December 17, 2004

'Late Great Planet Earth' revisited - Hal Lindsey - www.hallindsey.com

"We believe that the Common Market and the trend toward the unification of Europe may well be the beginning of the 10-nation confederacy predicted by Daniel and the Book of Revelation."

– "The Late, Great Planet Earth," 1969

I penned those words some 35 years ago based on the prophecies of the Bible for the last days, not based on any inside knowledge I had about European politics.


According to the Hebrew prophets, in the last days, the most important city in the world would be Jerusalem. The prophet Zechariah said that in the last days, the whole world would unite against Israel over the question of ownership of the city (Zechariah 12).

That conflict, according to the prophet Daniel, would rage until a prince of the revived Roman Empire came on the scene, and – according to Daniel 9:27 – "confirms a covenant" between Israel and her many enemies for one "week" (seven years).

Daniel 2:41 says the revived Roman empire will be like iron mixed with clay, partly strong and partly weak, "but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." This empire will initially be ruled by 10 "kings," (Daniel 7:24) and, ultimately, "another" that "shall rise after them." That "other" is the Beast of Revelation 13, often referred to as the "antichrist."

There are, today, two distinct and separate entities that make up the Greater European Union. The European Union as it exists today consists of 25 member states and counting. It was created under the authority of the 1957 Treaty of Rome.

The other Europe is the Western European Union, or the WEU. The WEU was, according to its website, "created by the Treaty on Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration and Collective Self-Defence signed at Brussels on 17 March 1948."

It went dormant in 1973, but was reactivated as Europe's collective security arm under the authority of the Rome Declaration in 1984. The same meeting decided to open negotiations with Portugal and Spain regarding their accession to the modified Brussels Treaty. Those countries formally became full members of WEU on March 27, 1990.

Earlier agreements called for the Western European Union to merge with the EU and was scheduled to be completed in 2000. But the WEU is very much alive and appears more to be in a state of revival than shutdown, with most of Europe's military planning concentrated in the hands of the WEU's constituent cells.

The WEU is broken down into membership tiers: full members, associate members, observer countries and associate partner countries. In all, the WEU consists of 28 nations, but only 10 are full member countries.

All 10 full members of the Western European Union are, as a condition of membership, part of both the EU and NATO.

Although they are two distinct entities with different member states and different responsibilities, both are under the control of one man, Javier Solana, former NATO secretary-general and currently serving as both secretary-general of the WEU and the European Union's first constitutional foreign minister and sole spokesman for the Council of the European Union.

Before anybody quotes me as saying Javier Solana is the antichrist, I don't know who the antichrist is, and I really don't care.

What is relevant is that there exists, at this point in human history, a 10-core nation European defense collective consisting of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe. Javier Solana's dual role establishes the office of Head Guy Over All Of Europe – if it isn't Solana, the precedent has been established.

There is also a Jewish state called "Israel," reborn after two millennia on the same piece of land from which they were exiled, that emerged on the world stage at precisely the same point in history – 1948.

Since 1948, Israel has been locked in an unending series of wars with the many Arab states on all sides that are dedicated to her destruction. On Sept. 13, the Oslo Accords were signed, setting in motion a three-stage land-for-peace formula between Israel and the Palestinians.

The agreement was to have culminated seven years after it was signed with an agreement "on the final status of Jerusalem." That seven-year covenant failed and brought on what Israel calls the "Oslo War," which then brought Europe into the equation via the Quartet for Peace. All of this has placed Europe over the United States as the main peace broker.

Now we return to where I started, way back in 1969.

"We believe that the Common Market and the trend toward the unification of Europe may well be the beginning of the 10-nation confederacy predicted by Daniel and the Book of Revelation."

Is all of this just coincidence? I don't think so. That takes more faith to believe than to simply recognize that God has caused events to fit precisely into His predicted scenario.

Coming geopolitical quakes - By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The world can now count on one geopolitical earthquake every 10 years. Between 1985 and 1995, it was the fall of the Berlin Wall, the implosion of the Soviet Union, the collapse of communist parties the world over, and America's emergence as the world's only superpower.

Between 1995 and 2005, it was the September 11, 2001, attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that triggered a war on, and the defeat of, Afghanistan's despotic Taliban regime followed by a war on, and the defeat of, Saddam Hussein's bloody tyranny. So between 2005 and 2015, what's on the global menu?

