In the beginning, there was news.

Then people, for argument’s sake let’s call them journalists, thought it would be a good idea to print news. The newspaper was born.

Many years later, the internet came along.

The internet quickly became a repository for anonymously abusing people, watching pornography, and of course reading news.

When the UK’s national papers jumped on the online bandwagon they thought it would be a good idea to make their content free to whoever wanted to read it.

Sales of physical newspapers were not in as dire a state as they are now and anyway, if sales started to fall away they could always start charging and people would be happy to pay up, right? Wrong.

“Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today.” – Pink Floyd, 1973

Last week, former Cardiff Journalism School student and current UK editor of paidcontent.org Rob Andrews came back to his old stomping ground to give a talk about the problems facing newspapers as they try and bring in money from online sales.

The main issue is very simple. People don’t want to pay for something they can find for free somewhere else.

Rob explained how difficult it is for online sales to put money in the kitty

You see, you should never underestimate people’s willingness to shop around for freebies.

And with so many news aggregators around online, it is becoming easier for people to find free news if they are determined enough.

While some papers, including the Financial Times, have experienced some success after setting up paywalls, Rupert Murdoch’s ambition to do the same with The Times is likely to be less fruitful.

Because you’re worth it

Now I’m not saying many – if not all – of the UK’s national papers deserve income from their online stories.

While the stories themselves may be the same as those available for free elsewhere on the web, The Times and its counterparts frequently display a far greater standard of journalism.

Take, for example, this brilliantly-written article from Daniel Finkelstein.

It shows a lot of depth that cannot be found elsewhere, yet people will still prefer to read articles like this which are free, informative and to the point.

Keep it snappy

When I went on a work experience placement at BBC Sport, one of the first tasks I was given was to write four-paragraph stories.

I was told that four paragraphs are all you see on the first page of Ceefax, and that on the website you have to scroll down to get to paragraph five.

People don’t like scrolling down, I’ve heard. It requires too much effort.

The difference with the FT and other similar sites is that they provide expert information.

People go on sites like this because they are looking for something specific. And by ’something specific’ I don’t just mean ‘Who is Katie Price going out with this week’ or ‘What film did I see that actor in?’

I mean information that people can trust, specialist information that readers need to be able to rely on.

Mmmm… free goo

Recent trends seem to show that people are moving towards free sites, no matter how uninformed or useless the information they provide is.

And the polls which Rob showed us seem to suggest that forcing people to pay for news will be ambitious at best.

The one potential saving grace, which seems like a fairly remote possibility, is that Murdoch’s plans will drive readers back to print media.

Is this the end for print media?

But have people really just stopped reading papers because they can get the exact same stories for free?

The Evening Standard would seem to think not, jumping the  gun by becoming a freesheet and – one would assume – seeking to get advertising companies on their side early and generate something approaching a steady revenue.

And while Murdoch hopes to buck the trend, few have been able to convince themselves that paywalls are the answer to journalism’s woes.

After all, the success of paywalls requires something far more difficult than writing an award-winning story. It requires convincing people to change their habits.

After worship this morning we went to Ein Kerem, the traditional home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. The surrounding area in the hill country of Judea is beautiful.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah (Luke 1:39 ESV)

Next we went to the Israel Museum. The Museum is closed for renovation, but the Shrine of the Book and the Second Temple Model are open for visits. I am including a photo of the Herodian Temple and the Antonia. This photo is large enough for presentation. Just click on it.

The Temple Model from the time of Jesus. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins 2009.

We drove from the Bethlehem area along the route most likely used by David when he went to visit his brethren in the Valley of Elah.

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. (1 Samuel 17:1 ESV)

We made some photos of Socoh, and then went to the new excavation of Khirbet Qeiyafa (the Elah Fortress) which overlooks the Valley of Elah. The site has a view of Azekah and Socoh. It was a clear day and the light was such a way that we were able to get this photo from the Khirbet Qeiyafa across the Valley of Elah toward Socoh.

A view from Khirbet Qeiyafa across the Valley of Elah to Socoh. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Thanks for sharing this journey with us. A trip like this is not a vacation, but a study and research oppotunity to learn more about the land of the Bible. And the purpose of that is to be able to better teach the Word.

