PALESTINIAN CLERIC CALLS FOR STABBING JEWS LIKE
ALLAH DID IN MUHAMMAD'S DAY
In a sermon delivered at a
mosque in Gaza, Muslim cleric Sallah Abu Rajab brandished a knife and called on
Muslims to kill Jews. He said, “Much can be told about Jerusalem. This is where
the soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad are. This is the grace of Allah. The
soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad are here. Brothers, this is why we recall
today what Allah did to the Jews. We recall what he did to them in Khaybar” (“Rafah
Cleric Brandishes Knife in Friday Sermon”, MEMRITV.org, Oct. 9, 2015).
Sallah also said, “Oh men of the West Bank, next time, attack in a group of
three, four, or five. Attack them in groups. Cut them into body parts”. At
Khaybar, Muhammad attacked peaceful Jewish settlements, killed many of the men,
robbed them of their hard-earned wealth, enslaved their women, daughters, and
children, and forced the surviving men to farm the land and give half of the
income to the Muslims. The following is from Muhammad's official Islamic
biography: “After the treaty of Al Hudaybiya, Mohammed stayed in Medina for
about two months before he collected his army and marched to the forts of
Khaybar, a community of wealthy Jewish farmers who lived in a village of
separate forts about 100 miles from Medina. Mohammed seized the forts one at a
time. Among the captives was a beautiful Jewess named Safiya. Mohammed took her
for his sexual pleasure. [Her husband and father had just been beheaded by the
Muslims.] ... Mohammed knew that there was a large treasure hidden somewhere in
Khaybar, so he brought forth the Jew who he thought knew the most about it and
questioned him. The Jew denied any knowledge. Mohammed told one of his men,
'Torture the Jew until you extract what he has.' So the Jew was staked on the
ground, and a small fire built on his chest to get him to talk. When the man
was nearly dead and still would not talk, Mohammed had him released and taken
to one of his men who had had a brother killed in the fight. This Muslim got
the pleasure of cutting off the tortured Jew's head” (Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, 756-764).
CHRISTIAN
WORKERS IN SYRIA RAPED, CRUCIFIED, BEHEADED
The following is excerpted
from “Christian Workers”, Christian Aid, Oct. 1, 2015: “At several steps on
their path to death by beheading and crucifixion last month, 11 indigenous
Christian workers near Aleppo, Syria had the option to leave the area and live.
... The indigenous missionaries were not required to stay at their ministry
base in a village near Aleppo, Syria; rather, the ministry director who trained
them had entreated them to leave. As the Islamic State (ISIS), other rebel
groups and Syrian government forces turned Aleppo into a war zone of carnage
and destruction, ISIS took over several outlying villages. The Syrian ministry
workers in those villages chose to stay in order to provide aid in the name of
Christ to survivors. ... The relatives said ISIS militants on Aug. 7 captured the Christian workers in a
village whose name is withheld for security reasons. On Aug. 28,
the militants asked if they had renounced Islam for Christianity. When the
Christians said that they had, the rebels asked if they wanted to return to
Islam. The Christians said they would never renounce Christ. The 41-year-old
team leader, his young son and two ministry members in their 20s were
questioned at one village where ISIS militants had summoned a crowd. The team
leader presided over nine house churches he had helped to establish. His son
was two months away from his 13th birthday. In front of the team leader and
relatives in the crowd, the Islamic extremists cut off the fingertips of the
boy and severely beat him, telling his father they would stop the torture only
if he, the father, returned to Islam. When the team leader refused, relatives
said, the ISIS militants also tortured and beat him and the two other ministry
workers. The three men and the boy then met their deaths in crucifixion. ...
Eight other ministry team members, including two women, were taken to another
site in the village that day (Aug. 28)
and were asked the same questions before a crowd. The women, ages 29 and 33,
tried to tell the ISIS militants they were only sharing the peace and love of
Christ and asked what they had done wrong to deserve the abuse. The Islamic
extremists then publicly raped the women, who continued to pray during the ordeal,
leading the ISIS militants to beat them all the more furiously. As the two
women and the six men knelt before they were beheaded, they were all praying”.
ECUMENISTS
BLESS ABORTION CLINIC
Last week, 15 wrongheaded
Protestant “ministers” and Jewish rabbis in Cleveland, Ohio, blessed the
Preterm abortion clinic. “The Very Rev”. Tracey Lind, Dean of Trinity Episcopal
Cathedral, offered the following prayer: “Bless this building. May its walls
stand strong against the onslaught of shame thrown at it. May it be a beacon of
hope for those who need its services” (“Clergy Bless Preterm Clinic”, Ohio
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, RCRC, Oct. 8, 2015). This was
addressed to the God of non-judgmentalism who is OK with the murder of unborn
children and is only concerned about the feelings of women. “Rev”. Laura Young,
a United Methodist minister who describes herself as a “progressive theological
thinker and a feminist”, says, “It breaks my heart to know women are sitting in
pews across the country feeling shamed, believing they're cursed for making
this decision. That's a question I get a lot on the phone. 'Am I going to
hell?' When God instead is there to support women through it all” (“Clergy
Bless Preterm Clinic”, RCRC). TheColumbus Dispatch added this comment by Young: “As
people of faith, we know that God's love is constant when a woman is deciding
to have an abortion. God's love is with her the entire time” (“Clergy group
blesses Cleveland abortion clinic”, Columbus
Dispatch, Oct. 8, 2015). God's love is unfathomable and is evident
by the Son of God's atoning sacrifice on Calvary, but the thrice-holy God
requires repentance of sin, and He does not overlook the murder of children.