Movers and shakers as well as long-range thinkers and planners meet in a wide variety of intelligence and think-tank huddles. These over-the-horizon, out-of-the-box appraisals range from good news scenarios (the minority) to the kind of global unraveling funk whose only antidote would be a desert island.

Behind all the geopolitical jargon about the "functioning core of globalization," "system perturbations," and "dialectics of transformation," there is the underlying fear of a Vietnamlike debacle in Iraq that would drive the U.S. into isolationism -- a sort of globalization in reverse.

Among the most interesting and optimistic librettos in the game of nations is peace in the Middle East made possible by a deal with Iran. Keeping this kind of negotiation with the ayatollahs secret in the age of the Internet and 4 million bloggers taxes credulity. It would also take a Henry Kissinger or a Zbigniew Brzezinski to pull it off. However, if successful, it would look something like this:

• A nuclear Iran removed from the "axis of evil," and recognized as the principal player in the region, is the quid.

• For the quo, Iran recognized Israel and the two-state solution of a "viable" Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

• Iran ends all support for terrorist activities against Israel. Iran-supplied and -funded Hezbollah disarms and confines its activities to the political and economic arena in Lebanon.

In reality, Iran is automatically the region's dominant power after U.S. armed forces withdraw from Iraq. The Shi'ite side of Islam, long the persecuted majority in Iraq, will emerge victorious in forthcoming free national elections. A minimum of 1 million Iranians have moved into Iraq since Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 1/2 years ago. The Iran-Iraq border is porous, mountainous, largely unguarded and no one has even an approximate count. The Jordanian intelligence service believes the Iranian influx into Iraq could be as high as 3 million.

In Syria, the Alawi regime, in power since 1970, is also a Shi'ite sect of Islam. In Lebanese politics, the Hezbollah Party is a Shi'ite movement. The oil fields of Saudi Arabia are in the kingdom's eastern province where Shi'ites are the majority -- and Iran is a hop, skip and jump away.

One all-too-realistic geopolitical nightmare was a weapon of mass destruction terrorist attack on the U.S. West Coast. A nuclear device detonates in a container ship about to enter Long Beach, Calif. News had just broken about pollution of the U.S. food supply, most analysts assumed by transnational terrorism. The U.S. can prevail conventionally anywhere but seems helpless in coping with asymmetrical warfare.

In quick succession:

• The dollar ceases to be the world's reserve currency.

• The shaky coalition governing Iraq collapses and civil war breaks out between Sunnis and Shi'ites.

• Fear of the unknown produces a new consensus in the U.S. that global civilization is no longer America's business.

• The U.S. debate shifts to adequate city perimeter defenses.

• With the U.S. no longer the global cop, the defense budget of almost half a trillion dollars can be drastically pruned and savings transferred to homeland security.

• U.S. client states are informed they are on their own. Congress abolishes global aid.

• Egypt loses its annual stipend of $2.5 billion; Taiwan and Israel are told they will must fend for themselves.

• Social trust becomes the new glue of society -- bonding with like-minded neighbors with shared values.

• International coalitions dissolve and new ones emerge. China seizes new opportunities for its short- and long-range needs for raw materials in the developing world -- from Brazil to sub-Saharan Africa's pockets of mineral wealth.

• The United States, Canada and Mexico form a new stand-alone alliance with Britain.

• Turkey, Israel and Iran become a new self-protection core against dysfunctional neighbors with no upward mobility.

• The European Union and Russia, in continuing decline, close ranks; EU inherits de facto responsibility for Africa south of the Sahara, plagued by genocidal wars and the AIDS epidemic.

• China and India, with one-third of the world's population, and competitive with Western countries in high-tech jobs and technology, form a de facto alliance.

• Pakistan's pro-American President Pervez Musharraf does not survive the ninth assassination plot; an Islamist general takes over and appoints A.Q. Khan, former chief executive of an international nuclear black market for the benefit of America's "axis of evil" enemies, as Pakistan's new president.

• The House of Saud is shaken to its foundations as a clutch of younger royal princes, who have served in the armed forces, arrest the plus 70-year-olds now in charge -- known as the Sudairi seven -- and call for the kingdom's first elections.

