Something Even More Wicked…

Last Saturday I blogged on Something Wicked that was coming our way: transgenderism, antisemitism and abortion are just three of the major trends in our society that will call for God’s judgment on the USA and much of the West that follows our lead.

Briefly, YHWH judged Israel (aka Ephraim; the ten tribes initially led by Jeroboam) and Judah (Judah and Benjamin), the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, for their repeated national idolatry and violence within the land.  The bloodshed of innocents cried out to God more than Abel’s blood had when he was murdered by his brother, Cain.

How much more will the worship of sexuality, the hatred of the descendants of Jacob and the abortion of millions of living humans invoke the anger of a just God?  Unbelievers do not like to hear that God will judge sin… until they have been offended!  Then they want God to act immediately to condemn whoever has hurt them or their cause, without considering His great mercy and love for humankind, and that His ways may have different priorities than they espouse.

How much longer can the USA proceed on its downward spiral until The God Who Is says, “ENOUGH!”  (See Habakkuk 2.)  Has there been enough idolatry?  Though we do not make giant statues of gold to worship (?), people in our nation adore many things more than the LORD who said, “You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

There has been enough bloodshed in America to overshadow the days of the Kings of Israel and their slaughter of children sacrificed to Molech and Ashtoreth; abortion killed in the USA more than 1,026,000 babies in 2023, compared to less than 19,000 deaths by gun violence or accidents.  Yet those were the headlines that grabbed attention; the confused girls who were pressured by a parent or a boyfriend or status to abort their babies did not attract the spotlight, even though they numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

• Cheers erupted in the New York state legislature in 2019 as they approved a law allowing for abortion up to the time of birth, which brought to mind the drums and noise made when children were placed in Molech’s arms to burn, so that the screams of the babies could not be heard.    
• In 2015, religious freedom seemed compromised when a Washington high school football coach was fired for praying with his team after a game.  Joe Kennedy waited roughly six years for the Supreme Court to hear the oral arguments for his case.  This was a notable case in 2022, and recent events have caused the issue to resurface.
• Earlier this year, Laura, an 11-year-old student of Creekside Elementary in Washington state, requested to start an interfaith prayer club at her school.  Her request was denied even though an LGBT club was approved about the same time as Laura’s request causing one commenter to note, “Sadly, the promotion of LGBT identities is held sacred while religion is sidelined and marginalized.”
• Toronto Police Service sent its “Progress Pride Flag-wrapped scout car” to drive around the streets of the city while crime remains at levels not seen for years.
• Pelosi says Democrats will codify a “right” to abortion if they win in November.  Such a devout Catholic?
• The legislative body of the United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant Christian denomination in the US, voted to repeal a 40-year ban on the ordination of gay clergy on May 1, 2024.
• This coming June, homosexual “pride masses” are scheduled to take place in hundreds of Catholic churches in the USA and Canada as a reaction to celebrations in traditional churches of The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

On the governmental front, the current administration may be waging a secretive war on Christian faith – prayer, churches, Bible studies in senior living centers, and even Christian kids in school are all under attack.  Joe Biden is empowering anti-Christian forces in the FBI and DOJ to severely deplete our religious liberty.  Agencies have been caught placing spies in churches, making your bank report when you purchase a Bible, targeting “radical traditionalist” Christians and banning Bible studies at senior living centers – and this is just the beginning.  The ACLJ is in court to protect teachers who were banned on April 18, 2024 from praying “where students could see them.”

The Department of Justice’s investigation into the FBI’s disturbing 2023 memo suggesting that Catholicism is a breeding ground for violent domestic terrorists – especially within Traditional Latin Mass circles – found that the memo “failed to adhere to FBI standards” but showed “no evidence of malicious intent,” absolving the agency of wrongdoing.

Toronto city officials have appealed to the Trudeau government to legalize ALL quantities of crack, cocaine, heroin, meth, and other hard drugs, despite warnings that it will bring increased chaos and violence to the city, already seeing the highest crime rates ever.

Northwestern University this month cut a deal with encampment protesters to establish full-ride scholarships for “palestinian” students, even though there is no such national nor biological identity.  This is to appease the angry mobs who storm buildings and threaten the safety of Jewish students and faculty.

A Bush era “presidential emergency action document” reveals sweeping and broad powers the executive branch can wield in the face of a “crisis,” real or imagined.  Ponder how these powers can be abused when “Christians” are viewed as a threat to public peace for adhering to the teachings of the Bible.  Consider how “hate speech” laws can be twisted to include any quotations from the Bible that condemn actions being normalized in our upside-down society.

While globally, America is still relatively safe, this can change in a heartbeat… or the lack of one from an elected official😳!  We still have groups that provide legal protections and take action against persecution of Christians (as well as mistreatment of Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other religiously justifiable activities; think Falun Gong or Chinese artists such as Shun Yun).  However, we may be like the proverbial frog in a slowly warming kettle.