Isaiah 39: Nothing Left (audio)

Isaiah 39: Nothing Left (pdf)

Prologue

Where we are:

When this takes place:

It appears the visit from Merodach-baladan of Babylon occurs in 701 B.C., after Hezekiah’s illness and recovery but before the siege of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, on Jerusalem.

Key verse:

Isa. 39:6 – “The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,” says the Lord.

Quick summary:

The news of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery has spread as far as distant Babylon, whose king sends congratulatory letters and a gift to Jerusalem, followed by a visit. While on the surface it appears that Merodach-baladan has come to rejoice with Hezekiah over his restored health, the real reason is to learn about Judah’s economic resources, which may be needed to combat the Assyrians. No doubt Hezekiah is exploring an alliance with Babylon as well. But Hezekiah’s disregard of God’s promise to save Jerusalem will prove costly to the king’s family and nation.

Take note:

This event also is recorded in 2 Kings 20:12-19 and a revealing commentary is placed at the end of a summary of Hezekiah’s wealth and works in 2 Chron. 32:27-31: “When the ambassadors of Babylon’s rulers were sent to him to inquire about the miraculous sign that happened in the land, God left him to test him and discover what was in his heart” (v. 31). The Lord already knows what’s in Hezekiah’s heart, principally pride, but He allows the king to discover this for himself.

Hezekiah’s Folly (Isa. 39:1-8)

In all likelihood there is more than good will on the mind of Merodach-baladan, who is known as Marduk-apal-idinna, the invader. Twice he has tried to shake off the yoke of Assyria, succeeding for a time in taking the city of Babylon. After his second reign, in 703-702 B.C., he is deposed by Assyria’s King Sennacherib and flees to Elam, where he tries to form alliances with other nations to fight against the Assyrians. “Undoubtedly his friendly visit after Hezekiah’s illness was intended to persuade the king of Judah to join the rebel alliance in the fight against Assyria. This made Hezekiah’s indiscretion all the worse in view of Isaiah’s words that God was using Assyria to punish the whole region (chap.  10). The visit was also God’s test of Hezekiah’s heart (2 Chron. 32:31)” (John Fr. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1:1090).

Matthew Henry notes that there may have been a noble element to the Babylonian king’s visit besides seeking a military alliance: “It becomes us to give honour to those whom our God puts honour upon. The sun was the Babylonians’ god; and when they understood that it was with a respect to Hezekiah that the sun, to their great surprise, went back ten degrees, on such a day, they thought themselves obliged to do Hezekiah all the honour they could. Will all people thus walk in the name of their God, and shall not we?” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, S. Is 39:1).

Flattered by his Babylonian visitors, Hezekiah shows them “all his armory” and “everything … in his treasuries.” No doubt the king wants to impress the emissaries, but they are more interested in his ability to support a sustained military uprising against Assyria. When Isaiah gets wind of Hezekiah’s hospitality, he asks the king several questions and discovers that Hezekiah has shown the Babylonians “everything in my palace” (v. 4).

Isaiah’s response is prophetic. First, he tells the king that one day his family’s immense wealth will be carried off to Babylon. This is astounding because the Assyrians, not the Babylonians, are threatening the region. The Babylonians are rebels on the run, and they have experienced numerous defeats at the hands of the Assyrians. Second, Isaiah tells Hezekiah that some of his descendents will be carried away into Babylon as captives and made eunuchs. This is fulfilled beginning in 605 B.C. when Daniel and other Hebrews are taken from Judah and pressed into service in Babylon. Hezekiah is not the lone cause of this judgment, or even a major cause of it, for subsequent rulers, priests and false prophets heaped up the nation’s sins until God could take it no longer (2 Chron. 36:13-16).

Warren W. Wiersbe remarks: “It was certainly a mistake for Hezekiah to show his visitors all his wealth, but pride made him do it. After a time of severe suffering, sometimes it feels so good just to feel good that we get off guard and fail to watch and pray. The king was basking in fame and wealth and apparently neglecting his spiritual life. Hezekiah was safer as a sick man in bed than as a healthy man on the throne. Had he consulted first with Isaiah, the king would have avoided blundering as he did” (Be Comforted, S. Is 39:1). D.A. Carson adds, “The faith of Hezekiah, proof against the heaviest blows, melts at the touch of flattery … and the world claims another victim by its friendship” (New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, S. Is 39:1).