• Osama bin Laden returns to Saudi Arabia and is welcomed as a national hero. Bin Laden scores an overwhelming plurality in the elections and is the country's most popular leader.

• A.Q. Khan sends bin Laden his congratulations and dispatches to Riyadh his new defense minister, Gen. Hamid Gul, a former intelligence chief and admirer of the world's most wanted terrorist, who hates America with a passion. His mission is to negotiate a caliphate merging Pakistan's nuclear weapons with Saudi oil resources and monetary reserves.

• Northern Nigeria petitions Islamabad and Riyadh to be considered as a member of the caliphate.

• Absent the long-time global cop, and traditional alliances in shambles, transnational criminal enterprises thrive with unfettered access the world over.

• U.S. multinational companies, unable to protect their plants and employees, return whence they came.

• International airlines morph back into interregional air links.

• Switzerland, a small defensive country with compulsory military service, is in vogue again; larger countries with several ethnic groups begin breaking apart a la Yugoslavia.

• Goods stamped "Made in China. Secured in Singapore" are back in business, smuggled into the United States.

• The EU can no longer cope with millions of North Africans and sub-Sahara Africans flooding into Spain, Italy, France, who roam freely and hungry in the rest of Europe. Islamist radicals sally out of their European slum tenements to besiege U.S. Embassies in protest of their jobless plight.

• Japan goes nuclear after U.S. troops withdraw from South Korea.

A slight detour from this global ship o' fools imaginary cruise had Pakistan and India, no longer restrained by the United States, miscalculating and exchanging a nuclear salvo over Kashmir. A billion Indians survive. A city disappears, Islamabad. Pakistan, part of India prior to independence in 1947, collapses as a unitary state and becomes part of India again.

To be warned is forewarned. Short of WMD terrorism, the intelligence insiders are concerned about implosions in the former Soviet Muslim republics. They also say there is no more important objective for the Bush administration than repairing transatlantic relations. Chris Patten, the EU's outgoing foreign minister says, "The world deserves better than testosterone on one side and superciliousness on the other."

December 15, 2004

WHENCE CAME THE CHRISTMAS TREE?

Christmas season is in its full bustle now, and millions of families around the world are busily moving furniture and pulling out boxes of decorations to beautify their living rooms with Christmas trees. However, there seems to be very little connection between decorated evergreens and the birth of Jesus Christ. Many Christians wonder whether they should continue the tradition of the Christmas tree, while others have no qualms and enjoy all the trappings of the Christmas season. We have provided below a series of histories and legends for the benefit of all who wonder about the historical significance of the Christmas tree and how it ties into Christian tradition.

Ancient Rome

During the ancient festival of Saturnalia, Romans decked trees with small trinkets and also decorated their homes and temples with ivy and holly and wreaths. Gifts of coins, fruit, dolls and candles were exchanged during this time, but the gift giving could get more extreme. A Greek writer Libanius wrote that, "The impulse to spend seizes everyone."

St. Boniface

The Bible often railed against the ancient pagan practice of worshiping idols under trees (Hosea 4:13, Ezek 6:13) in the mountains. Around AD 1000, a man named Boniface served as a missionary to the Germanic peoples in Europe, teaching them about Christianity. According to legend, Boniface came upon a group of pagans still worshipping an oak tree, sacred to the god Thor. In his fury at their foolishness, the missionary chopped the tree down. When a young fir tree grew up in place of the oak, Boniface saw it as a sign of the Christian faith, with its triangular shape representing the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The converted German people began to revere the evergreen as God's tree. By the 12th century in central Europe, the fir tree was being hung upside down, undecorated, during the feast of the Nativity to represent the triune God of Christianity.

The Paradise Tree

In medieval times, when few people could read, plays were often used to describe Biblical events. The Creation week and the fall of Adam and Eve were taught as a Paradise Play, performed on December 24th each year. However, since it was impractical to use real fruit trees to represent the trees in the Garden of Eden in winter, evergreens were decorated with fruit as a substitute. Paper flowers were also used to decorate the Tree of Knowledge, originally only red (representing knowledge) and white (representing innocence), but later of many colors.