Christ-follower, be aware that you may be required to love your enemy in ways you have not imagined: expressing concern for a jailer from a cell while you await trial; helping in a soup kitchen when you are not allowed to work; praying for people who spit at you and deride you as being “outdated,” narrow-minded, bigoted and hateful.  Love them as Jesus loved His Roman crucifiers and the Sanhedrin rulers who mocked Him while He was on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The USA has passed a “point of no return.”  I mourn, not only for the loss to the world of the “city on a hill,” but for my children and grandchildren who will live in a nation those of us over 45 will not recognize.

No matter who “wins” in our coming election, the infections of socialism, anti-Americanism, and selfish philosophy permeate our society too deeply to be cured by any one elected official.  The swamp that Donald Trump arrogantly thought he could clean up in his first term drowned him out, as much because of his supercilious attitude and self-importance as illegalities perpetrated by those who despised him.

We Christ-followers in the USA must prepare for coming persecution such as the Hebrews have suffered for so long.

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” Jesus, John 17:14-15

Something Wicked This Way Comes

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus, John 16:33

Yet something wicked this way comes.  Not the carnival nor the Ray Bradbury book or the movie of the same name, but something much more sinister and relevant to the lives of Christ-followers in the USA and other nations influenced by America’s churches.

I am not a prophet and have no “word of the LORD” on this, but it seems to me we have passed a point of no return.  The world is rapidly spinning out of control of societal norms that have been standards for hundreds of years.  Even Nazi Germany from the 1930s to WW2 was mostly recognized as violating basic human rights, even as the political madness ruled from the top down by way of fear and intimidation.  Many people rapidly escaped and various plots to assassinate Hitler or his henchmen were unsuccessful.  But there was a keen sense in the rest of the world that Germany and Japan were on the wrong side of history.

Now we see history “rhyming.”  Remember, it never repeats just as certainly as a man cannot step in the same river twice.  Antisemitism is at levels higher and more widely spread across the globe than the 1930s.  Universities that once allowed vigorous discussion of divergent ideas, years ago began shouting down unpopular views that expressed traditional values.  Administrators have kowtowed to leftist and elitist abusers that they trained to resist what those of us over 40 considered normal.  A student leader at Columbia, Khymani James, declares, “Zionists don’t deserve to live.  Be glad — be grateful — that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

Aside from the Israel/Gaza storm, men pretending to be women are now invited to change in Olympic women’s dressing rooms for the next series of games.  In spite of obvious physical differences, how these guys “feel” about themselves matters more than what their biology teachers told them.  When girls object, they are vilified as bigoted and narrow-minded and are sexually discriminating against these “trans-women.”

The upcoming Paris Olympics are trying to balance “wokeness” with public displeasure at men competing in women’s sports by dumping the decisions of who qualifies back onto the individual governing bodies of each sport.  There’s a lack of backbone for you.

“Gender-affirming” surgeries tripled in the USA from 2016 to 2019 with 12-18 year-olds accounting for 10% of permanent mutilations of naturally-born characteristics.  Boys and girls, can you say “social contagion?”  The governor of Arizona vetoed a state legislature bill that would have prevented confused school boys from showering with girls stating, “I will not sign legislation that attacks Arizonans.”

In April this year the German parliament overwhelmingly passed a so-called “self-identification law,” which allows people confused about their sex, including minors, to change their legal gender once per year.  The government is promoting puberty blockers and hormones on its website for gender-confused children at ages when kids should be riding bicycles and playing with dolls and trucks.

Live Action’s “Meet Baby Olivia” video shares a realistic look at the development of preborn children in the womb, validated by well-qualified OB/GYN doctors.  While some states are moving to require the video for sex-ed classes, an article for USA today claimed it would mislead people and stigmatize teenage girls who have an abortion when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.

The issue here is not that society is changing, but that Christ-honoring Biblical truth is being side-lined by prophets of a new age.
>How long before wearing a kippah can result in being arrested?  Try last week!
>Will we who believe God created distinct males and females in His image be accused of hate speech for quoting the Bible?  Try a couple years ago and still fighting for free speech and to stay out of prison!
>When will someone lose a job for espousing open dialogue on divisive issues?  Try last week again!
>Fortunately our government will never spy on citizens going about their daily business😳.  They can leave that to Google and Apple.
>Then again, maybe they will, but they will only use such surveillance against the “bad guys.”

Now, if we can just be certain we who call on the Name of YHWH or Jesus are never on the “bad guys” list!  But if we insist on allowing Hebrews to wear their identity on their heads, some may want to kill us.  If we label men and women as birth-assigned genders, we could be in trouble.  If we feel we should be allowed to express our faith by talking openly about being Jewish or Christian we may be discretely followed or imprisoned.  If we insist a human is a human as soon as he/she has all the genetic information of a human, there are voices that will call us liars and try to drown us out.

Do not expect the next election to stem the tide of history.  We are heading for the last stanza of the rhyme.  Love your enemies and trust in Jesus!  He has overcome the world.