The Lord’s punishment will not come in Hezekiah’s lifetime, as it did in the days of King David for his sin of numbering the troops (see 2 Sam. 24:13-15). Hezekiah’s response at first glance seems self centered. “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,” he says in verse 8. “There will be peace and security during my lifetime.” How cold hearted to rejoice in the escape from punishment that will be imposed on future generations. But on closer examination, the king’s reaction is more likely a humble acceptance of God’s decree, as 2 Chron. 32:26 bears out. The king repents and God forgives him. Still, the consequences of his foolish deeds are not removed; the Babylonians will return a century later – not as allies but as conquering foes.

Closing Thought

Wiersbe comments: “When Satan cannot defeat us as the ‘roaring lion’ (1 Peter 5:8–9), he comes as the deceiving serpent (2 Cor. 11:3). What Assyria could not do with weapons, Babylon did with gifts. God permitted the enemy to test Hezekiah so that the proud king might learn what was really in his heart (2 Chron. 32:31)” (Be Comforted, S. Is 39:1).

 Copyright 2009 by Rob Phillips

Bill Christison: Obama’s Unjust Iran Policy.

From The Strong always in the Hands of the Weak? in In the Land of Milk and Honey

For every Judah the Maccabee who fought against all odds and successfully freed his people from an occupying empire (Greece), there is a Bar-Kokhba whose revolt against an occupying empire (Rome) ended in defeat and mass slaughter and expulsion.

And apart from the result, is there genuinely any qualitative difference between these two stories?

Read more…

NATO: Iran poses threat to the whole world – Haaretz – Israel News.

It seems these days while softening the debate on foreign policy, the world power elite are doing their best to stack the books against Iran.  Let’s see – we have Israel, the EU, the UN, the US, and now it seems that NATO has joined the fray.  It wouldn’t surprise me if NATO expanded its authority clear into the Middle East.

Israel has anxieties about a nuclear Iran, and who could blame them?  But why should we go into war under an international authority when it has proven not to work.  In fact, it draws our military into more wars, it has drained and bankrupted our economy, and has caused domestic aggression to the foreigners seen as the “invaders”.

But of course, the only option left open is one that hasn’t been used at least since before WWII.

The link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1132931.html

December 5, 2009

Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid

While there are many Israeli and multinational companies that benefit from apartheid, we put together this list to highlight ten specific companies to target. Many of these produce goods in such a way that directly harms Palestinians — exploiting labor, developing technology for military operations, or supplying equipment for illegal settlements. Many are also the targets of boycotts for other reasons, like harming the environment and labor violations.