There are two parties involved in an abortion, the mother and the child. If
there were no child, there would be no “mother”. That this narcissistic
generation thinks preeminently of one party, which is self, is a major sign of
the times. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (2 Timothy 3:1-2).
PRAYERS FOR MARY TO SAVE AMERICA
On October 10, prayers
were offered in more than 14,000 places for Mary to save America. The Public
Square Rosary Crusade was sponsored by the America Needs Fatima campaign, which
is based on the myth that Mary appeared at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917 and
instructed three children to do penance and make personal sacrifices to save
sinners, which is a false gospel. Francis Slobodnik, national coordinator,
said, “If only we'd turn to Our Lady, and do what she requested at Fatima,
people would receive the courage needed to turn things around in America. ... I
just know the Blessed Mother will be touched by these events and work wonders
on that day. She cannot refuse the prayers of her children, who beg for help!”
(“14,000 Rosary Rallies”, Christian Newswire, Oct. 9, 2015). America doubtless
needs earnest prayer, but there is not a hint in Scripture that Mary can hear
and answer prayers. It is a blasphemous concept that destroys the doctrine of
Jesus Christ as sole Mediator. “For this isgood
and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:3-5).
PAUL'S REPROOF OF PETER
I have never seen anything
in the Bible that would limit a ministry of biblical reproof so that
influential pastors are not subject to it. And I have never seen anything in
the Bible that requires that a preacher give reproof only in a private context.
The prophets of old reproved even godly kings for their spiritual compromise. “Then
Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying,
Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works.
And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish” (2
Chronicles 20:37).
Paul publicly reproved Peter for his hypocrisy (Galatians 2:14).
If Peter's friends had been like some independent Baptists, they would have
lashed out at Paul for his audacity at reproving the man of God, and especially
for reproving him before others. “Why didn't Paul talk with Peter privately
instead of making a public issue of it?” they would ask. “Was he jealous of
Peter? Yes, that must be it. Who is Paul compared to Peter? When Paul wins
3,000 to the Lord through one sermon and pastors a church of thousands, then he
might be qualified to reprove the great man, but not before. Why, when Paul
preached on Mars Hill, only a handful of people responded, probably because he
made too much of repentance! And unlike Peter, Paul didn't walk with Christ
through His earthly sojourn and see the miracles firsthand and hear the
Master's teaching with his own ears. Who does he think he is to reprove Peter
for hypocrisy? Does he think he is the epitome of Christian perfection? That
must be it. He is probably puffed up with pride and besotted with jealousy.
Further, Paul is nit-picking. Peter's little “hypocrisy” is no big deal. Paul
needs to stand back and look at the bigger picture of Peter's fruitful
ministry. Why doesn't Paul aim his guns at real errors instead of shooting the
wounded? Doesn't he realize that it is wrong to be divisive? Further, Paul
isn't even a member of the Jerusalem church, so he needs to mind his own
business and respect the autonomy of the church. If he wants to reprove someone,
let him reprove the Judaizers and the Gnostics and leave the man of God alone”.
This is the thinking of many independent Baptists, but it not scriptural. No
preacher is above being tested by God's Word. Any preacher is liable to
compromise and error. And if his compromise and error is public and has a
public influence, the reproof should be public. While no man enjoys reproof, a
godly man knows that reproof is necessary. “Whoso loveth instruction loveth
knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish” (Proverbs 12:1). I'm not
talking about a carnal, critical, nit-picking spirit. I'm not talking about
cheap gossip. I'm not talking about criticism based on personal opinion. I'm
talking about a godly critique issued with spiritual wisdom and based solidly
upon the Scripture rightly divided by men who love Christ and have His glory in
view.
“People do not love unpalatable truths, and when
they have the alternative of listening to soothing assurance, moving eloquence,
pleasing illustrations, and entertaining anecdotes, they not unnaturally avoid
and withdraw as far as they can from the scathing rebukes of the prophet” (F.C.
Jennings, Studies
in Isaiah).
“It is clear that there must be difficulties for
us in a revelation such as the Bible. If someone were to hand me a book that
was as simple to me as the multiplication table, and say, 'This is the Word of
God; in it He has revealed His whole will and wisdom,' I would shake my head
and say, 'I cannot believe it; that is too easy to be a perfect revelation of
infinite wisdom.' There must be, in any complete revelation of God's mind and
will and character and being, things hard for the beginner to understand; and
the wisest and best of us are but beginners” (Torrey,Difficulties
in the Bible).
