Iraq Panel Set to Urge Troop Pullback

"The report will endorse troop withdrawals beginning as soon as early next year but set no deadlines, the officials said. U.S. forces could also be slowly repositioned away from the front lines." Article here

So we are starting to pull out of Iraq. This will surely be a struggle for them, but the Iraqi government will eventually succeed, and make forward progress. I am convinced there will be a span of time when the Iraqi police will struggle but will quickly learn to adapt and overcome their enemies. A civil war is quite possible, however America had its own civil war and good won over evil. The same can be true for Iraq.

Do you think it will take a civil war for Iraqi leaders to take control, or will it just take the US to leave?

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said during talks with the Iraqi president "The first step to resolve the instability in Iraq is the withdrawal of occupiers from this country and the transfer of security responsibilities to the popular Iraqi government," he reportedly said. If asked by the Iraqi government, he said, Iran "won't spare any effort to contribute to stability and security in Iraq". Article here

Iran is thought to support radical groups in Iraq such as the Shia militias. If the US starts to pull out of Iraq, does this mean that Iran will start to support the Iranian government? If so that means that the insurgents would have to find a new source for weapons, and would allow the government to succeed much quicker. Do you think that means that Iraq would then be in Iran's pocket? That would not be a good place to be.

Venison

Well the deer is processed. With the help of my father in law we got it all done. Its been done for a little while now, i just have not posted in a while. Last night I made some chili, where I used ground venison. I must say that i was delightful. I have tried my hand at venison jerky, and I can admit, i need work on that. Thankfully I saved some meat and have enough to try again. Its not that the jerky turned out bad, its just... well done. I am wondering if there is such a thing as a hydrator. haha. Well if all else I will need to look into a smoker. That really hurts my feelings.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and don't forget to give thanks!

Modern Church

A good friend (we shall call him Bob) and I were talking the other day about churches. He attends a traditional Baptist Church, where I attend a more "modern church" (www.firstwes.org) . Let me say this, neither one of us was saying that the other persons church is wrong, we were merely discussing our thoughts on the issue. His point was that modern Churches have become to lackadaisical and disrespectful to God. As proof of this he used two examples. First, churches with late services (11 am for example) are meant to fit our schedule not Gods. Second, that you need to dress in your best clothes when attending church. Obviously I disagreed. I attend a 11:30am service on Sunday, and I wear clean jeans (w/o holes) and a polo style shirt, usually with running shoes. So I asked Bob if that means he has a closer relationship with God, or if it makes him a better person. He retorted by saying asking me what I wore to a wedding. My personal outlook on this is that God created man without clothes. I also believe that it doesn't matter what I attend church in, its where my heart is at when I attend. Upon hearing this, he asked me if I thought it was alright to wear a swimsuit and tank top to church. Yes Bob, even that is okay. As far as the service time, some people work 2nd and 3rd shifts, and I'm sure that they would like time to relax and prepare their hearts for church. I mean if they didn't get out of work until 8am, then they wouldn't have enough time to get home and put on their three piece suit or tuxedo. I think it is great that churches are realizing that a personal relationship with Christ is personal, not uniform. We don't have to attend the same times, wear the same clothes, and we don't have to celebrate worship the same. It is alright to play drums and a guitar in service.

Be Prepared

My last two posts were from Ezekiel. They were added to the site for quick reference. As a point of thought, nothing is said of America during the war of Gog and Magog. I would like to note, that is does mention Israel will stand alone, and they will stand tall until their enemies are defeated. Something I have been thinking is that America might not help Israel if Israel attacks first (this is also mentioned in the book). This makes me think of what the outcome might be in the '08 elections. Republicans aren't likely to just stand back and allow Israel to be attacked, let alone be demolished. God has blessed our country for many reasons, however I think that a big part of His blessing comes form supporting His chosen people. I also imagine that we will be there to help rebuild any losses of Israel. No doubt this will be a very obvious victory, but our generations have not fully seen what God can do. Don't get me wrong, we know what He is capable of, by way of natural disasters, but I don't think we are capable of understanding that God can do amazing things across the world. All at the same time. I cant imagine the return of Christ, when "every knee shall bow", and the sky opening. What does that even mean?

At this moment, it is our responsibility to tell others what will happen. Yes some will find it ridiculous that we interpret the Bible literally. However, when it does occur, and we are asked how we knew, we can respond and share the Word of God. All things for His kingdom, all praise to God alone.

Ezekiel 38 (New International Version)

A Prophecy Against Gog

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.

7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

10 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, "Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?" '

14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

17 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'

Ezekiel 39 (New International Version)

1 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. 5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.

7 " 'I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. 8 It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of.

9 " 'Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

11 " 'On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.

12 " 'For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

14 " 'Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. 15 As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16 (Also a town called Hamonah will be there.) And so they will cleanse the land.'