1. AHAVA
   This brand’s cosmetics are produced using salt, minerals, and mud from the Dead Sea — natural resources that are excavated from the occupied West Bank. The products themselves are manufactured in the illegal Israeli settlement Mitzpe Shalem. AHAVA is the target of CODEPINK’s “Stolen Beauty” campaign.
2. Delta Galil Industries
   Israel’s largest textiles manufacturer provides clothing and underwear for such popular brands as Gap, J-Crew, J.C. Penny, Calvin Klein, Playtex, Victoria’s Secret (see #10) and many others. Its founder and chairman Dov Lautman is a close associate of former Israeli President Ehud Barak. It has also been condemned by Sweatshop Watch for its exploitation of labor in other countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey.
3. Motorola
   While many of us know this brand for its stylish cellphones, did you know that it also develops and manufactures bomb fuses and missile guidance systems? Motorola components are also used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or “drones”) and in communications and surveillance systems used in settlements, checkpoints, and along the 490 mile apartheid wall. The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has launched the “Hang Up on Motorola” campaign.
4. L’Oreal / The Body Shop
   This cosmetics and perfume company is known for its investments and manufacturing activities in Israel, including production in Migdal Haemek, the “Silicon Valley” of Israel built on the land of Palestinian village Al-Mujaydil, which was ethnically cleansed in 1948. In 1998, a representative of L’Oreal was given the Jubilee Award by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for strengthening the Israeli economy.
5. Dorot Garlic and Herbs
   These frozen herbs that are sold at Trader Joe’s are shipped halfway around the world when they could easily be purchased locally. Trader Joe’s also sells Israeli Cous Cous and Pastures of Eden feta cheese that are made in Israel. QUIT, South Bay Mobilization, and other groups have targeted Trader Joe’s with a “Don’t Buy into Apartheid” campaign.
6. Estee Lauder
   This company’s chairman Ronald Lauder is also the chairman of the Jewish National Fund, a quasi-governmental organization that was established in 1901 to acquire Palestinian land and is connected to the continued building of illegal settlements. Estee Lauder’s popular brands include Clinique, MAC, Origins, Bumble & Bumble, Aveda, fragrance lines for top designers, and many others. They have been the target of QUIT’s “Estee Slaughter Killer Products” campaign.
7. Intel
   This technology company that manufactures computer processors and other hardware components employs thousands of Israelis and has exports from Israel totaling over $1 billion per year. They are one of Israel’s oldest foreign supporters, having established their first development center outside of the US in 1974 in Haifa. Al-Awda (the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition) has urged action against Intel for building a facility on the land of former village Iraq Al Manshiya, which was cleansed in 1949.
8. Sabra
   This brand of hummus, baba ghanoush and other foods is co-owned by Israel’s second-largest food company The Strauss Group and Pepsico. On the “Corporate Responsibility” section of its website, The Strauss Group boasts of its relationship to the Israeli Army, offering food products and political support.
9. Sara Lee
   Sara Lee holds a 30% stake in Delta Galil (see #2) and is the world’s largest clothing manufacturer, which owns or is affiliated with such brands as Hanes, Playtex, Champion, Leggs, Sara Lee Bakery, Ball Park hotdogs, Wonderbra, and many others. Similar to L’Oreal (see #4), a representative of Sara Lee received the Jubilee Award from Netanyahu for its commitment to business with Israel.
10. Victoria’s Secret
    Most of Victoria’s Secret’s bras are produced by Delta Galil (see #2), and much of the cotton is also grown in Israel on confiscated Palestinian land. Victoria’s Secret has also been the target of labor rights’ groups for sourcing products from companies with labor violations, and by environmental groups for their unsustainable use of paper in producing their catalogues. That’s not sexy!

Remember, it’s also important to let these companies — and the stores that sell them — know that we will not support them as long as they support Israeli apartheid!
Source: Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid, BDS

I was given a copy of the 2006 reprint of Rabbi Hayyim Hirschenson’s Malki baKodesh on my last journey. I have read the older Hebrew edition. But as I pack for the next journey, I took it out to read for Shabbat.and looked at the new edition, He writes as 1929 Zionist. who attended the early Zionist congresses and wants to deal with the political problems that will arrive. He wants to assure that Religious Jews would not require a king and would not require the institution of sacrifices. He wants to allow people on to the Temple mount but as house of prayer for all people. It is permitted to join the Jewish legion even if it is a non-obligatory war- yet was are not in a messianic age. Finally, he accepts the concept of a high court of appeals- something that Rav Kook vehemently objected to its institution.Along the way and unlike most Rabbinic works are discussions of Horace Kalen, Louis Brandeis, and Jabotinsky. He supports the creation of legal boards and mishpat ivri to avoid Rabbinic courts. And finds the Balfour declaration a major event that should reorient Judaism. No law of the Torah can be against true civilization

In the original 1929 edition there was already an English preface which encouraged the role of the populous, and the need to make sure the halakhah does not perish. ” They deal with considerations of primary importance for every Jew who is interested in the organic continuation of Jewish life in the line of historical development of Jewish teaching on the basis of Halacha.” The editor of the new edition notes the influence of Abraham Lincoln’s  “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”.

