’ biblical Christianity into something ‘new’ – as in New Age/New Spirituality,” he says.

Smith’s “Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church” documents Schuller’s contacts and endorsements of New Age stars such as Gerald Jampolsky, Neale Donald Walsch and Bernie Siegel.

“As a former New Age follower I could hardly believe it,” says Smith. “On October 17, 2004, more than 20 years after his first appearance on the ‘Hour of Power,’ New Age leader Gerald Jampolsky was once again Robert Schuller’s featured guest. I was not surprised on one level, because I had always been aware of Schuller’s affection for New Age teachings. What did surprise me was Schuller’s willingness to still be so openly aligned with a veteran New Age leader like Jampolsky.”

Banner promoting coming ‘Rethink’ conference

Smith says it was Jampolsky who first introduced him to “A Course in Miracles,” the best-selling book New Age bible that taught him “there is no sin,” “a slain Christ has no meaning” and “the recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.”

All of Jampolsky’s books, according to Smith, are based on “A Course in Miracles.” But yet, there was Schuller on his TV show recommending all of Jampolsky’s “fabulous” works. He even noted he sold some of them in the Crystal Cathedral bookstore. And, according to Smith, for awhile, Schuller even hosted “A Course in Miracles” study groups in his church.

It’s not a one-way street, either, says Smith. New Age leaders like Walsch, author of the best-selling “Conversations With God,” and Jampolsky go out of their way to praise Schuller, too.

“They know that Robert Schuller has always been open to spiritual compromise,” he says.

According to Smith, Schuller has always “done a good job of softening up the church” for what he sees as unbiblical New Age ideas. And that’s just what he expects the “Rethink Conference” is all about.

If indeed that’s what the conference is all about, some other big names are going along for the ride. They include Christian pollster George Barna, former heavyweight champ George Foreman, American Center for Law and Justice founder Jay Sekulow, Gary Smalley and “The Case for Christ” author Lee Strobel.

“Never before have we gathered such dynamic leaders who will challenge us to think outside the box as we grapple with a changing culture and our response to it,” said Schuller.

The conference will not only be attended by thousands at the Crystral Cathedral, but it will be telecast by satellite around the world by Church Communication Network, according to organizers.

“These culture pioneers know what is center-stage in our culture right now and also what is breaking on the horizon,” says Rethink Conference executive director Bill Dallas. “This conference will confront outdated and pre-conceived ideas, offer new perspectives and open our minds to all kinds of possibilities that connect us with out shifting culture without compromising our core values.”

Smith just wonders about those “outdated and pre-conceived ideas.”

“The church does not need to ‘rethink’ and ‘compromise’ its God-given biblical doctrines to accommodate the world,” he says. “It needs to rethink its willingness to follow worldly leaders like Robert Schuller.”

Read the related commentary by Warren Smith

By Hal Lindsey

Though most of the world – especially the Arab world – seems dubious about the summit’s prospects for success, the United States appears bent on forcing some sort of “peace” upon that troubled region. To do so, Secretary Rice is pressuring Israel to drop all of its redline demands. Redlines are the points that cannot be conceded.

Both sides have redlines. Both sides have points they will not give up, boundaries they will not cross. But the State Department is pressuring Israel to drop all of its redline conditions. For the first time, the division of Jerusalem is on the table. Since 1967, Israel had steadfastly claimed a united Jerusalem as “its eternal capital, never to be divided again.”

I will never forget when Gen. Moshe Dayan first stood before the Western Wall after the amazing six-day victory in June of 1967. He dramatically declared, “We have returned to all that is holy in our land. We have returned never to be parted from it again.”

Evidently, to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, “eternal” and “never” means about 40 years. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Palestinians are pressuring Secretary Rice to guarantee that Israel will relinquish sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

What’s more, they’re making this guarantee a pre-condition before they’ll even show up at the conference! According to a senior Palestinian official quoted by Haaretz, “No Arab country would agree for a final-status arrangement in which the Temple Mount was not in Muslim hands, particularly not Saudi Arabia.”

So, while Israel is not permitted any redline issues, the Palestinian redlines are not only permitted, but Secretary Rice is seeking guarantees of Israeli acceptance of them. And their No. 1 redline demand is that Israel must surrender the very heart and soul of Judaism as the price of admission to even start discussing peace.

Just suppose for a moment that Israel and the Muslims were in reverse circumstances. Can you imagine the reaction to Israel demanding that the Muslims guarantee the surrender of Mecca as a precondition to “discussing” peace? The world would consider such a demand unthinkable.

