The passion of the Christian

While going through the daily process of finding prophecy related news, I stumbled on this interesting and germane read, and it is very very well done. I thought you might find this commentary useful as we approach this Easter weekend.

The passion of the Christian

As an introduction, the article hinges on the following scriptures:

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

– Mark 8:34-37

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

– Luke 9:23

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

– Matthew 10:38

News from the Epicenter

Syrian security forces open fire at demonstrators

Syrian security forces have fired live bullets and tear gas at tens of thousands of people demonstrating in areas across the country. Witnesses say at least five people have been wounded. Shootings were reported on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, and in the central city of Homs.

The protesters on the outskirts of Damascus on Friday chanted: "The people want the downfall of the regime." It's the same rallying cry that was heard during the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.

Thousands in Syria call for 'overthrow' of Assad regime

AMMAN - Syrian security forces fired tear gas on Friday to disperse a pro-democracy protest in the historic Midan district of Damascus while thousands demonstrated in the southern city of Deraa and called for the overthrow of President Bashar Assad's regime.

The protests, in the city which saw the outbreak of Syria's five-week-old popular demonstrations, came a day after Assad lifted a draconian state of emergency which had been in place for nearly 50 years -- one of the key demands of the protesters

More than 50 killed as protests spread to 25 Syrian towns

The pro-democracy, anti-Assad days of rage spread dramatically across Syria Friday, April 8, flaring in 25 cities and seriously shaking Bashar Assad's 11-year old grip on power for the first time since the movement began three weeks ago. At least 50 people were killed – 30 demonstrators and 20 security officers - and hundreds injured - many of them in the southern town of Daraa, the epicenter of the opposition movement.

The disturbances Friday did not reach the center of Damascus or Aleppo, a Sunni city of 2.8 million inhabitants which is Syria's economic hub. Major outbreaks there would drive a big crack in Assad's hold on power..

Hezbollah might attack Israel target to help Iran

Tehran could activate Hezbollah forces to attack Israel along the northern border in an effort to stave off domestic pressures within Iran, according to assessments in the IDF’s Northern Command.

The concern within the army is that if the regime in Tehran feels under pressure due to anti-government demonstrations it will try to initiate an attack on an Israeli target – either overseas or near the border – to divert attention from its own troubles.

France: EU may recognize Palestinian statehood

France said Thursday that European nations were considering unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

“Recognition of the state of Palestine is one of the options which France is considering, with its European partners, in a bid to relaunch the peace process,” AFP quoted French Ambassador Gerard Araud as telling a UN Security Council debate on the Middle East.

UN urges Israel and PA to take 'bold steps'

The United Nations called on Thursday for “bold and decisive steps” to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as the region awaits a possible new initiative by US President Barack Obama.

UN political chief Lynn Pascoe and ambassadors of key Security Council countries said it was important to break the deadlock soon as a proclaimed September deadline for reaching an agreement draws closer.

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is different from what the Security Council envisions:

Israeli Ambassador Meron Reuben cited terrorists and extremists pursuing “the same destructive agendas” as springboards for disaster in the region.

Recent events in the Gaza Strip, Reuben said, “provide another clear example of the destabilizing threat posed by these terrorists and their patrons, bringing to light, once again, the depth of their callousness in carrying out violent attacks that deliberately target innocent civilians: men, women, and children.”

Reuben noted that since the beginning of March, Hamas and other terror groups have launched 92 rockets and 141 mortars at civilians throughout southern Israel, calling it “the most serious escalation of projectile fire emanating from Gaza in more than two years.”

“There is no question about the intended targets of these attacks,” Reuben said, highlighting the clear intent to strike at a civilian population. He referenced the April 7 Hamas attack on a school bus in southern Israel which fatally wounded 16-year-old Daniel Raphael Viflic.

“I ask my colleagues sitting around this table: Can you imagine how you would feel if an anti-tank missile was deliberately fired at such a bus in Manhattan or Brooklyn?” Reuben asked the Security Council.

“This is the reality facing many Israelis today. This is also the reality facing the Israeli government as it seeks to pursue the terrorists that carry out these horrific attacks – terrorists who consistently demonstrate their disregard for any considerations of human life and basic precepts of international law.

You won't believe who al-Qaida is fighting now

The group representing al-Qaida in the Gaza Strip is far larger and more organized than most security officials here previously thought.