He is anti Kingship based on the Abrabanel. And his approach seems to solve problems by making things problematic. The Bavli says this but the midreshei halakhah say other things and our questions cannot be answered so we can have a removal of a Rabbinic category. So unlike Maimonides who creates an ideal messianic halakhah- Hirschenson shows there is no ideal and there the laws are inoperative. He also used the technical questions of the Vilna Gaon, R. Akiva Eier and the Torah Temimah, to remove closure. As a said in my YUTorah class on Hirschenson- he is not just creating liberal position but works through Horayot and Sanhedrin and undoing them. Unlike others who try and make him Maimonidean, philosophic, or intellectual modernist. He is more historic oriented, a strong defense of popularism, and is more about removal of law than the construction of new law. (cf, the volume’s introduction that compares him to David Hartman).

A few theological points:

He writes that he was witness to WWI and the slaughter of the Armenians and decides that there is a need to write a new Zohar style apocalypse, like the Nistarot of Rabbi Shimon or Zohar Shemot 6-7, which he wrote and called “Tikkune Hamalkhut”

He wrote and analysis of Spinoza’s ethics and what we can learn from it in Spinoza’s work,  contained in his Musagei Shav veha-Emet. He can use Spinoza because he is not trying to create rationality, rather he is seeking to create opening for a broader life, like Rabbi Reines.

Coincidently, I had Hirschenson’s hagadah at hand, literally, someone recently sent me a copy.

Here are a few ideas from it:

“Maimonides did not intend that there would be only 13 principles of faith; there are many other principles in the Torah. Maimonides needed to explain only those principles that the masses would not understand because of their philosophic depth… There are many halakhot that are also principles such as those of “kill and do not violate.” And in the case of the Hagadah, the wicked son writes himself out of Judaism.

He translates “pereshut- zu derekh eretz” as one of the class system, perishut means class and the Jews who were originally upper class were treated as lower class and that is a major afflication.

The hagadah states that Jews are free in many countries due to minority rights but they are not spiritually free yet because are feeling the oppression of the majority culture and therefore do not have love of Torah and fear of heaven.  He also notes that until he cme to the US, he never knew why both phrases are needed and now he sees that one can have a sense of heaven and be totally removed from [the laws of] Shabbat and Torah.

That’s the spirit. Doing some belly dancing on the side is always good, especially if you know how to. Sister’s strutting it!

Old Jerusalem

For over 2,000 years Jerusalem  has been the focal point of first the Jews, then the Christians and then the Muslims. This holiday season more than at any other time we need to

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels.

The above has been taken from Psalm 122 and beautifully set to music as the coronation anthem by Parry. [see video below]

Many on the Israel – Iran conflict watch predict that shortly after the first of the year Israel’s patience will have run out and they will attack Iran with or without Obama’s blessing.

A brief overview of major military actions undertaken by Israel in the past without consulting with Washington include:

• In June 1967, Israel initiated the Six-Day War without notice to Washington, despite President Johnson’s insistence that Israel maintain the status quo and consult with the U.S. before taking action

• On June 7, 1981, Israeli fighter-bombers destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak shortly before it was to be fueled to develop the capacity to make nuclear weapons-grade plutonium. Again, Washington was not informed in advance.

Most important, the above attack set a precedent in Israel.

A few days later, Prime Minister Menachem Begin told CBS News: “This attack will be a precedent for every future government in Israel. … Every future Israeli prime minister will act, in similar circumstances, in the same way.”

• Begin’s prediction proved true on Sept. 6, 2007, when Israeli aircraft destroyed what was believed to be a North Korean-supplied plutonium reactor in Al Kibar, Syria. [Council on Foreign Relations]

Many, including the author of the above article, believe that Iran has crossed the Rubicon. It bypassed a September deadline to bargain away future development of nuclear sites. The theocracy is well aware of Persian history. The Persians were the primary strategists in putting together an alliance with Egypt that defeated the powerful Moguls in 1259 and in effect, saved Islam. This is their mindset. [East Meets West]

Even today, they are well aware of the limits of Israel and the US.

Ahmadinejad and the mullahs know full well that the west will never impose the only sanctions that could work (a complete boycott of Iranian oil and cessation of the export to Iran of all products) [The Guardian UK]

The tipping point for Israel has always been a perceived threat to the safety and well-being of the Jewish state. It is unlikely they will trust a dithering President of the United States.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration has come up with a new Middle East policy:

The Obama administration’s approach to two of the world’s most intractable and dangerous problems, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran’s nuclear programme, is to link them together in the search for a solution to both.

