___________________

Bible prophecy describes Israel’s relationship with the modern Muslim nations following her restoration to God’s blessing. It will be a dramatic turn around from the conditions that exist today.

Since the birth of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948, she has fought continual wars with her Muslim neighbors. There was the War for Independence in 1948 against the Arab League composed of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. There was the Suez War in 1956 to force Egypt to allow free access for Israel’s ships through the Canal. There was the Six-Day War in 1967 against the coalition of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, with Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria contributing troops and arms. There was Egypt’s War of Attrition against Israel from 1968-70. There was the Yom Kippur War of 1973 when Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria. And Israel has been under constant attack by Muslim organizations such as Hamas, the PLO, and Hezbollah.

That is the present situation. Let’s look now to the future.

We are told that Islam is a religion of love and peace. In reality, it appears to be more a religion of hate and murder. The vicious acts of terrorism aside, consider the practice of honor killing. This is defined by the Human Rights Watch as “acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family.” These are very common in the Middle East and Turkey. According to the United Nations, 5,000 females are murdered every year (“Murder in the Family,” Fox News, July 26, 2008). The perpetrators usually get off scot free or with a light sentence. Islamic apologists pretend that honor killings are “cultural” rather than a product of Islam, but Jihad Watch reports that in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down ON ISLAMIC GROUNDS a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings, and Al-Jazeera reported that “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values” (“Muslim Ran Down Daughter,” Jihad Watch, Oct. 22, 2009).

Honor killings are on the rise in the United States.

______________________

One thing that a Christian must develop if he wants to have spiritual victory is a testing mindset. This means that he must learn to test everything by the Bible to see if it is right or wrong, true or false.

I thank the Lord that the man who led me to Christ taught me this so that I started out my Christian life with a testing mindset. It has protected me from many spiritual pitfalls. Traveling together from south Florida to Mexico, we stopped at a Christian bookstore somewhere on the Gulf Coast. I think it was Mobile, Alabama. He bought me a King James Bible, and then he pointed to all of the books that were for sale and said, “You must be very careful and test everything by God’s Word. You can’t trust man; you can’t trust the “big names.” The Bible warns that there will be many false teachers.” It was with this wise counsel that I began my Christian life.

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

GLENN BECK’S DIVINE DESTINY MOVEMENT (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Mormon talk show host Glenn Beck is hosting an ecumenical political gathering tomorrow at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Divine Destiny event is aimed to help “heal the soul” of America by overlooking religious differences to achieve a unity of “shared values and principles.” The event is intended to “unite” “pastors, ministers and clergy” of “all faiths.” Beck said he has reached out to “the biggest names in faith” and “asked them to help me put differences aside and to reach out with one another.” (He has not released a list of the names of the participants.) Beck even urges his followers to “prepare to witness mighty and powerful miracles.” The fact is that Beck’s Divine Destiny is part of America’s problem rather than the solution. The root of America’s ills are spiritual and moral. It is particularly the apostasy and compromise of the churches, and Beck’s program is just more of the same. Beck is urging professing Christians to unite with people “of faith” of any and all religious persuasions. This is a direct affront to God’s Word, which forbids true Christians to unite with unbelievers and heretics. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel”? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5). “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed” (2 John 9-10). These Scriptures could not be plainer. Born again Christians are to separate from apostates and heretics, and Glenn Beck is a heretic. God’s people are forbidden to join hands with unbelievers for spiritual activities, and Beck’s Divine Destiny event is definitely billed as a spiritual activity. How can we possibly “heal our souls” by disobeying God’s Word? Glenn Beck is doubtless a sincere man who genuinely wants to help America, but spiritually he is the blind leading the blind. His movement is confusion of the highest order, and it will only lead to greater divine judgment on our nation.

Evangelist Luis Palau, who has been called “the Billy Graham of Latin America,” follows Graham’s ecumenical model and has an uncritical relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.

In an April 24, 2001 interview with Ed Flynn of “Talk of the Town” on radio station 1320 AM, promoters of the Palau festival in Waterbury, Connecticut, said that the evangelist is “a uniter, not a divider,” that he is “nondenominational” and sends his converts “right back to the churches they come from.”