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http://www.omegaletter.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=3554
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When Being Realistic is Not Gloom and Doom
Perspective on the News
Monday, September 06, 2004
Jan Markell
John Kerry recently seized on a comment made by President George W.
Bush that was more realistic than pessimistic. The president suggested
that perhaps our war on terror, more accurately called the "war with
Islam," might be a no-win war. It might actually last for generations.
Kerry and the Left took the statement and suggested he was not a fit
Commander-in-Chief because he was giving up.
President Bush is anything but negative, but he is realistic on some
issues. While he is not so realistic on how to create peace in Israel,
he does recognize the bitter foe the free world now faces in World War
III. There are about 1.3 billion Muslims in the world today. How many
of them advocate the destruction of America, the "Great Satan," and
Israel, the "Little Satan," we do not know. Many say that at least 10%
of Islam embraces the ideology of jihad. That's a number still in the
millions. We know that just nineteen of these dedicated-to-Allah
jihadists did unspeakable damage to us on 9/11. Just a handful
detonating the missing Soviet suitcase-sized nukes in major cities
around the world could halt civilization as we know it. So let's not
focus on numbers, but rather on dedication and the incentive of
heavenly rewards for the foot soldiers.
I have asked a number of guests on my radio show just how they think
Islam will fit into the end-time scenario. How will the antichrist
make Islam work for him? Could he possibly tap into them for his
unique purposes? Wouldn't it be convenient to use this kind of rage
and utilize it as a part of his dirty work? Some are now suggesting
that Islam will be the assassins of the antichrist conducting the
beheadings we read about in Revelation as this seems to be a method of
choice for them even now.
The antichrist, a man I call "Mr. Fix-It", comes out of the Revived
Roman Empire. Remember the vast expanse of that territory for it
extended into the Middle East and even Africa. Some respected teachers
believe it is possible that this "man with a plan" will be a Muslim.
One respected former Muslim, now a believer, has done an extensive
study of this and believes Islam will be the major player of the
Tribulation and the antichrist will, indeed, be some guy called
Mohammed.
Yet how would Israel go along with this? How could they deify a
non-Jew and worse yet, a Muslim? Isn't the enmity between Ishmael and
Isaac the "everlasting hatred"? But if he actually guaranteed Israel
peace when all man-made efforts at stopping the carnage and slaughter
of innocent Israelis fail, it is possible that they could be so
desperate that they buy into the lies of the antichrist. Israel has
been deceived on countless occasions sadly. God comes through for them
and turns the evil into good very often. Perhaps this is the occasion
where God will let the scenario play itself out in such a way that the
end-time scenario be fulfilled. Perhaps He will not intervene so that
history can wind up.
This is speculation to be sure, but what I do know is that President
Bush was more right than wrong! We are engaged in a world war that is
not winnable. The enemy hides in caves, has no allegiance to capitals
or flags, has no borders, but does bow to radical dictators and
mullahs. There are Muslims that believe its most despicable deeds will
bring heavenly reward. They are like the tin man in "The Wizard of
Oz"—they have no heart. That was seen in the recent slaughter of
children by Chechan Muslim terrorists in Russia. You can kill
thousands but millions remain who are religiously-motivated more so
than your average evangelical Christian quite known for our apathy.
Please don't hear me dwelling on gloom and doom here! While we may
never stop the surge of radical Islam and their terror tactics, we
should see the glass half full and not half empty. We are clearly in
those "perilous times" of II Timothy 3 which is a last days' scenario.
More than ever, we should look up and know that our redemption draws
nigh (Luke 21:28). And more than ever we should be winning the lost
while there is still time.
President George W. Bush isn't a fatalist, a pessimist, or a prophet.
He's just very realistic. His mistake was uttering such a statement in
a heated political season.
John Kerry seized the moment to assure us that he has a plan to win
this war. Just more empty promises. Perhaps his strategy is a part of
the "kinder, gentler war" he plans to wage with an enemy whose evil
dwarfs that of all previous armies who have marched through history.
(Jan Markell is founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, Inc. To
receive her free newsletter, visit her Web site,
www.olivetreeviews.org.)
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