The new US strategy aims to use its Iran policy to gain leverage on Binyamin Netanyahu’s government.

Sanctions planned against Iran’s energy sector if Tehran does not compromise on uranium enrichment by the end of next month are not only aimed at pre-empting Israeli military action; they are also a bargaining chip offered in part exchange for a substantial freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

“The message is: Iran is an existential threat to Israel; settlements are not,” said one official close to the negotiations.

However, the strategy is fraught with risks. Coupling the two huge complex issues could end up complicating them further. Moves against Iran’s oil and gas industry could also end up destroying hard-won multilateral co-ordination, by alienating Russia and China, while failing to inflict much damage on the Iranian regime. Memories of Iraqi sanctions-busting are still fresh. [The Guardian UK]

The sad fact is that even if the US is not involved in the attack on Iran, Iran will attack US bases in the region.  They will also fire off a few rockets in the direction of Arab oil facilities.

This is a messy situation becoming an international quagmire. Jerusalem that sacred capital is now being fought over by nuclear armed states. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

____________________________

Legalinsurrection

HotAir – Video: Gates says “no deadline” on war in Afghanistan

VotingFemale Speaks! – Climategate bigger than Watergate; Al Gore’s Credibility is Permanently Destroyed

frugal-cafe – Good Grief, Obama Now Disses Air Force… Demanded F-22 Be Removed from His Photo-Op with F-22 Airmen at Elmendorf AFB

SisterToldjah – Weekend open thread

1.  Hello there to all you all Judeo-christians out there. We here at Mantiq al-Tayr wanted to draw you attention to something as well as to make some comments about that something.  Wait a second though. A question comes to mind for some reason. Allow me to digress.

What the hell is a Judeo-christian? Maybe it’s a Christian who has replaced Christ with the state of Israel?  No sure. Certainly Jews don’t call themselves “Christian-Judeos”. In fact, lots of Jews seem to have it in for Christianity – including those lovely mass murders and their supporters who make up the majority population in Jonathan Pollard’s favorite country.  I bet them there Mooselims don’t call themselves “Judeo-Mooselims” and for good reason. But again,  I digress.

Oh, wait, I t’ought I a taw a “Judeo-Mooselim”

I did, I did see a Judeo-Mooselim!

A Judeo-Mooselim: An Example of an Endangered Species?

Here’s another one:

Praying no one finds his birth certificate

And here is a Judeo-christian Asshole (A JcA) : [I love it when I digress.]

Rabbi Newt Gingrich

Okay, back to Israeli television. [No, I'm not talking about NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, Fox, ESPN, or the Hitler Channel. I'm talking about Channel Ten in I$rael.]

Here’s a nice example of what the Sacred State (SS) people think of Jesus and his Mother.  It’s really funny isn’t it? Let’s see if you enjoy the references to her getting fingered by John the Baptist, using dildos and being a slut as much as the Israeli audience did.  Also, portraying Jesus as a fat pig went over pretty well too. Enjoy.

Muslims being Muslims, and not Judeo-Muslims, found this Israeli broadcast offensive and exposed it for what it was. Funny, I didn’t see this done on the O’reilly F*ctor, nor did I see former AIPAC employer Wolf Blitzer comment on it. Also, for some reason that I just can’t quite comprehend, I couldn’t find anything about it on ADL’s website either. However, doing a search on the word “Jesus” on their site leads to some very interesting results.

Anyway, for you Arabists out there, you can listen to the Arabic and ignore the English subtitles. For you “Judeo-christians” who don’t know Arabic, like David Gaubatz, you’ll have to rely on the English subtitles. But at least they are much better than the ones in the video above. Oh, by the way,  the Muslims even interview an Arab Catholic priest who clearly understands what’s going in the world a whole hell of a lot better than you do.

So let’s see if the “Judeo-christians” can defend Jesus and the Virgin Mary as well as Hizbullah did. I doubt they will.

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4: 4).

   One of the more egregious errors of Preterist theology is its treatment of the canonical New Testament writings as purely human documents.  Utilizing a “critical-historical” method of interpretation, Preterists come to the conclusion that most, if not all, of eschatological passages were fulfilled in the Jewish War of A.D. 67-70. 