Martin Luther

The first Christmas tree lights are credited to Martin Luther. One winter night while walking home through the forest, Luther grew fearful of the dark and of meeting a wild animal. When he looked through the trees, however, and saw the twinkling stars offering him light and direction, he was greatly comforted. When he got home, he tried to describe to his family the beauty of the stars through the trees, but found words could not do justice to the scene. He then brought in a fir tree, which he decorated with candles to portray the lovely stars, the light that God had provided.

The Visitor to Strasbourg

The first written record of a Christmas tree was found in the diary of a visitor to Strasbourg around 1605, at that time a city in Germany. He described how the people would set up fir trees in their parlors and decorate them with apples, gold foil, "wafers and golden sugar-twists and paper flowers of all colors."

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

When Queen Victoria was 13, she wrote about the Christmas trees decorated with lights and sugar ornaments, a tradition which the German aristocracy had brought to the English royalty. Victoria later married the German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburn, who loved the German tradition of the Christmas tree. Victoria was very popular with the British people and had a great influence on styles and public opinion. When an illustration of Albert and Victoria with their children around a Christmas tree was published in The Illustrated London News in 1848, many British families were soon decorating trees in their homes at Christmas.

The traditions of the Christmas tree soon spread to other parts of Europe and to America and many other areas of the world. Many have combined the manger scene with the tree, while in some areas of the world, the manger scene is preferred by itself. Whichever traditions your family chooses to observe, do so in honor of God Almighty, who gave His Son to the earth as a little baby, to one day die on another tree for the sins of all mankind.

Related Links:
  •   Christmas Bible Study Resources - Koinonia House
  •   The Christmas Story - Koinonia House
  •   Christians Trying to Save Christmas from Secularization - AP via KRON4 News

December 9, 2004

HANUKKAH

This week Jewish families around the globe will celebrate Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev (Tuesday evening) and lasts eight days. The word Hanukkah means "dedication" and the holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple in 165 BC. Because of its Biblical and prophetic importance, we thought it would be appropriate to explore the origin and history of Hanukkah.

Many scholars refer to the 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament as "the silent years." However, much of this history was written about in advance by the prophet Daniel. Chapter 11 of the book of Daniel details the breakup of the Greek Empire after the death of Alexander the Great. Alexander's four generals divided up the empire. Cassander took Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus took Asia Minor and Thrace; Seleucus took over Syria, Babylon and the east; and, Ptolemy took over Egypt. Since Israel was caught between the territories of Seleucus and Ptolemy, it subsequently was a buffer zone between these two rivals. Daniel also describes the struggles between the Seleucid Empire ("the king of the north") and the Ptolemies ("the king of the south").

After Antiochus IV Epiphanies took over the Seleucid throne he outlawed the keeping of the Torah, persecuted the Jews, and looted the Temple in Jerusalem. In the ultimate act of profanity he then slaughtered a sow on the altar and sprinkled its blood in front of an idol of Zeus in the Holy Place. This desecration of the Temple is referred to in Daniel 11:31 as the "abomination of desolation." The consequent outrage led to the famed Maccabbean revolt, which successively threw off the yoke of the Greek rulers and ushered in the Hasmonean period of Israel's history. On the third anniversary of the desecration of the Temple, on the 25th of Kislev, 165 BC, the Temple was rededicated. This rededication is celebrated to this very day as Hanukkah.

Hanukkah is mentioned only once in the Bible, John 10:22 simply acknowledges that "...it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter." Most of what we know about Hanukkah comes from the books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees as well as other rabbinical writings and traditions. Many historians believe that the first Hanukkah lasted eight days because it was a delayed celebration of Sukkot, often called the Feast of Tabernacles, which also lasts for eight days and at the time would have prominently featured the lighting of lamps. However, according to the Talmud, a miracle took place during the rededication of the Temple that accounts for the eight day duration of the feast. The Temple Priests had only one day's supply of oil, yet the lamps burned for eight days, giving the Priests time to prepare more (this remarkable event is referred to as the miracle of Hanukkah).

Perhaps the most recognizable aspect of Hanukkah is the Menorah. The traditional Hanukkah Menorah has nine branches (it is different from the seven-branch candelabrum found in most synogoges, of which the seven branches are symbolic of the seven days of creation). One candle is lit on each of the eight days of Hanukkah, the ninth candle (called a "shamash" or "servant candle") is used to light the others. Menorahs are traditionally displayed in a window so they can be seen from the outside.

