THE TOP STORIES OF 2006<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
www.olivetreeviews.org
Jan Markell
 
You may not read about these stories extensively in your local newspaper or Time magazine; however, I feel some of the following stories should be considered just a few of the primary issues of 2006.
 

• The false belief that Islam can be tamed and appeased and then they will forsake Sharia Law for Western democracy has been promoted endlessly in 2006.  I believe this could be the delusion of the 21st century. They are as committed to all aspects of Sharia Law as a Christian is to the Bible.

• Christian censorship took place this year. The Trinity Broadcasting Network silenced two pro-Israel programs, one presented by Hal Lindsey and the other a production of Zola Levitt Ministries.  They were told they were not Muslim-friendly enough for TBN's outreach to the Arab world.

• There is the unending mantra that a Palestinian state will bring world peace.  Those embracing and/or promoting this include the U.N., the E.U., the U.S. State Department, the White House, the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Vatican, and every Arab capital in the world. It makes no difference that every Arab/Palestinian group still calls for the total destruction of Israel.

• Iran's "Messianic menace" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his sincere belief that he can usher in the Muslim messiah makes him the most dangerous man in the world.  But men like Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" say he is a man we can do business with and is really quite likeable. Delusion today knows no bounds and particularly delusion on the Left.

• Very significant is the first election of a Muslim to high public office, Sen. Keith Ellison (D-MN) who will take an oath on the Koran in the coming weeks. He is a pawn of C.A.I.R. which launched him to victory. The Council on American-Islamic Relations will continue to flourish solely to make Islam look good, including elements that cannot be trusted.

• Israel lost a war-her war with Hezbollah last summer.  She fought it with one arm tied behind her back and the war revealed that Israel presently has the worst government in her 58 year history. Other Arab nations are watching and a far greater war is predicted for 2007.

• Sen. Barack Obama was welcomed at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church for a conference on AIDS. While it was a total mixed bag of guest speakers from the right and left, Obama got a standing ovation for his views on containing AIDS, which does not include abstinence.To add to that outrage, Pastor Warren suggested that Obama, perhaps the nation's most far-left politician, would make a great president.

• The "Emergent Church" has gone from obscurity in 2000 to prominence in the last year.  It may be the most striking example of liberalism being called "evangelical."  The Emergent movement denies many of the essentials of the faith. It's the newest way of "doing church" and targets the under-35 crowd with the "touch-feely gospel" of sounds, smells, and rosary beads for Protestants.

• So-called evangelicals said last February that man-made global warming must become one of the primary evangelical issues of the 21st century.  This from the Evangelical Environmental Network, a vast array of the "religious Left" but called evangelical. 

• Many are calling for a "dialogue" with rogue nations such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea.  If we have learned anything over the last 70 years, it is that the enemy will turn on us as happened to Chamberlain during WWII. This does not deter those calling for such dialogue as most are humanists who believe in the basic goodness of man.

• Iran's Holocaust Denial Conference in December was attended by 30 nations.  It shows that anti-Semitism is fast spiraling out of control. As Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu said, "It's 1938 again."

• There is an effort to have "sanctified divination" in the church today and it escalated in 2006.  Whether it is "Christian Yoga," "contemplative prayer," walking the labyrinth, or other activities that blank out the mind, "sanctified mysticism" is here to stay and is gaining strength.  It is now running amok in all denominations. Furthermore, it is a deception that you can sanctify divination or mysticism.

• It became clear in 2006 that the term "evangelical" means little.  The work of the National Association of Evangelicals in the 1940s has just about been neutralized as even those from the far left social gospel camp are now called evangelicals and are filling evangelical pulpits.  Some critics have gone so far as to call 2006 the year of "treason in the church."

• Eschatology (Bible prophecy) today is the most mocked and scoffed category of theology and at the same time, the most important for our day. We saw it take a further beating in 2006 due in part to the rise of Dominion or Kingdom Now Theology; that is, that the church will make the world perfect for the Lord's return.  Some of the most-admired pastors teach Dominion/Kingdom Now and are everywhere on Christian radio and TV.  Church members are left bewildered and would prefer to toss the topic. They are justifiably confused so why make the effort to understand it?

• The good news is that much of this is predicted for a last generation. Thus, we should not let these issues get us down. We need to look up and not around!  The King is coming and He trumps all the above nonsense from church issues to the geo-political.  He has the last say, the last laugh, and the final word. His one 1,000-year Kingdom on earth followed by the new heaven and earth will make every wrong right! There will be no treason in the church, the home, or the world.

 
To better keep up with current headlines, visit the Web site of Olive Tree Ministries and the category of "Current Headlines," here: http://www.olivetreeviews.org/topics/breaking_news.shtml  Also tap into almost three years of radio programming on "radio archives" here http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/