WND has obtained an internal report prepared this week by the Egyptian government, with input from Hamas, that puts the numbers of al-Qaida terrorists in Gaza at between 2,600 and 3,000 armed men.

Unlike other radical Islamic organizations such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, which have demonstrated pragmatism in some aspects of political life while still holding an Islamist worldview, the new al-Qaida organization in question believes in a strict interpretation of the Quran and that only the Quran can dictate how to act.

The Islamist group believes jihad is the primary way to spread Islam around the world, including jihad against secular Muslim states.

Report: Obama's Diplomatic Plan - PA State

United States President Barack Obama has created his own diplomatic plan for talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to rival that of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, according to the New York Times.

Obama's plan is reportedly based on principles including: the creation of a PA state in Judea and Samaria, with borders based on the 1948 armistice line, the split of Jerusalem, Israel's capital city, the negation of the PA “right of return” for descendants of Arabs who fled Israel in 1948, and a focus on Israel's security needs.

Reports that Obama is concocting his own plan for the establishment of a new Arab state in Judea and Samaria angered land of Israel activists. “Nobody has the right to steal parts of the land of Israel,” said Women for Israel's Future in response.

“Obama's Middle East policy is creating waves of terrorism, and chaos. The 'peace' initiatives veil a deep enmity and the desire to see Israel fall,” the group continued.

“There is no doubt that the failed military intervention in Libya was meant to create a precedent for a similar process against Israel.”

Soros Attempts to Remake Global Economy

We're finally getting reports from the Soros held "Bretton Woods" event:

Soros Event Sets in Motion New Attacks on Dollar

It's been two weeks since George Soros bought himself a major economic conference designed to remake the entire global economy. Just because the event received little major news attention, it still had an impact Americans might be reeling from for years.

When the anti-American Soros spent $50 million creating the New York City-based Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), he set in motion a major move against the dollar

The billionaire who once crushed the British pound through currency trading openly declared his plans to 'reform the currency system.' In the Machiavellian mind of Soros, the dollar needed to take a back seat and end its stint as the world reserve currency. 'The dollar no longer enjoys the trust and confidence that it once did, yet no other currency can take its place,' he wrote in late 2009.

In 2011, he was already pushing aside the dollar. 'The big question is whether the U.S. dollar should be the reserve currency; and, in fact, it no longer is,' Soros told Bloomberg. He's not the only one. Nobel Prize winning economist and Soros buddy Joseph Stiglitz said he is arguing for 'a global reserve currency.'

To create a new financial world, the U.S. dollar has to be taken down and this process is exactly what we are seeing today. None of this is by chance or accidental - its all been planned for years - we're just now seeing the beginning stages of this plan:

Stiglitz, who also chairs the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, called for a new 'global system,' saying the current one is 'fundamentally unfair because it means that poor countries are lending to the U.S. at close to zero interest rates.'

In the short time following the Soros-funded Bretton Woods event, the move against the dollar has gained momentum rapidly. Soros wrote in 2009 that 'the rising powers must be present at the creation of this new system to ensure that they will be active supporters.' Here come those rising powers right now, singing the Soros tune.

The five BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and new member South Africa - had their third summit meeting one week after Soros held his. Unsurprisingly, the themes were similar, with BRICS nations calling 'for a restructuring of the World War II-era global financial system and an eventual end to the long reign of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.'

And for a world government to take place, America must be removed from power. This begins with the collapse of the dollar.

Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Peking University and a senior associate at the Soros-funded Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, claimed that the dollar is even bad for the United States. In a Financial Times opinion piece, he argued 'America must give up on the dollar.' The Financial Times, you'll remember, had five news employees speak at Soros's Bretton Woods event, too.

We've heard that all before - from Soros himself. In 2009, Soros called for the increased use of an obscure economic tool called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Before your eyes glaze over, SDRs are essentially a 'basket of currencies' - the euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling and U.S. dollar. If the world starts using them more and the dollar less, then U.S. economic status declines.

According to The Pioneer of India, those five nations 'have called for 'a broad-based international reserve currency system providing stability and certainty.'' The group also wants more of a say in how international economic institutions are run and what currencies make up the SDR basket. That last concern reflects an existing move to include the Chinese remimbi in the SDR selection.

More related news:

The push for a new world currency wasn't the only major news coming from the Soros conference, though most major news outlets ignored the entire gathering. The International Monetary Fund might be getting a new leader, one of the speakers at the event in fact.