Who can you NOT criticize?

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…

As Christ-followers, we are faced with decisions every day for which we are supposed to seek wisdom from The God Who Is.  This includes everything from who we are to marry, where we are to live, what we are to eat, and how to respond to that crazy driver who tailgates you until he has opportunity to pass and then zooms in as though to force you off the road.  Obviously, some decisions are greater than others and will have more impact on our lives.

When I stand before my God one day (probably sooner than most of my readers😏), do I want to have to confess to Him that I voted for a misogynistic playground bully who was blatantly selfish, viciously vindictive, thrived on personal insults and denigration of anyone who disagreed with him, and felt that he should have immunity from laws that apply to the rest of us?

Or do I want to confess that I voted for a lying Catholic who supported abortion up to the time of birth, was untruthful about whether God created man and woman as distinct genders, who lied about “freedom” while enabling the Department Of Justice to label Christians as “extremists” for quoting the Bible, and cared so little about law that he promoted illegal immigration of millions?

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Perhaps, as a wiser friend once commented, the USA may have come to this point as the beginning of a compassionate and just God’s judgment on our nation.  A liberal friend of mine remarked that it is sad that we have this choice between these two old white guys.  He asked with a wistful voice, “Is this the best we can do?”

As a Christ-follower, not a “christian-nationalist,” I need to go back and read my Master’s three-chapter Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6 and 7.  I need to pray in the Holy Spirit as well as with my understanding (per 1 Corinthian 14:15) and ask Father, “What am I not applying in this sermon that I should be doing?”  I remember this world is not my Home; I am an alien living here.😎

You may be thinking, “If we can just get XYZ elected, everything will be all right!”  WRONG.

We will not get what God wants for us from any politician or elected official.  They will not teach us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  They may even become the ones doing the persecution!  They will not instruct by word or example how to overcome unjust anger, control our lusts nor keep our promises.  As our political climate flourishes on fear, it is unlikely any of them will coach us how to avoid anxiety or to be content.  What politician (other than maybe Jimmy Carter?) even tried to live by the Golden Rule: “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”? (Matthew 7:12)

Does The God Who Is really appoint world leaders such as the USA’s or Russia’s President or China’s Chairman or the UN’s Secretary General?  Who allowed Sinwar to rule Hamas and let a terrorist group take over the people living in Israel’s historic land?  Who will orchestrate the last global conflict that will be part of the scenario to welcome back the King of kings and Lord of lords?

So my decision is to be doing whatever Jesus wants me to be working on when He returns; loving my neighbor, praying for my persecutors (more coming on that in April), learning to lean on Him for His Holy Spirit’s wisdom, listening to His still, small voice instead of the clamor of popular music and movies.  I need to be learning to apply the lessons Jesus taught, asking for His mercy for how far short I so often fall, and trust that He will work out His plan for our lives and the world, even if it looks like Job’s trials.  God is good all the time and all the time, God is good.

The Self-Hatred Which Allows Terrorists to Live Under the Earth

The self-hatred which allows Hamas terrorists to live under the earth.
by Cookie Schwaeber-Issen, February 18, 2024
As reported in All Israel News

After having recently watched the footage that revealed the labyrinth of tunnels where Hamas mastermind, Yahya Sinwar, has been hiding out for months, it occurs to you that there has to be a fair amount of self-hatred going on in someone who would choose to live fifty meters under the earth in a dark, damp dungeon of one’s own making.

How else can anyone explain the choice to give up a normal and happy life along with the comfort of family and friends?  Turning one’s back on the beauty of nature, the wonders of exploring all the resources and amazing sites that are above the earth, in favor of spending years digging through dark passages to create miles of safe refuge after committing heinous atrocities, demands an unexplainable masochistic impulse to which no sane person can relate.

Yet this is the picture and the reality of Hamas terrorists whose intense hatred for the Jewish state has resulted in their self-inflicted punishment of missing out on life and the joy of living it to the fullest. Seeing these tunnels, especially the one that housed Sinwar, provides an insightful but dismal window into the twisted and demonic mindset of these men who have dedicated their entire being to destruction, terror, killing, internal darkness and everything associated with death and carnage.

The real deception here is what this horrific existence chosen by these perpetrators has caused them to willingly endure, all in their aspiration and hope to annihilate the people they despise.  Most of us have heard how unforgiveness harbored in the heart of a person hurts them more than the one they are incapable of forgiving, because whatever festers inside someone also has the capacity to injure them physically as well as mentally and emotionally.

In this case, dedicated Hamas operatives have made the decision that they deserve the worst because that is exactly what they have given themselves.  With no guarantee that they will prevail in their goal of taking over the land of Israel, which would necessitate the genocide of millions of Jews, they are willing to invest years of their lives, delaying or even giving up on the many joyous milestones marked by most of us, including the completion of higher education, marriage, the birth of children, anniversaries, birthday parties and so many other wonderful occasions which make life enjoyable and worthwhile. 