Yet, according to a report in WorldNetDaily, Secretary Rice singled out areas of Jerusalem that will become part of a future Palestinian state. She reportedly told Palestinian negotiators that she would publicly blame Israel for the failure of next month’s summit if the Jewish state didn’t agree to evacuate east Jerusalem neighborhoods.

Rice traveled to the Middle East this week to help the Israelis and Palestinians formulate a joint statement ahead of November’s conference. The Palestinians want the statement to outline specifically a Palestinian state including the Gaza Strip, West Bank and essentially all of east Jerusalem, which includes not only the Muslim holy places, but those of the Jews and Christians as well. They are ostensibly to be put under Jordanian supervision.

But I remember what that was like before June 1967. There were walls and barbed wire separating East Jerusalem from Israel. Christian pilgrims had to carry their own luggage across an intimidating no man’s land of about 40 meters while unfriendly Jordanian soldiers looked on.

I am stunned the Bush administration is pressuring Israel to agree to all of the Palestinian demands in advance, with the threat that they’ll be blamed for the summit’s failure if they don’t.

In view of this, my question is, “What’s the point of the conference?” “What’s left to negotiate?” President Bush and Secretary Rice have already done the Palestinians’ negotiating for them. And all of this despite the fact that the Palestinians have not lived up to one prerequisite condition outlined in Bush’s own “Road Map for Peace.”

You know, I fear for both President Bush and Secretary Rice. I also fear for my beloved country. They must be ignorant of a prophecy God made 2,500 years ago through the Hebrew prophet Zechariah. It applies to this precise time and situation in history. God said, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. …” The people surrounding Jerusalem are all the current Muslim nations.

As predicted, they have become intoxicated over possessing Jerusalem. Like drunken people, their emotions, inflamed with religious zeal, are causing them to do unwise, reckless and violent things.

The truth is hardly any Muslims traveled to visit Jerusalem before the Jews returned to it. Now you would think there is no other holy place on earth as important to them.

These are the exact conditions Zechariah predicted would be part of the last stages of this age. He continues, “And it shall happen in that day that I WILL make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for ALL PEOPLES. …” – meaning the entire world. Now here’s the punch line: “ALL who would seek to heave it away will surely be cut in pieces.” The original Hebrew makes the meaning of this even clearer. It reveals that everyone who tries to remove the heavy burden of the Jerusalem crisis will be utterly destroyed for getting involved with it. Isaac and Ishmael’s fight over possession of Jerusalem has drawn the whole world into it – just as the prophets predicted. It is the culmination of Ishmael’s 4,000-year-old hatred of his half-brother Isaac, the forefather of the Israelites.

I pray that somehow this message will get through to President Bush and Secretary Rice. This prophecy applies to this very moment in which we live. And in light of what they are forcing on Israel, it applies to them personally.

While Bush and Rice strive to create legacies for themselves – just as most presidents have tried to do with the Middle East conflict for the last 40 years – they not only endanger themselves, but also endanger this nation with the divine curse promised above. Mr. President, there is nothing on this earth worth what you are doing. In the power of God’s Spirit, I warn them both, “Stop, before it’s too late!”

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) A historic first: Last week, during a special visit to the Temple Mount, the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) was recited there, for arguably the first time since the 1st-century destruction.

The Blessing is recited daily in synagogues in Israel by descendants of Aaron the Priest, and only on festivals in the Diaspora.

On the Temple Mount: During the Priestly Blessing, the “Kohanim” raise their hands.
www.TempleInstitute.org

The special visit was held to commemorate the 842nd anniversary of Maimonides’s famous visit to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site. A group of some 25 Jews, organized by the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, marked the special day with a commemorative visit. Giving extra-special meaning to the occasion was a spontaneous Priestly Blessing delivered to the group by Yehuda Katz, the lead singer of the Reva L’Sheva band, and Eliezer Breuer, originally of the former Soviet Union and now from Kiryat Arba.

Rabbi Chaim Richman, one of the organizers of the trip, said, “This was probably the first time since the destruction of the Temple [1,928 years ago] that the Priestly Blessing was delivered on our holiest site. At times like these, when there is talk of giving away our precious places, and when despair is sometimes in the air, events of this nature serve to remind us that G-d has not forgotten about us, and that He still has big plans for both us and the Holy Temple – and that the Temple will yet become the focal point of the world once again.”
Another notable aspect of the visit was the welcoming attitude of the police. “In an unusual departure from standard procedure,” one participant said, “we found that the police were particularly sympathetic to our needs. At one point, when the Moslem Wakf guards started yelling that we were praying, one of the policemen took our side and even threatened to remove them if necessary.”