According to the Daily Mail, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown 'has emerged as a favourite for the £270,000-a-year role after networking this week at a conference of policymakers at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, where the IMF was founded

Brown is a perfect fit for the Soros economic view. At the conference, one of his takeaway lines was: 'American and European dominance is no longer a fact.'

Clearly, that's the takeaway that Soros wants us to believe, at least.

Also see:

IMF Bank Lords and George Soros' INET at Bretton Woods, Whats the Diff?

There is a video within this link that is worth watching - and this chilling quote from the article:

So, just how snugly does Soros’ conference fit in this IMF sandwich and what are the tactical solutions they all so collectively seek?

One set of hints has been provided by Soros’ right hand man, Jeffrey Sachs. As reported by Aaron Klein, Jeff is seeking a brave, immediate future including global taxation, currency transfer tax, tax on the rental value of land and natural resources, royalties on worldwide “fossil energy projection,” fees for the commercial use of oceans, for air flight, of course for putting carbon in the air, and even fees for the use of “the electromagnetic spectrum.”

Oh, and he also envisions chronic economic stagnation, unemployment and labor revolt. The proletariat have to do their part.

Also see:

Unreported Soros Event Aims to Remake Entire Global Economy

Mr Soros has a world vision and he also has a plan to make it happen. His vision includes taking America out of the picture, at which point, according to Soros, a new world financial system can begin and along with it, a new world governance.

It appears that Mr Soros view of the world is highly consistent with the world that the apostle John was shown as occurring at the end of the age, more specifically, the last seven year period also known as the Tribulation.

We know from biblical prophecy that the world will see a single currency, a world financial system which involves the "Mark of the Beast", and a single world government as led by the antichrist.

We are now seeing the process involved in bringing this world view into reality.

I'm glad we won't be here to see it in its full form because it is a very bleak picture indeed. As usual, man's attempt at governing will be proven an epic failure - and the larger the government and the more power consolidated by a few - the larger the failure. The Tribulation will reveal just how large this failure will be, with all of the expected pain and suffering as a result.

Just read Revelation 6-18 to see how bad things will become. Or one can read what Jesus has to say about the Tribulation:

"For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again." (Matthew 24:21)

Fortunately, we won't be here to witness this carnage.

Headlines for a day

West-backed Libyan rebels face Qaddafi who is aided by China, East Europe

Both of Libya's fighting camps are taking delivery of a surging influx of weapons shipments and military personnel – each hoping to use the extra aid for breaking the military standoff in its own favor, DEBKAfile's military sources report. The British, French and Italian military officers bound for rebel headquarters in Benghazi are part of a package that includes arms and military equipment from the US, Britain, France, Italy and Qatar.
On the other side of the Libyan divide, China, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Serbia are keeping the pro-Qaddafi camp's arsenals stocked with new hardware along with combat personnel from Eastern Europe and the former Yugoslavia.

"Bloodbath" would follow overthrow of Assad in Syria

The overthrow of Syrian dictator Basher Assad is not yet imminent, but should it occur, a bloodbath between Syria’s various sects would likely follow, leading Israeli experts on Syria told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
As in neighboring Iraq, Syria’s diverse population – made up of Sunni Muslims, Druse, Kurds and other groups, who are ruled by the minority Alawites – could, upon the collapse of the Assad regime, turn on each other in a bloody civil conflict.

Rebuilding Japan: Tokyo mulls what might befall it of capital were hit by catastrophe

Laid out like California, according to the locals, it has a wide palm-lined grid of streets and is home to wealthy software-engineers, doctors and lawyers, as well as to a huge number of people working down the road at the phenomenally-successful Tokyo Disneyland.
But on March 11, the residents of Shin-Urayasu found out that the ground beneath their feet, reclaimed from the waters of Tokyo bay some 40 years ago, was not as solid as they had thought.

The Tokyo-Yokohama megacity is the most vulnerable in the world, four times riskier than San Francisco and seven times riskier than Los Angeles, according to Munich Re.

It Never Ends - They Just Want To Kill Us

After listening to some news reports over the recent attack on a Yellow Israeli School bus, I found it no surprise to once again see how plainly and openly the anti-Israel bias is from the Liberal Left Media. Most even failed to report it fully, and others simply said a "bus" was hit by a Hamas anti-Tank missile - omitting the fact that it was a "school" bus. But thank God, for once again we witnessed a miracle. All but one of the children had just been let off the bus when this missile hit. It had been launched some 2.5 kilometers away from out of Gaza. There was one 16 year old still on the bus and he has been badly hurt and is being treated in hospital. Please pray for him and the driver who was also injured. Hamas continued the attack by firing 45 more missiles into Israeli towns with the intent to kill civilians. Of course, with no condemnation from the UN.