Instead, they remain stalwart to a futile purpose that can only ensure their unhappiness, loneliness, emptiness and indifference to their own demise since life, to them, has no value or blessing other than to end it as early as possible.  This is the demonic spirit that must enter the soul of a terrorist in order to delude itself into believing that for this reason they were created. 

And this describes the pitiful existence which Sinwar and all of his cohorts have been living.  As we got a glimpse into these tunnels extending a distance of 500 kilometers, we can see an elaborate system of compounds that took 15 years of painstaking work to build exceeding the cost of a billion dollars. The corridors are long vacuous passageways that resemble burial tombs or prehistoric caves, not intended for man to inhabit.  Consequently, anyone who has burrowed themselves like a mole, rat or groundhog has lost all proportion of what it means to be a sane human being and is completely devoid of a sound mind or balanced judgment. 

One can make the argument that the decision to live this way would fall under the category of being seriously mentally ill in a way that clouds reason and clear thinking from being a guide and a voice of reason as we navigate our daily lives.  But unlike those who suffer from mental deficits, terrorists make a decisive choice to walk away from the light and go for the path of darkness which usually leads them to an abyss from where there is no return because their minds are overtaken by the delusion, to the point where they are taken captive by their own madness. 

Ironically, their defenders would probably make the case that as freedom fighters, they are willing to defer personal gratification for the larger reward of gaining the justice and equality that has evaded them.  Yet, the lifestyle for which they have opted, until such time as they can realize their dream, attests to a complete and total waiver of ever accomplishing good, or extending hope, blessing and meaningful purpose to themselves as well as others. 

Sadly, to the extent that they remain committed to this diabolical goal their lives will be destroyed far greater than what they will be able to accomplish since we know that God is on the side of light, protecting all those who choose His direction. 

So, when you think about it the world is actually focused on championing the wrong objectives, because the truth is that Hamas is not at all fighting for rights, land or even equality.  It must be recognized that they are totally dedicated to the murder of all Jews, regardless of how many deaths of their own people, including themselves, it will take to accomplish that aim.

It is clear to understand this when you understand the enemy of God – Satan, himself. He hates God’s creation and will stop at nothing to extinguish mankind in his attempt to thwart the plan of the Almighty. With promises of grandeur, he deceives his victims into believing that they can know and have everything. It’s as old as the deception which took place in the Garden of Eden. But the only thing that happened was the guarantee of death by following his advice.

And this is nothing more than a new day with a new lie. Hamas terrorists have bought into the idea that they can steal what was intended for the Chosen People, and in order to pull that off, they are willing to live in the depths of hell for as long as it takes. Not until they abandon the darkness and delusion, will they ever be able to recognize that they actually hate themselves, first and foremost, because they cannot see their own value or worth, aside from the killing machines that they have chosen to become.

This is the real pity. Once you give yourself over to a spirit of delusion, you cease to be a useful and productive person to yourself as well as your own people. It stands to reason that no freedom or liberty can ever be obtained for others by those who have lost interest in a good life for themselves.

And so, to all the pro-Palestinian advocates, who claim to be fighting for their good, it is futile to support and champion a blessed life for those who don’t even love themselves enough to breathe the pure air, feel the warmth of the sun and treasure the wonders of creation, all of which lie above the earth – the place which we were meant to enjoy and inhabit. 

________________________
Cookie Schwaeber-Issan A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal and the granddaughter of European Jews who arrived in the US before the Holocaust. Making Aliyah in 1993, she is retired and now lives in the center of the country with her husband.  You can subscribe to her articles by email at itscook7@gmail.com.  She is published in All Israel News and The Jerusalem Post.

 

Lila Rose at the UN, November 17, 2023

My apologies; we will wait one more week to address the Whispers of God.  In the meantime, you can attune your ear to hear Him; “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Jesus)😉
Today, January 20, 2024, the 20th Annual Walk for Life West Coast is occurring in San Francisco, California, where Live Action president, Lila Rose will be speaking.  Yesterday the Washington D.C. March for Life occurred in spite of the snow and freezing temperatures.

On Friday, November 17, 2023 Rose joined the United Nations Transatlantic Summit  to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  Here is a transcript of most of her speech:

“When the member states of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the world was reeling.  We were three years removed from the liberation of the Nazi death camps in 1945, where the horrors of the evils committed against the Jewish people and political dissidents emerged, and the world would never be the same.  Their human rights were violated.  They were enslaved, their bodies used for labor or human experimentation at the whim of their captors.  They were cruelly tortured and degraded as if they were less than animals.  They were murdered.”

Killing on an industrial scale.
Rose noted the Universal Declaration was not written as “an academic exercise,” but rather “a robust response to some of the greatest atrocities and most severe and systematic human rights abuses perpetrated in modern history.  These were bloody times, in living memory of some who are with us today.  The 20th century saw more bloodshed than any century before.  World War I; over 20 million deaths.  World War II; over 70 million deaths, including six million Jews murdered in the Nazi Holocaust.”  Then millions more killings were carried out under Josef Stalin’s reign of terror, and then millions more under Mao Zedong.  “It was killing on an industrial scale.