   Of course, such a view amounts to little more than rationalistic nonsense, as we have labored for the past three years to show.  Did Christ never speak of His second coming?  According to Preterists, He certainly did not, but was more concerned about an A.D. 70 ‘judgment coming,’ at which the nation of Israel would be destroyed.  This, too, in the face of Paul’s inspired teaching that the the Redeemer will come out of Sion to turn transgression from Jacob (Romans 11: 26-29).

   I thank God every day that Preterism is not a Biblical doctrine.  Nor is it historical.  This latter fact can be established when we note that virtually every post-apostolic writer prior to the  16th-century placed the appearance of Antichrist prior to the second advent of Christ, which is of course, yet future.  True, men graced with a tad of book-learning have been known to discern Preteristic ‘elements‘ in the writings of church fathers.  But Preterism as a system just isn’t there.  It can only be built by a process of “theological cookery” whereby ingredients from 2,000 years of Christian teaching, selected at the discretion of the chef, are mixed together to produce a Preterist system. 

   Preterists must not be too dismayed, however, if we reject their method.  We prefer to believe saints such as Irenaeus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Polycarp, Lactantius, Commodian, Hippolytus, and countless others who taught a literal, physical, and future return of Christ, at which the Kingdom will be set up in glory upon the earth.  Away with Preteristic jargon that teaches the exact opposite!

   We cannot deny that Preterism results in a bifurcated view of the Body of Christ, in which the church of the first century is treated as a distinctly different company from the church of today, and as possessing a distinctly different hope.  Such a view runs contrary to Paul’s declaration that there is but one faith, one hope, and one body.  Since Ephesians was written prior to A.D. 70, a Preterist cannot consistently say he/she is a member of the same ‘body’ without also confessing that he/she is bound by the same ‘faith’ and the same ‘hope.’  It is a matter of consistency.

  Addressing saved Gentiles of the “one body,” Paul declared that we are “fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God: and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2: 19-21).

  Note the temple is “fitly framed together.”  It is not lying in pieces.  The cornerstone is not detatched from the foundation, nor is the superstructure left hanging in mid-air.  We are not to break the cohesion of the body (see Eph. 4: 16) by positing two classes of Christians, pre-A.D. 70 and post-A.D. 70.  The church is still growing, through the accession of sons who are saved and sanctified by the blood of Christ.  If the church is still growing as it did when Paul first penned his epistle, then A.D. 70 cannot be seen as a terminal point in any analysis. 

  What does Preterism produce?  The end result of their doctrine is the proliferation of loud-mouthed teachers who boast a “biblical worldview,” but whose teachings resemble nothing like those found in the epistles of Peter, Paul, James, and John –  who ministered (as they still do) to the ever-growing Body of Christ.

   While Preterists claim that the church is Israel, they forget that Israel was formed as a nation only after corporate deliverance through the Red Sea.  The church has not yet been delivered, but is still being conformed to the image of Christ, through patience and tribulation in this present evil age.  There is a road of “grace to glory” which we all must walk (Romans 8: 29-30).  Our triumph is not now, but will be realized at the Lord’s second coming, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

   Preterism reverses all these truths and claims that the eschatological hope of the church (which is connected with the consummation of our redemption) was realized at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  Preterists say that now the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of Christ (see Rev. 11: 15), there is nothing left for us to do but “take charge” of this messed-up world in His name, and “engage the culture.”  Unfortunately, all too often the culture ends up engaging them, due to their refusal to heed John’s admonition:

   “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love not the world, the love of the Father is not in them” (1 John 2: 15).

   It would seem that in many cases, Preterists believe that this precept only applied to a pre-A.D. 70 time frame, and that since the destruction of Herod’s temple it is ok to love the world.  Well, it is certainly love of the world, or at least of man’s wisdom and his pompous ‘learning,’ that causes so many of them to reject the canon of Scripture and its inspired teachings, and to posit a two-tongued ecclesiology, thus breaking the seven-fold unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4: 4-6).