Red Cross says no humanitarian crisis in Gaza

The Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday said that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza despite problems such as daily rocket fire and the blockade in the region.
"There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza," said Mathilde Redmatn, deputy director of the Red Cross in Gaza. "If you go to the supermarket, there are products. There are restaurants and a nice beach. The problem is mainly in maintenance of infrastructure and in access to goods."

"Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip is against international law because it is directed at civilians," The Red Cross deputy director said. "We conduct dialogue with Hamas on the matter."

Clinton urges immediate dialogue on Middle East

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume dialogue immediately even as unrest roils the region. The two parties "are trying to analyze what this means for their future position," Clinton told PBS television.

Iran, Nukes and China's Inroads to the Middle East

The Iranian leaders have detected total confusion, weakness, and incompetence from the White House and have picked up their activities. Iranian agents, who have long infiltrated the region, are helping to incite uprisings in Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and other countries in the Middle East. As I revealed recently, there is a secret documentary, "The Coming is Upon Us," which will be distributed shortly in the Middle East among the Muslim population, that is calling for the unification of Arabs, the overthrow of U.S.-backed governments, and promising the destruction of Israel and the demise of the U.S.

China, also sensing the weakness of the Obama administration, is helping Iran with its nuclear program exactly as they did with Pakistan with their nuclear bomb. Pakistan recently announced that with the help of China, they were building more nuclear plants, making them the fourth largest nuclear state by the end of this decade.

Flight from U.S. dollar

The U.S. dollar careened lower on foreign exchange markets on Wednesday, catapulting the loonie above the US$1.05 for the first time since November 2007 as renewed confidence in the global recovery sent investors rushing into stocks, commodities and emerging markets.

Michigan: Police Search Cell Phones During Traffic Stops

The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.

ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state police responded by saying they would provide the information only in return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge outrageous.

$6 Gas? Could Happen if Dollar Keeps Getting Weaker

A dollar plumbing three-year lows is hitting Americans squarely in the gas tank, and one economist thinks it could drive prices as high as $6 a gallon or more by summertime under the right conditions. With the greenback coming under increased pressure from Federal Reserve policies and investor appetite for more risk, there seems little direction but up for commodity prices, in particular energy and metals.

Putin's promises sound like a 2012 campaign spiel

In a four-hour nationally televised appearance, the prime minister said not a word Wednesday about his plans for next year's presidential election. The topic has been a subject of fervent debate in recent weeks as President Dmitry Medvedev has shown a desire to stay on for another term.
But by portraying himself as the defender of a strong Russia and making a string of campaign-like promises to improve the lives of ordinary people, Putin sent an unmistakable signal that he intends to reclaim the presidency.

Media Coverage: Earth Day vs Easter

It is interesting that Earth Day happens to fall right in the middle of Easter Week. Like any good research study, we can look at the media's coverage of both events and compare and contrast. The results of this review reveal a lot about our society in these last days and its sadly predictable.

Holy Week: Media Worship Earth Day, Attack Easter

Easter is the quintessential Christian holiday - the celebration of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Although it has been celebrated by billions of people around the world for nearly 2,000 years, the mainstream media would rather celebrate the liberal holiday known as "Earth Day" and connect Easter to the abuse scandal that surrounded the Roman Catholic Church. Some major findings:

Media Undermine Christian Holiday: Nearly two thirds of all stories about Easter were negative (22 out of 34).

Easter Used to Attack Catholic Church: Ninety-one percent of the negative Easter stories were about the pedophilia scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.

Love That Mother Nature: 100 percent of Earth Day stories were positive.

Holy Week marks the seven days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Christians around the world celebrate it by attending services, praying and piously observing the holiday.

But in 2010, ABC, CBS and NBC evening news shows mentioned "Easter" primarily in connection to the pedophilia scandals that swirled around the Vatican last year, being sure to highlight the "gravest outrage," "scandal," "sexual abuse" and "crisis."

The Culture and Media Institute examined reports during Holy Week (Mar. 28 through Apr. 4, 2010) and Apr. 15, 2010, through Earth Day to contrast the two weeks of media coverage.

These numbers are heartbreaking but definitely a sign of this generation.