“The capacity for evil exists in every human heart but so does the capacity for good.  As Solzhenitsyn points out, ‘The line between good and evil has always cut through every human heart.’  The truth is every single one of us is spiritual, formed in the likeness of goodness itself, oriented toward the Highest of Powers, God Himself.  Each of us possesses reason to know and to choose the good.  Respect for the everyday miracle of human life, respect for every human person must be the first movement of our shared moral conscience and so inspired the United Natons Declaration of Human Rights.

The Declaration That ALL Have the Right to Life.
“From Article 3 of the Declaration, ‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person’. From Article 6, ‘Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law’. From Article 7, ‘All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.’  Who is the ‘All‘ this Declaration promises rights to?  Who is included in ‘Everyone‘?

“The Declaration’s preamble states that the rights enumerated are for ‘ALL members of the human family.’  It states: ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of ALL members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.’

“So how does one become a member of the human family?  I am proud to be a member of the human family, as I know all of you are with me today, as is the little baby daughter in my womb.  Here is a quick review for us, thanks to a team of medical experts and scientists, created with Live Action and world-class animators:” This is the Baby Olivia video Rose showed midway through her speech:

“Many powerful people today… argue that a human in the womb is not a human, is not a life, and is certainly not worthy of the basic human rights enumerated in the Declaration.  Instead, these powerful people argue that one must pass through the magical birth canal in order to receive one’s humanity —how ludicrous!  It’s clear; science is clear that human life does not begin at birth, but before, at the moment of fertilization.

“Since our Universal Human Rights are grounded in being human and being a member of the human species, not in your age, not in your level of development, not in your location, human embryos and fetuses have the same inalienable and universal right to life as human infants, toddlers, teenagers and adults.

“So, how are we doing here in 2023 when it comes to Human Rights for ALL, for Everyone, for ALL members of the human family?

There is no right to kill.
“Here’s the hard truth: every year, globally, seventy million children are slaughtered by abortion.  That’s as if World War II happened again every single year with its victims exclusively civilians, particularly children.  Abortion is, by far, the worst human rights crisis of the last half century.  In fact, most of the members the United Nations outright support this human rights abuse.

“The helpless victims of this abuse have no representation here.  They are too young, too vulnerable to speak.  They are totally dependent on others.  They cannot rally, they cannot vote, they cannot demonstrate.  They require and rely on adults to speak for them.  They are babies, infants, growing in the womb of their mothers.  The womb which should be a safe haven, a place of nourishment and unconditional love, has become a war zone. 

“What are the euphemisms used in polite society, even in this building, that cloak the brutal reality of abortion?  Even the word ‘abortion’ sanitizes the unnatural act that kills a human being.  ‘Reproductive healthcare,’ ‘Women’s rights,’ ‘The right to choose,’ ‘Bodily autonomy.’  Reproductive healthcare does not include the right to harm a child — that is ludicrous!  Women’s rights do not include the right to kill a little woman, a little girl in the womb — that is ludicrous!  The right to choose does not include the right to murder — that is ludicrous!  My bodily autonomy, as a woman, does not include the right to destroy the little daughter growing in my womb — that is ludicrous!

Speaking up for the preborn.
“How have we bought so many ludicrous lies?  It’s because the unborn cannot speak that the born, the powerful, have succeeded in trampling on their rights.  The human rights abuse of abortion has killed billions of innocent human beings over the last half century, eclipsing every other cause of death or human rights abuse.  Abortion is the leading cause of death globally and it deprives its innocent victims of their first human right: LIFE.

“From Article 4 of the Declaration of Human Rights, ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.  Slavery shall be prohibited in all forms.’  From Article 5, ‘No one shall be subject to torture or to cruel inhuman or degrading treatment.’

“Abortion not only violates the unborn child’s right to life, abortion also violates the child’s right to be free from slavery and the right to be free from torture.  With abortion, human beings are treated as property to be created and killed at will.  Unborn children are routinely bred for stem cell research; their cells used for medical experimentation; their body parts sold or traded.  In the name of ‘medical research,’ millions of human embryos are created only to be victims of experiments, manipulated and ultimately to be destroyed in labs across the world. 

“Abortion also is torture for millions of murdered children.  In abortion procedures, children are routinely subjected to the worst acts of violence imaginable.  A Dilation and Evacuation, or D&E abortion, is the most common procedure used for a second trimester abortion committed on babies 14 weeks old through 22 weeks old.  In a D&E abortion, the abortionist inserts a large suction catheter into the uterus and turns it on, emptying amniotic fluid.  After the amniotic fluid has been removed the abortionist uses a Sopher clamp, a grasping instrument with sharp teeth, to grasp and pull one by one the living moving baby’s arms and legs, ripping their limbs from the child’s body.  The abortionist continues to grasp the child’s intestines, spine, heart, lungs and any other body parts.  The most difficult part of the procedure is usually finding, grasping and crushing the baby’s head.  You see, many abortions are not just killing. A D&E abortion is excruciating, torturous killing of a baby who feels every second of his or her live dismemberment.