17 "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: 'Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls—all of them fattened animals from Bashan. 19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. 20 At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,' declares the Sovereign LORD.

21 "I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.

25 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD."

American Troops In Iraq

It seems that there is a push in congress to "hurry up" the status of Iraq. This issue is effecting our ability to judge and interrupt correctly. Sen. McCain (Az.) and Sen. Nelson (Fl.) are asking to send more troops. Meanwhile Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, has stated we don't need more American troops, we need Iraqi troops. No one wants to join with the Iraqi troops currently because they aren't getting paid. They are supposed to, but are currently 3 months behind in some cases. If we send over more American soldiers and marines, that is merely creating a false security. When the US pull out of Iraq, Iraqi soldiers and police need to have experience and an understanding of their job. If we do it for them, we are not doing our job correctly.

"I believe that we must stick with them until such time that they show us that they can't do it. ... Those among us who fight bet on the Iraqis, and as long as they're confident, I'm confident." -Gen. Abizaid.

In Two Years Time

In two years from now, we will see many changes. The United States will hold presidential elections, we will be forced to deal with new proposals. In our last elections, 8 states voted on same-sex marriages. That is going to start showing up in other states. The leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin is "supposed" to leave office. Last term he changed the law so that he could stay longer. He also has made changes so the he alone can appoint governors, taking away the people's freedom of choice. He still calls Russia a democracy. Vladimir Putin has also signed contracts to train Iranian scientists, a multibillion dollar deal, which includes building 20 nuclear power plants. Experts have said that it is possible Iran already has nuclear weapons, that will son be able to reach America. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (president of Iran) said yesterday that Iran would soon celebrate the completion of its nuclear fuel program. Ahmadinejad has already stated he seeks to remove Israel from the map. In two years from now, what will Iran be capable of, and more importantly, what will they have done? President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated he already has at least 20 suicide bombers in America strategic placed across the nation ready to do his work. If these are indeed facts as I take them to be, my concern is not just for the Israelis, but for Americans as well. We have already faced off with Russia once, will we do it again? How plausible is it that Iran will attack America? President Ahmadinejad has called Israel the "Little Satan", while he calls America the "Big Satan". God has promised to protect His people in the last battle. Israel will not be destroyed, but how will America turn out? Our pride would have us say we will be fine. Pride, one of man's greatest downfall.

Knowledge is power.

On Sunday my dad gave me a book to read. To some this might seem quite normal, however, my dad doesn't usually get excited about books, and neither do I. I am the type of person who reads books for the pictures. I have only recently started to read books that most might have read in High School, like Homer and Tolstoy. I have been know to read a couple of Christian books now and again, like Wild at Heart by John Eldridge however, those books don't really "excite" me, at least not anymore. I digress. So he gave me this book by Joel C Rosenberg, titled " Epicenter". As stated before I am not a fan of reading however, on Monday i was already half way through it. I have started thinking more and more about this book. The book, in a nut shell, is Joel applying the prophecy in the Bible to our now-day politics. It is really quite moving. I have always been a fan of the "End-Times". Some local Lansing folk might remember meetings at "Visions" night club. The energy that Mike Thompson shared about the end times is in direct line with this book.

So last night (Monday) Amy and I were sitting down watching TV like most all Americans do, when it hit me. Wow, this is a great decoy. We are sitting here watching Heroes, thinking that those new "modified" human powers like flying or stopping time would be cool to have, when it hits me that we aren't even remotely focused on whats important. We are focused on TV (not that it is horrible to watch TV). I had this urge to dive into the Bible and read about the prophecies that Christ and the prophets made. I mean, isn't that important to us? Wouldn't it be great to understand what exactly to watch for? This book has done that. It has put things into perspective for Christians and believers.

I have just recently started to follow politics more. (thanks Craig) I cant stop trying to learn more and more. The sad thing is that our last election, the State of Michigan had a pretty good turn out. We had 42% of the population get out and make a vote. Doesn't matter who they voted for, 42% voted. How sad is that? And of that 42% that voted, I am curious to know how many cast their vote based on advertisements and word of mouth information. How many actually did a little research on the candidates?

I see it as the American people don't care about who is in office, and could care less about whats going on in world politics. Now, I don't mean to categorize EVERY American. It is obvious to me that there is a percentage (42% in Michigan) that does actually follow some of the politics. What the numbers tell me is that 58% of the population is not interested in our country. Leave them alone and don't bother them. Sheep.

To pull this altogether, the Bible has told us what is going to happen, even how it will happen. Yes it is slightly coded, but we have enough knowledge to decipher it. As it is with witnessing to the nation however, we as Christians are afraid to get our hands dirty. We don't want to take time out of our life to do research, to learn or listen to how things apply, or maybe we just didn't realize or believe that this time may come. The dilema is that is has, and will continue to unfold before our eyes, wether we care to watch or not.