Historically, Hanukkah is considered a minor holiday, primarily because it is not one of the seven feasts described in the Torah (the five books of Moses). However it has been emphasized more in recent years. Hanukkah symbolizes the restoration of Jewish sovereignty, and that idea has taken on new significance with the establishment of the modern state of Israel. Also, because Hanukkah usually occurs in late December, it is sometimes viewed as an alternative to Christmas (especially among Jewish families in the United States and other predominately Christian nations). This trend has been encouraged by retailers who have profited from the sale of greeting cards, wrapping paper, games, music, and other Hanukkah related items.

Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of Hanukkah is its roots in Biblical prophecy. The "abomination of desolation," which lead to the Maccabean Revolt and subsequently the first Hanukkah, was foretold by Daniel. This historical event took on additional prophetic significance two centuries later, when four disciples received a private briefing by Jesus Himself on the Second Coming, in which Jesus alluded to a future reoccurrence of a similar desecration as the key to all end-time prophecy (Matthew 24:15). This repetition of the "abomination of desolation" is the central milestone in the middle of the climactic seven-year period comprising the "70th Week" of Daniel 9. This prophetic event requires the rebuilding of the Temple, the preparations for which have already begun.

In next week's eNews we will begin a two part look at the history of Christmas and its traditions. For more information on the "70th Week" of Daniel and other related items click on the links below.

Related Links:
  •   Cub Scouts Mark Hanukkah With U.S. Troops - AP via Yahoo! News
  •   From Tradition to Trivia, Area Jews Prepare for Hanukkah - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
  •   With the Lighting of Candle Tuesday, Hanukkah Begins - Republican American
  •   Company, Not Gifts, Key to Hanukkah - Contra Costa Times
  •   Updated Daniel Commentary - Koinonia House
  •   The Coming Temple - Koinonia House
  •   Daniel's 70 Weeks - Koinonia House

November 23, 2004

EUROPEAN CULTURE CLASH

The Netherlands has a reputation as being the "bad boy" of Europe, its permissive society allows nearly every sort of licentiousness and immorality. This type of tolerance in society does not mesh well with the Islamic fundamentalism that is gaining strength there and around the globe. After WWII, Muslims from Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, flooded into Holland becoming 6 percent of the population. Of children under 14, Muslims make up a majority, and 30,000 new Muslims immigrate each year. This is a microcosm of what is happening in all of Western Europe, where 500,000 Muslims immigrate annually, mostly by illegal smuggling operations that run through Spain and Italy. The European Union allows free travel once the aliens are within its borders, and the total Muslim population has increased from 10 million to 20 million in only 10 years.

This cultural clash has been heating up in the last few weeks. On November 2nd, a documentary filmmaker and commentator, Theo Van Gogh, was brutally murdered by Islamic extremists who shot him, slit his throat, and used a knife to pin a pro-jihad manifesto to his chest. Van Gogh,who is a decendant of Vincent Van Gogh's brother (also named Theo), made documentaries exposing the violent Islamic treatment of women. Four policemen were injured by a grenade attack while trying to track down some of the men they believe to be responsible for the Van Gogh murder. The prime suspect is Muhammad Bouyeri, age 26, who has been linked to al-Qaeda. He and his friend Samir Azzouz have communicated with terror cells throughout Western Europe, their activities have been monitored by Dutch intelligence and their names are listed on the Dutch terrorist watch list.

Following the slaying, vigilante reprisals have taken place throughout the Netherlands. Mosques and Muslim schools have been attacked out of anger, and public schools and Christian churches have been attacked in retaliation. Radical Muslims have threatened several Dutch politicians, and two years ago they successfully gunned down Pim Fortuyn, a politician who had called for a stop to immigration.

A Muslim school that was bombed has ties to a mosque which hosted a 1999 Islamic seminar which was attended by Mohamed Atta and two other September 11th conspirators. It was also frequented by two Dutch Muslim youths who made a suicide attack in Kashmir in January of 2002.

The rise of Islam has caused the spread violence in Europe as well as other areas around the globe. While we do not intend to impugn peace-loving Muslims, it is important that we understand the origin, nature, and agenda of Islam. For more information see the links below.