“Abortion at its core is a contradiction of every human right.  If human rights are not for ALL, then they are for none.  If human rights do not apply to life in the womb, then they apply to no one.  If our youngest child is not considered worthy of these rights, then why do these rights matter for anyone?  As Mother Teresa said prophetically, ‘In a nation where a mother can kill her own child what is left but for you or for I to kill one another?’  We must do better.  We can do better to live up to the great ideals of this Declaration.  We must stand for ALL human rights for ALL and the most basic human right: LIFE for ALL members of the human family.

“So how do we move forward?  How do we protect human rights worldwide?  I call on the United Nations to address this human rights crisis of abortion and set a resolution of all its member nations to end it.  A strong leader stands on the truth and the truth is the first step toward lasting political victory.  We must refuse to tolerate in our nations the homicide of any child in the womb no matter the circumstances or excuses.  It is our duty to abolish abortion.  It is our duty once more to listen to our human conscience and refuse to rationalize why one child should be welcomed and another one killed.

“As we protect fundamental human rights we can ensure that every soul has the opportunity to be born, to live and to thrive.  Our shared commitment to the dignity of EVERY life for EVERY member of the human family will secure us the freedom, justice and peace that we so deeply desire for each of our beloved nations.  Thank you.”

Just to be clear, if you have had an abortion you can find peace and forgiveness from Jesus, though the mourning for the child you killed may stay with you for the rest of your life.

Oops, the keys are missing!

On December 17, 2023, lightning struck the statue image of Peter at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás north of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The strike obliterated both the iron halo and keys in the statue’s right hand, inferred to represent the “Keys to the Kingdom.”  Jesse Romero and Kyle Clement highlighted this story on YouTube, commenting that the lightning not only happened on Pope Francis’ 87^th birthday but was one day before the publication of the controversial Fiducia Supplicans, blessing same-sex couples.  This statue is in the Pope’s home diocese.  Jorge Mario Bergolglia was the Archbishop and Cardinal of Buenos Aires prior to his election as Pope.  Many Roman Catholics at every level are questioning if the Poop is truly the Pope.  

This event was after a lightning strike in 2013 on the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Cathedral the day the previous Pope resigned.  Hmmm, one wonders.  Maybe Father is doing some things we evangelicals don’t understand, speaking to believers in the world’s largest Christian denomination? There is much we can learn from our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters.

Of course, as an evangelical, while my many Catholic friends are indeed ready for Heaven, the structure of the RC Church seems to have expanded significantly after Gregory was the first to declare apostolic succession from Peter, a doctrine not universally taught in the first 500 years after the Resurrection.  One has to ask, what were the “keys” Jesus said he would give to Peter and what was the Rock on which He would build His church, an inconsistent disciple or the Truth that disciple had just stated? Were these “keys” exclusively Peter’s or tools for the priesthood of all believers?

Then, on Thursday, January 11, Francis met with communists, telling them to not back down on trying to make the world a better place for themselves. In any case, the Roman Catholic Church is heading for another schism to rival the Great Schism of 1054! THE most important thing we can do is to follow Jesus and His clear teachings in the Gospels whatever men may say.

[Note: I had planned a blog today on how God whispers and how we enjoy cacophony that obscures His voice, but the information out of Roman Catholic news sources and the furor that is rising in response to the current Pope’s pronouncements and his deviation from orthodox Christian doctrine merits a delay in that blog till next Saturday.]

How Lies Are Imperiling the Jews at Pre-Holocaust Levels

Guest Blog by Cookie Schwaeber-Issan
Thousands of participants gathered in Munich, Germany, to demonstrate for an immediate ceasefire and to show their solidarity with Palestinians, November 11, 2023.

The headlines don’t get more sensational than: “French Jewish woman stabbed in antisemitic attack, swastika painted on door.”

The shocking crime, which probably has French Jews frantically on edge, is just another recently reported incident of Jews being killed in their own homes. It was just a few weeks ago that “a Detroit synagogue president was found fatally stabbed outside her home.”

Other than the fact that both of these women were Jewish and brutally stabbed to death, what else do they have in common? In each incident, quick conclusions were drawn that there was “no evidence” that the stabbings were motivated by antisemitism. In the case of the Detroit woman, a CNN wire was immediately released relying upon the word of the local police chief who said, “no evidence has surfaced suggesting the killing was motivated by antisemitism.”

However, given that no suspect had been identified, the early conclusion seemed to be more motivated by the fear of the possibility of the crime being connected to the woman’s ethnicity, having the potential to cause great distress to millions of American Jewish citizens. Likewise, in the French stabbing, a rabbi who represented the Conference for European Rabbis also wasted no time in stating, “it hasn’t yet been categorized as an antisemitic attack.”