Israeli Police Arrest Mossad Spy on “Training Exercise” After He Placed “Fake Bomb” Under Car

Cryptogon.com
December 2, 2009

It quoted the prime minister’s office as saying it did “not respond to information about such activities undertaken by security agencies or attributed to them”.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

December 6, 2009, 9:00 AM (GMT+02:00)

A senior official in the Obama administration described the UN nuclear watchdog inspectors’ discovery of traces of highly processed plutonium at the bombed Syrian-North Korean facility at Dir a-Zur as a “smoking gun” – evidence of Iran’s covert nuclear activities and proliferation, DEBKAfile’s Washington sources report.

It was confirmed by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in their Nov. 30 visit to the site which was demolished by Israel in September 2007.

Obama administration sources are confident that with this information of Iranian violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, even Russia and China will have to endorse stiff new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The soil samples the inspectors collected at their last visit to Dir a-Zur confirmed an earlier discovery of uranium used in separating out bomb-grade plutonium from spent nuclear fuel which the US believes was supplied by Iran. Those experiments were clearly further along that previously assessed.

The same traces were found at the Syrian nuclear research reactor near Damascus.

Washington intends to present these findings as solid evidence of the tie-in between the Syrian and Iranian military nuclear programs, together with proofs of Tehran’s direct involvement in the planning and construction of the demolished Syria reactor.

Iran will also be shown to have supplied Syria with the nuclear materials and technology for its operation as part of its own program to attain a nuclear weapons capability.

The US will use this body of evidence to demonstrate Iran has been in grave breach of its NPT obligations since 2007. This week, officials in Tehran said their government has no plans to abdicate from the treaty.

According to DEBKAfile’s Washington sources, the Obama administration may decide to plant the information in the US and world media before making a formal presentation.

Last Thursday, Dec. 3, Iran’s national security council director Saeed Jalili visited Damascus for urgent consultations with Syrian leaders on fending off the coming American assault on its nuclear program based on the evidence of Syria covert nuclear activities. His party included members of Iran’s nuclear energy commission who helped build the Syria’s North Korean reactor.

Jalili and Syrian president Bashar Assad spent several hours discussing how to respond to the forthcoming American revelations.

Their talks were violently interrupted by the bomb blast on an Iranian pilgrim bus in central Damascus. Official figures have not been released but the number of dead is believed to be fifteen Iranians with many more injured. Assad ordered Syrian officials on the spot to claim the blast was an accident and not an act of terror. Both sides assumed that the hand behind the attack had advance knowledge of the Iranian-Syrian conference and was bent on sabotaging it.

• According to DEBKAfile, a “senior official in the Obama administration described the UN nuclear watchdog inspectors’ discovery of traces of highly processed plutonium at the bombed Syrian-North Korean facility at Dir a-Zur as a “smoking gun” – evidence of Iran’s covert nuclear activities and proliferation.”

• The continued standoff between Iran and the world over Iran’s nuclear program escalated—at least verbally—with Iran’s oil minister, Masoud Mirkazemi, threatening to cut off Iran’s oil exports if economic sanctions continue.

• Cuban dictator Raul Castro “has urged his Tanzanian counterpart, Mr Jakaya Kikwete, to use his closeness to the United States administration to have the decades long economic sanctions against his country lifted.”  According to the news article, “last month, the Cuban Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Ernesto Gomez Diaz, appealed for support to pressure the United States to free five of their nationals being held in American jails.”  By the way, those five are convicted spies.

• The government of Zimbabwe rants again against U.S. economic sanctions and USAID programs.   It is not a new argument.  In this latest op-ed, they say that the “purpose of the global propaganda onslaught against Zimbabwe’s land reform is to hide the agricultural histories of settler Rhodesia and white South Africa as well as to deny the reality of illegal economic sanctions in order to make it possible to condemn and reverse the land revolution. That is why there is money for constitution-writing for non-governmental organisations, but not for irrigation pumps and electricity transformers for the agricultural sector.”

• Missed this one last week, but worth passing along – Swiss voters overwhelming and wisely rejected a left-wing driven arms export ban at the polls recently.  Of note, the “neutral” Swiss do ban weapon sales to Israel.

• Latin America goes arms shopping.

• Iranian arms dealer is harmless, his attorney says?!  No comment.

• Russia prepared to build Kalashnikov arms factory in Venezuela and sell military helicopters.