Maimonides, also known as the Rambam, made his historic visit to the Temple Mount on the sixth day of the month of MarCheshvan in the year 1166 (4926 in the Jewish calendar). Unanimously considered one of Judaism’s greatest figures, the Rambam wrote that he put himself in danger to make a trip to Jerusalem, where he entered “the Large and Holy House [the Temple Mount] and prayed.” Three days later, he also visited the Machpelah Cave in Hevron, and vowed to commemorate the anniversaries of those days as his personal festivals for years to come.

Thursday’s visit to the Temple Mount
www.TempleInstitute.org

Last week’s visit was also led by Rabbis Yisrael Ariel and Yehuda Glick. Rabbi Ariel is a former Yeshiva head, founder of the Temple Institute, and one of the paratroopers who took part in the 1967 liberation of the Temple Mount. Rabbi Glick made news briefly over two years ago when, as Director of the Absorption Ministry’s Ashkelon region, he became the first public official to resign in protest over the plans to withdraw from and destroy Gush Katif.

Though the Chief Rabbinate disagrees, the Yesha Rabbis Council has ruled that one who ascends and visits the Temple Mount while adhering to three conditions – prior immersion in a mikveh; keeping the laws of Awe of the Temple (no leather shoes, proper respect, etc.); and knowledge of the precise permitted areas – is fulfilling a “great mitzvah [Torah commandment].”

The group stands on a staircase built recently by the Muslim Waqf on the Mount’s southern end, leading to new mosques below. The Waqf does not allow entry to non-Muslims.
www.TempleInstitute.org

To arrange a trip to the Temple Mount in accordance with the above requirements of Jewish law, click here.

“The more Jews who visit this holy site,” Rabbi Richman told Arutz-7, “the more cooperative the police are with us and the more respectful they are of our needs – as some police officers have indicated to me. And the more we encourage Jews with stories like what happened last week, the more they will come.”

I’m back.

Sorry, I can’t let this go. Not that I expect much of this old world, but just one more rant and then I will be done with this topic. And only because I think there is more than one issue going on here.

When considering Nobel candidates, who else was there to choose from this year?

Americans, you already know wealthy liberal Al Gore with the size 20 double-wide carbon footprint – now meet Irena Sendler, a 97-year-old Polish woman who saved 2,500 Jewish children from certain death in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. This is who Al was up against, and if you ask me, he should be giving his prize back in sheer shame.

Irena Sendler, born in 1910, was raised by her Catholic parents to respect and love people regardless of their ethnicity or social status. Her father, a physician, died from typhus that he contracted during an epidemic in 1917. He was the only doctor in his town near Warsaw who would treat the poor, mostly Jewish victims of this tragic disease. As he was dying, he told 7-year-old Irena, “If you see someone drowning you must try to rescue them, even if you cannot swim.” In 1939 the Nazis swept through Poland and imprisoned the Jews in ghettos where they were first starved to death and then systematically murdered in killing camps. Irena, by than a social worker in Warsaw, saw the Jewish people drowning and resolved to do what she could to rescue as many as possible, especially the children. Working with a network of other social workers and brave Poles, mostly women, she smuggled 2,500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto and hid them safely until the end of the war. Sendler took great risks – obtaining forged papers for the children, disguising herself as an infection control nurse, diverting German occupation funds for the support of children in hiding. She entered the Warsaw ghetto, sometimes two and three times a day, and talked Jewish parents into giving up their children. Sendler drugged the babies with sedatives and smuggled them past Nazi guards in gunny sacks, boxes and coffins. She helped the older ones escape through the sewers, through secret openings in the wall, through the courthouse, through churches, any clever way she and her network could evade the Nazis. Once outside the ghetto walls, Sendler gave the children false names and documents and placed them in convents, orphanages and with Polish families. In 1942 the Polish underground organization ZEGOTA recruited her to lead their Children’s Division, providing her with money and support. Her hope was that after the war she could reunite the children with surviving relatives, or at least return their Jewish identities. To that end she kept thin tissue paper lists of each child’s Jewish name, their Polish name and address. She hid the precious lists in glass jars buried under an apple tree in the back yard of one of her co-conspirators. In 1943 Irena Sendler was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death by firing squad. She never divulged the location of the lists or her Polish underground contacts. At the last moment she was saved by ZEGOTA which bribed a guard to secure her freedom. She still bears the scars and disability of her torture. After the war, the Communist government suppressed any recognition of the courageous anti-fascist partisans, most of whom were also anti-Communists. Irena’s story and those of other courageous Poles, were buried and forgotten. Her courage and resourcefulness were recognized by Israel in 1965 when she was awarded the Yad Vashem medal given to Righteous Gentiles who risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. In 1983 a tree was planted in her honor in Israel. But in general, the world was silent about Irena Sendler.