What is clear is that Jews are, for the first time since the 1930s, experiencing a super-charged atmosphere of hatred and accusation aimed at them even if they are not connected to Israel or the present war taking place against Hamas terrorists, who perpetrated the October 7 massacre within the Jewish homeland. It is, pure and simple, guilt by association but even beyond that, it is the ability to use the war against Hamas, rebrand it as genocide towards the Palestinian people and scapegoat innocent diaspora Jews as justified targets of a manufactured outrage.  

Just a week ago Saturday [November 4, 2023], there was a massive pro-Palestinian demonstration at the White House where thousands were seen shaking the gates, which they vandalized with red paint as they chanted vulgarities directed at U.S. President Joe Biden. Some were so bold as to even attempt to climb the same gates which are only yards away from the White House. Others were heard chanting “Allahu Akbar” and “Free, free Palestine.”

While it was estimated that tens of thousands attended this well-organized demonstration, where bus rides were provided for many out-of-town protesters who otherwise may not have been able to participate, the photos of wall-to-wall people made it look as if the crowd numbered well over a million. 

This kind of vicious and threatening climate which has emerged almost overnight, hasn’t been seen since the pre-Holocaust days of Nazi Germany, when already visible and audible signs of antisemitism were taking place throughout Europe at unprecedented levels. Jews were being castigated, their shops were being vandalized, and those same events which we are witnessing, yet again, pre-dated the establishment of the Jewish homeland. This already attests to the motivation of this vilification being nothing more than hatred of the Jewish people which, although having lain dormant for years, was never really fully extinguished.

Rather, it waited for the right moment to rear its ugly head and spew the venomous and abhorrent sentiments toward one particular group of people who have, in each generation, borne the brunt of unwarranted loathing and the indefensible calls to eradicate them from the face of the earth.

For those who think that these renewed calls are being shouted by individuals whose ancestry is of Arab origin, think again. Large swaths of American and European populations have joined in adding to the millions of Arab-descendant immigrants who have made their way to what everyone thought were more tolerant venues, where mixed ethnicities resided together relatively in harmony. No longer is that benevolence and goodwill taken for granted.  

The sudden surge of anti-Jewish sentiment, although being tied to Israel’s present military actions against Hamas, is purposely being falsely represented in order to paint a distortion of what is really happening. One case in point was a kaffiyeh-donned man named Ali Abdullah who traveled from Toledo, Ohio to be part of the protests on Capitol Hill. Interviewed by Fox News reporter, Mike Emanuel, and broadcast on The Big Weekend Show which aired on November 5, he said, “They’re killing kids, women and pretty much bombing everything. This is not a war. War is military against military, but this is against humanity period. We’re hoping that the aid [from the USA] will completely stop.”

The idea is to blatantly lie about the events which led up to Israel’s ground incursion, to obfuscate the parachuting of terrorists into the land of Israel who then led a brutal pogrom-like massacre upon children, babies, young people, the elderly and everyone else. The beheadings, rapes, torture and burnings are all minor details which went unmentioned by Mr. Abdullah who dishonestly framed Israel’s actions as crimes against humanity. But then if you wanted to whip up a crowd to get them to emit their antisemitic rage, it would be useful to disguise the real events that occurred, replacing them for more insidious accusations which have no basis in reality.    

Israel’s top-leading Hebrew newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, published several accounts on November 5, 2023 that have taken place in Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and the U.S. One such story took place in Belgium, where Joel Rubinfeld, head of the Belgium League Against Anti-Semitism, expressed his great concern over what he is seeing. He noted that he received a phone call from someone who threatened to rape his wife that very evening. Other threats, in his city, included spray-painting Jewish stars on the residence of Jews as well as exclusive shops owned by Jews. Rubinfeld claims that 90% of young people have been the victim of antisemitic incidents, specifically citing a 14- year-old teenager who attended a public high school where four of his classmates physically attacked him and threatened his life. 

This is what most imperils the Jewish people collectively. They are fast becoming the victims of vicious lies and embellished fiction, which then is adopted by ignorant people who already have a predisposition to believe that Jews are the source of the world’s problems. It is this kind of dishonest, fraudulent and corrupt charges which led millions to participate in the well-organized but ill-fated plan [in the 1940s] to rid the planet of the same individuals whom God called the Chosen People and the Apple of His Eye. [Deuteronomy 7:6, Deuteronomy 32:10]

If we didn’t know better, one might think that the root of this inexplicable desire to annihilate them stems from an unbridled jealousy which has never been resolved since the days of Isaac and Ishmael, when one was called the child of promise while the other was not acknowledged as the offspring to inherit the promises. But it couldn’t be that – could it?

There really is no other explanation, because spontaneous, demonic behavior is birthed from the evil which is satanic, taking its name from Satan, himself – the same fallen angel who, out of jealousy, coveted the place of God – so why couldn’t there be a connection?  