Related Links:
  •   Mini Clash of Civilizations - Washington Times
  •   Muslim School in Netherlands Bombed - AP via ABC News
  •   Mosque Set on Fire in Netherlands - BBC
  •   Blast Damages Muslim School in Netherlands - MSNBC
  •   Strategic Trends: The Rise of Islam - K-House

November 16, 2004

WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING? EVERYWHERE.--Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries, Inc
www.olivetreeviews.org

Bi-Weekly Review of the News

I believe prophecy scoffers, both Christians and non-Christians, are soon going to have egg on their face. I think the timing is when we are taken out of here in the pre-Tribulation Rapture. To the skeptics who are Christians, it will be tempting to say, "I told you so." Many of us have been excited about Jesus' return only to be met with variations of, "They've said the Lord was returning any day for 2,000 years, so where is the promise of His coming?" (II Peter 3:4)

Look with me at some events that are current:

*  "The New York Times" said last week, "We are hoping for the emergence of an extraordinary political figure." Well, desperate world, I think he's waiting in the wings.

*  The exit of Yaser Arafat leaves a vacuum in that volatile part of the world. The world is alive with the hope that a "new peace opportunity" will emerge there. The antichrist will arrive on the red carpet of peace as he makes his triumphal entry on the world scene some day. The primary peace is between Israel and her enemies as outlined in Daniel 9:27.

*  Jerusalem and the Temple Mount continue to get top billing! Recently the most evil man in the world wanted to be buried there and most of the world thought he should have that right. When it comes to issues of the "end-times," Israel is the time clock, Jerusalem is the minute hand, and the Temple Mount is the second hand. Eschatology watchers should never take their eyes off of those places.

*  Pope John Paul seems to be on his way out due to age and health. Please don't hear me say that the next Pope is the antichrist; however, Rome has to play a significant "end-time" role. It could be that a future Pope ties into some prophetic role, large or small. Pope John Paul is not the apocalyptic figure needed.

*  Bill Clinton aspires to be Secretary General of the U.N. in 2006. His wife wants to be President of the United States in 2008. They would head the rush to globalism in their respective positions and both will represent the values, or lack of values, of the "hard Left."

* A lead story this week is al-Qaida's hope to use nuclear or radiological devices against America. Just the thought causes many, along with "The New York Times," to long for "Mr.Fix-It."

*  The persecution of both Jews and Christians is heating up. In the recent election, the Christians ate the lions and the Left can't stand it. There is a war over ideologies between the "blue and red states." Barbra Streisand says on her Web site that America is presently under the control of "witches" (Christians). Garrison Keilor says Christians should no longer be allowed to vote (I guess we're only citizens of Heaven). God only knows what kind of legal action is ahead to try to silence us. One bumper sticker I saw reads: "So many Christians--so few lions." I'm happy to be a martyr for the cause of righteous values.

*  Jews are even coming under attack from so-called people of faith, not to mention the surge in blatant anti-Semitism around the world. The World and National Council of Churches have declared a virtual war on the Jews and Israel. While talking about serving God, they are consumed with sympathy for the devil--Yaser Arafat.

*  Check out "Prophecy Watch" on my Web site, www.olivetreeviews.org. You will see how many places are using the new "chip" in people, not just pets. However, it is not clear if the antichrist will use chips or a mark. Perhaps both.

*  Iran will likely be the story of 2005. They are cozy with the Russians and must be according to Ezekiel 38-39. There must be an "end-time" alliance between Gog/Magog (Russia) and Persia (Iran). Iran would not have the growing geo-political power it does were it not for Russia.

I could go on but you get the point! The hour may be later than we think. The Bible says, "When you see these things BEGIN to come to pass, look up and know your Redeemer draws night." (Luke 21:28) So try not to look down at your circumstances, but rather look up. He is at the door. In the meantime, please win the lost while there is still time.

Awaiting His return,
Jan Markell
You may pass on these items or encourage folks to sign up on the "Home" page of the Web site, www.olivetreeviews.org. Our year-end print newsletter is about to come out and is yours free for one year. Sign up for "Understanding the Times" on the "Home" page as well. All our radio programming is available to listen to on the Web site. The most recent show on Yaser Arafat will be posted there on Thursday under "Radio Archives." As we approach year-end, remember us financially as well as prayerfully. Contact: Olive Tree Ministries, Box 1452, Maple Grove, MN 55311. Do NOT click below unless you wish to unsubscribe.