Al Gore….let’s see. Made a film with at least 11 documented fallacies; lines his pockets with profits that his fear mongering generates; is more interested in saving penguins than people.

Irene will be 97 this year. God bless you, dear.

Today is National Dictionary Day, in honor of Noah Webster’s birthday. A piece on ABC News tonight suggested that the usage of a dictionary has apparently changed with the times. Instead of looking into a dictionary to actually learn something definitive that we can all accept and correct linguistic wrongs, it now is beginning to reflect and affirm our own ignorance.

They (who is that ‘they’, anyway?) took a poll on some common phrases, and asked people how to spell them, ie, “free reign” vs “free rein”, or “shoo-in” vs “shoe-in”, or “vocal cord” vs. “vocal CHORD” (they must be kidding) and a couple more maddening examples. They decided that since half the population felt each of these could be spelled/defined either way, and they are too illiterate to realize it should not be subject to their own silly interpretations, now Webster’s has decided to present BOTH possibilities as equally valid. Outcome-based Dictionaries. Does this make me nuts? Does anyone need to ask?

Watch at your own risk if you hate what has happened to our language and learning in general AND have hypertension issues. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3737179

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Islamofascism: In a monumental nod to political correctness, the Empire State Building is to be lit up green in honor of the Muslim holiday Eid. The separation of Islam from terror is officially complete.

Six years ago, Islamic terrorists screamed “Allah is Greatest!” as they slammed fuel-laden jumbo jets into two other New York skyscrapers. Six years ago, New Yorkers were worried about the Green Menace.

Now, for the first time, New York’s remaining famous skyscraper will be aglow in green – the color of Islam – to mark the end of Ramadan, a month of intense Islamic renewal. Officials say it’ll be an annual event, in the same tradition of the yearly skyscraper lighting for Christmas and Hanukkah.

Going green six years later.

What’s next, Ground Zero festooned with crescent moons and stars?

Political correctness is running amok. Last week, the White House held a Ramadan dinner for Muslim leaders and activists, even though we are still waiting for them to condemn Islamic terror groups by name.

To their delight, President Bush praised, and even suggested we all worship Allah. “I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian or any other religion, prays to the same God,” he said, adding, “I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace.”

A nice sentiment. But militant Muslims believe peace cannot be attained until Islam dominates the globe. And they make up much of the Muslim establishment in America. We know this by the words they’ve been caught on tape mouthing to Muslim audiences. We know this by their radical associations.

But more damning, investigators recently uncovered smoking-gun documents revealing that many founders of the major Muslim groups in the U.S. were involved in a secret plot to take over the U.S. by using our religious and political freedoms against us.

They call themselves Americans, but they view our system of government, our way of life, as an abomination to Allah. They’ve devised a scheme to sabotage our “miserable house” from within and dismantle it piece by piece, replacing it with “Dar al-Islam” — the House of Peace.

Then, and only then, will there be the kind of peace the president believes Islam represents today.

Ignorance and blind tolerance only make it easier for the Islamists to make inroads. Inch by inch, sharia is creeping into our society. We see it:

· At airports, where authorities have agreed to Muslim taxi drivers’ demands to build footbaths in public restrooms for Islamic washing and praying.

· On college campuses, where trustees have agreed to demands by the Saudi-tied Muslim Student Association to add Islamic holidays, prayer rooms and footbaths.

· In Congress, where officials have set aside a room for a growing number of Muslims to meet and pray inside the otherwise high-security Capitol building.

· At Quantico, where Marine brass have agreed to build an Islamic center at the request of a former Gitmo imam who previously insisted on Islamic meals, Qurans, prayer beads, oils and other amenities for the terrorists held there.