A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal and the granddaughter of European Jews who arrived in the US before the Holocaust. Making Aliyah in 1993, she is retired and now lives in the center of the country with her husband. Please feel free to email Mrs. Schwaeber-Issan via admin@allisrael.com or if you wish to read other articles by her, go to https://allisrael.com/writer/cookie-schwaeber-issan.

Halloween Has Become Only Evil

Once Halloween was fun, dressing up as a hobo or Superman, a princess or an alien.  Now there is no joy nor playfullness, only a celebration of evil.  I’ll stick with All Saint’s Eve and celebrate Martin Luther’s nailing his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Church door 506 years ago on October 31, 1517.

Resolving Some Confusion Over Gender Identity

There are several myths about gender identity that have found their way into the mainstream press and “woke” culture and academic circles, mostly influenced by LGBTQZXCB+ radicals that tend to think with parts of their anatomy below their waists.  Dr. Samuel Ferguson of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has penned an excellent and compassionate text on this subject, Does God Care About Gender Identity.  He addressed five of these myths in an article in Crossway.com which is available at this page.

To summarize his excellent book and articles on these myths, let me simply note that no amount of “feelings,” psychological counseling, cultural adaptation or surgical procedures will change the DNA of an XX or XY chromosome that is inherent in every cell of a human body.

Tragic stories continue to surface of people who attempted “transitioning,” many at very young ages, who later are regretting and dealing with the aftermath of making major life-decisions when they had not developed the mental and psychological equipment to adequately process them.  “Transitioning does not offer a promising pathway toward wholeness and happiness. It is a cosmetic solution to a psychological and spiritual malady.” (Ferguson)

Gender is not merely a “feeling.”  As Ferguson asks in his book, “What if a sixteen-year-old trying to buy a six-pack of beer blurts out to the vigilant clerk, ‘But I feel twentyone’? What if a fifty-year-old man pursuing a sixteenyear-old girl says to her father, ‘But I feel sixteen’? What if a white male applying for a scholarship designated for African Americans responds to the university examiner, ‘But I feel black’?”  It is simply an absurdity to divorce gender from biology, just as inane as divorcing age from chronology or ethnic identity from skin pigmentation or genealogy.  The notion that being a man or a woman is reducible to feelings is a radical departure from sanity. As Mark Cahill wrote, “Truth is what reality says it is.”

The saddest part of this is that it has permeated our society to such an extent that a Supreme Court Justice nominee could not answer a Senator’s question, “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman?”  so she(?) said, “I am not a biologist.”  Did she not have access to a dictionary??  The next day the nominee came back and declared she and her mother were women!  The Senator failed to ask the critical questions of how she knew this!  Had a biologist informed her?  Had she finally looked it up at Dictionary.com⁉️

When the Bible speaks to gender identity, it does so in unequivocal terms. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) Nothing here about binary nor questionable nor fluid identity.  If you are born with a penis and XY chromosomes, you are a male; if you are born with a vagina and XX chromosomes, you are a female.

“Moreover, Scripture reveals the two-gendered world of men and women as anything but restrictive and oppressive. ‘At its very heart,’ writes Rebecca McLaughlin, ‘the male-female binary is creative.’  Only through the union of man and woman is the cultural mandate fulfilled – “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.“ ‘ (Gen. 1:28). By God’s design, every human being owes his or her existence to one man and one woman: the gender binary is life-giving.“ (Ferguson)

When people speak of the “sex or gender they were assigned at birth,” they are trying to suggest that it is subject to a decision we make.  Our gender is neither assigned to us by a doctor at birth nor determined by ourselves during adolescence (with rare exceptions).  Genesis 1 teaches that gender is received as a gift from God, that human identity is not self-made but God-given.

Christ-followers will lovingly help anyone experiencing gender dysphoria regardless of age, but the current fad among many medical professionals is to move as quickly as possible to transitioning, a process involving puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries. These are irreversible steps, and results are so varied that many European countries and finally some staes are limiting the access of minors to treatments.

The Bible’s pathway out of pain takes the form not of transition but transformation, and this makes all the difference.  Transformation doesn’t begin with our outer appearance but much deeper, with our minds and hearts: ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind’ (Rom. 12:2). Transformation doesn’t culminate in a cosmetic refashioning of our bodies but in God’s resurrection and perfection of them: ‘we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.’ (Rom. 8:23) (Ferguson)

From LifeSiteNews:
“Even Marx, Lenin, and Mao would be horrified by the Democrat Party’s unconditional embrace of the chemical and surgical mutilation of children in pursuit of the fantasy of an imagined “gender identity.” At least they would be until they came to see, as the Democrats have, its political utility.“

“Transgenderism, at its root, is an attack by radical leftists on the family. It is promoted by political operatives in order to divide children from their parents on matters sexual. But if it succeeds, it won’t stop there. There will be other “children’s rights” invented until all parental authority has been ceded to the state, thus achieving the perennial communist goal of making all children creatures of the state from infancy.“