More below on the same topic:

ABC's "World News Saturday" provided the perfect juxtaposition of how the networks disparaged Easter and praised Earth Day in 2010. "This is the holiest weekend in the Christian calendar," said ABC's Dan Harris on April 3, 2010. "But Easter is providing no respite whatsoever from what may be the gravest outrage in the modern history of the Catholic Church."

The next evening, Harris again used the word "outrage" saying, "on this Easter Sunday, an extraordinary effort to defend the pope amid growing public outrage over pedophile priests ... an apparent reference to the continuing crisis over pedophile priests. It was a very rare altering of the Vatican's Easter celebration."

NBC "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams showed the same pattern as ABC in its reporting on the Vatican's scandal. "This, of course, is Good Friday," Williams said on April 2, 2010. "And in a service at the Vatican today there was an unusual defense of the pope and the growing sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church."

Now, note the contrast with the coverage of the coveted "Earth Day":

2011 marks a unique year in that "Earth Day" falls right in the middle of "Holy Week." The Culture and Media Institute analyzed how the media treated the two holidays last year.

In 2010, ABC, CBS and NBC evening shows denigrated Christians by mentioning Easter only in connection with the priest abuse scandals 65 percent of the time, during Holy Week. By contrast, the week of Earth Day garnered five mentions and, predictably, every single report was positive.

There were a total of 34 stories about Easter, of those 22 were negative. Of the negative stories, 91 percent (20 stories) were about the Catholic priest pedophilia scandal. Only 9 Easter stories were positive and of those, 7 were casual mentions rather than stories. The other 3 stories were neutral or generic references to Easter as a time of the year.

There were five stories about Earth Day all of which glowingly featured the Earth-celebrating holiday.

But when the relatively young holiday known as "Earth Day" rolled around just 18 days later, NBC fell all over itself to promote awareness of the eco-celebration.

"As we said earlier, this is Earth Day, the 40th anniversary, in fact, of what's considered the birth of the modern environmental movement," anchor Brian Williams said on "Nightly News." "On this Earth Day there was this item in the news today, a way to remind us all to take a fresh look...

"Evening News" fill-in anchor Maggie Rodriguez just couldn't seem to say anything bad about Earth Day. "Today, Earth Day turned 40, and a new CBS News poll shows that many Americans have big concerns about the future of our planet," she said on April 22. "Nearly half expect the environment to be in worse shape for the next generation."

Although its a sad commentary of our times, its still expected.

The apostle Paul discussed Godlessness in the last days:

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

And while we're in 2 Timothy:

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." (2 Timothy 3:1-7)

Indeed. A perfect description of the world today. And Paul stated - this would be the general mindset in "the last days".

Worship of the earth (which, as a reminder is God's creation) has replaced worship of God with many many people. Perhaps the apostle Paul had these things in mind as he wrote the scriptures above. Perhaps he was also seeing the modern day worship of human government, which has also replaced worship of God with many people. We see this form of worship daily.

As we look around at many people in these last days, just as the apostle Paul implied - almost any substitute for the real God will do. Whether its "mother earth", government, politicians, witchcraft, UFOs, aliens, unions, celebrities, and an array of other forms of worship - none of which have anything to do with God Himself. Only poor substitutes. These are simply substitutes for the ancient false idols.

UN document would give 'Mother Earth' same rights as humans

Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving "Mother Earth" the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country.

The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to "dominate and exploit" — to the point that the "well-being and existence of many beings" is now threatened.

It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature's complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state.

The UN debate begins two days before the UN's recognition April 22 of the second International Mother Earth Day — another Morales-led initiative.

Canadian activist Maude Barlow is among global environmentalists backing the drive with a book the group will launch in New York during the UN debate: Nature Has Rights.

Unfortunately, only God can fill the void that so many are yearning to fill. None of these false gods can fill the void - that void that exists in all souls until filled by the Holy Spirit after acceptance of the gift of salvation - as offered by Christ Jesus.

They're looking in all the wrong places and its tragic - a tragedy that is created by the fact that so many people are looking in wrong places and in the process, looking for the wrong things.

But Paul indicated what the future, now our time, would look like in this passage alone:

"the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine"

and

"always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth"

Once again, we see a perfect definition of this last generation - a generation who exists in the last days. The generation who lives in the midst of every imaginable sign that we are approaching the return of Jesus - yet they are blind; blind as they search for meaning in God's creation, but not in God Himself.

Its a tragedy.