· At West Point, where Army officials have followed Quantico’s lead and set up their own mosque for Muslim cadets.

· In Brooklyn, where school officials agreed to provide local Muslims and Arabs with their own publicly funded madrassa.

· In Detroit, where city planners have caved to demands to let mosques broadcast the call to prayer in Arabic five times a day, including the early-morning hours, noise ordinances be damned.

And on and on . . . until we, too, resemble Eurabia.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”
Charles Dickens

When I first heard that Al Gore was up for a Nobel Peace Prize, I couldn’t believe it.

Here is a guy with an obvious political agenda, is clearly an evolutionist through and through, has no regard for empirical evidence, let alone the ‘truth’, yet claims to have laid hold of some sort of ‘inconvenient truth’. And what does his award-winning Hollywood film have to do with world peace? I am perplexed and befuddled by this, but I shouldn’t be. It’s just more proof that this old world is circling the drain.

I watched three different news outlets on his Nobel win this morning. The BBC showed the actual announcement being made, and then didn’t say much; the morning guy on CNN pontificated and rambled on and on with an appropriately dire expression, saying nothing of substance but being pretty intense about his assessment that the planet is in big trouble. After he was done, the assisting female talking head said, ‘well, thank your for your views on that’. Yep, that’s what it was, HIS views. Not the NEWS, as they claim to be delivering, but more subjective views. The folks on FOX were at least skeptical, citing the fact that in the UK, the schools have to give a disclaimer prior to a showing, that the film contains at least 11 factual errors….I mean, lies. Isn’t that the same thing, technically speaking? There is even talk of requiring him to give up his Oscar reward because of the errors, yet he is getting handsomely rewarded for his lies and deception. And maybe now he will use this as a platform to run for President. Oh joy.

Romans 1 comes to mind just now. Let’s see, something about “supressing the truth in unrighteousness” (1:18) “for ever since creation…His attributes are clearly seen…they are without excuse” (1:20)…”professing to be wise, they became fools” (1:22)…”who exchanged the truth of God for a lie…and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (1:25). Now I don’t claim to be dogmatic about “the lie” in Romans being evolution, I don’t think you can. But in context, I would say that evolution is in the running for the father of all lies. And this lie just got a shot of legitimacy by the Nobel committee, on it’s way to becoming a ‘truth’. Makes me sick, it does. At the very least, we can see that evolution is the lie behind the environmental agenda, because there is no submission to God as Lord of all, or acknowledgement that “in the beginning, God created…”

The fact that they are tying the global warming debate to world peace should trouble us as well. The reasoning is, according to the BBC, that as the earth’s resources become more depleted and polluted, the people of the earth will fight over them more and more. The notion that this Hollywood movie will prevent world wars is quite a stretch. There is also the possibility that there will be a global tax levied on those nations (the West, primarily) who leave a bigger ‘carbon footprint’, and be colletively punished for their extensive use of fossil fuels and styrofoam burger containers.

It is very convenient for Al Gore and the spirit of the age to be getting such praise of men for perpetuating this lie. The Gospel is very INconvenient to people like this, because if you believe Genesis 1, and Romans, they you have to be accountable to a righteous God for your lost condition; you have to acknowledge that God will judge the people of the earth, and that His plan includes a new heaven and a new earth. Evolution and global warming belong to the deceptions of the age, and are only going to get more legitimacy as Satan builds his final case for being worshiped as God. As believers, we should be good stewards of everything within our reach, but our “spiritual footprint” is much more eternally significant than our “carbon footprint”.

But wait…this just in…global warming is true! And it’s caused by all that hot air coming from Al Gore.

Visitors give 20 gold bullions and jewelries to Temple Institute in order to help finance construction of new Temple in Jerusalem
Kobi Nahshoni – YNet News, Israel

A delegation of 34 people from Papua New Guinea visited the Western Wall last week and donated a kilo of gold and several thousand dollars to the temple Institute, an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. The delegation’s participants, who define themselves as members of “The Bible Circle”, told the institute’s workers that they study the bible on a regular basis.

“They pulled gold bullions out of their bags, and even started to take off their jewelry, apologizing it was too little,” head of the institute Yahuda Glick told Ynet. “There was even a married couple who gave me their wedding rings and said they wanted to marry God.” “The scene reminded me of the legends of King Salomon I read when I was young, and pictures of the Queen of Sheba bringing gold and precious gems to the Temple. The vision is literally coming to life before our eyes,” Glick said enthusiastically.