"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a danger to society." - Theodore Roosevelt

Two years ago a group of 2,000 concerned parents in Cobb County, Georgia signed a petition in opposition to the curriculum studied in their local public schools. They were upset because the science textbooks their children used presented the theory of evolution as a fact and did not discuss alternatives such as Biblical creation. In response to the petition Cobb County school officials inserted stickers into the textbooks with a disclaimer that simply stated: "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."

Today those stickers are being challenged in Federal court. With the support of the ACLU, opponents have sued the school district in Cobb County because they believe the stickers are "an unlawful promotion of religion." The debate over evolution and creation has also recently caused controversy in Grantsburg, Wisconsin where the city school board has voted to allow the teaching of creation in local schools.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the topic of evolution and creation in the 1987 case of Edwards v. Aguillard. The 1987 court decision struck down a Louisiana law called the "Creationism Act" which prohibited any teaching of evolution in public schools unless the course also included the teaching of biblical creationism. The court ruled that the "Creationism Act" violated the Establishment Clause of the Fist Amendment because: "The preeminent purpose of the Louisiana Legislature was clearly to advance the religious viewpoint that a supernatural being created humankind...The Louisiana Creationism Act advances a religious doctrine by requiring either the banishment of the theory of evolution from public school classrooms or the presentation of a religious viewpoint that rejects evolution in its entirety."

The role of religion in schools continues to be a hotly debated issue. Some public school teachers avoid the mere mention of religion in their classrooms because they are afraid of offending students, becoming the target of a lawsuit, or even losing their job. Other teachers would like to talk about religion, but don't know what they are allowed to say and what would be considered "crossing the line." If you are among the many teachers, students, and parents who may have questions concerning religion in public schools, you may wish to take a moment to explore some of the resources available to you.

A publication by the First Amendment Center called Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools can be downloaded for free online (see link below). Finding Common Ground is a guidebook that explains teachers' and students' religious rights. It gives information concerning a wide variety of subjects such as equal access, judicial court rulings, and religious holidays.

Koinonia House has a wide variety of resources available to those who are more interested in learning about intelligent design. Click on the link below titled Creation and Evolution Resources for access to a wealth of information, including links to various articles, radio programs, study materials, and websites that will aid you in your study of the origin of living things and prepare you to defend what you believe.

Lawsuits like the one taking place in Georgia can be very upsetting, but we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). So don't be discouraged! The recent headlines Georgia and Wisconsin could open doors for discussion and debate, so look for opportunities to share your faith!

"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…"
-The U.S. Declaration of Independence

"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power."
-Alexander Hamilton

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion...Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
-John Adams

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
-John Jay, First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

"Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention...The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.
-Alexis de Tocqueville, French Historian

"[T]he religion which has introduced civil liberty, is the religion of Christ and his apostles, which enjoins humility, piety and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free constitutions of government."
-Noah Webster

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever."
-Thomas Jefferson

"Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
-George Washington

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."
-William Penn

"The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The right to freedom being the gift of the Almighty...The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institution of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament."
-Samuel Adams

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I should do and, with the help of God, I will do!"
-Everett Hale, Chaplain of the United States Senate

"Almighty God...I yield thee humble and hearty thanks that thou has preserved me from the danger of the night past, and brought me to the light of the day, and the comforts thereof, a day which is consecrated to thine own service and for thine own honor. Let my heart, therefore, Gracious God, be so affected with the glory and majesty of it, that I may not do mine own works, but wait on thee, and discharge those weighty duties thou requirest of me. Give me grace to hear thee calling on me in thy word, that it may be wisdom, righteousness, reconciliation and peace to the saving of the soul in the day of the Lord Jesus. Grant that I may hear it with reverence, receive it with meekness, mingle it with faith, and that it may accomplish in me, Gracious God, the good work for which thou has sent it. Bless my family, kindred, friends and country, be our God and guide this day and for ever for His sake, who lay down in the Grave and arose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."
-From the Prayer Journal of George Washington