Tuesday

 

Is Obama The Anti-Christ?

`
http://www.patrioticon.org/images/flag1-1.gif



THANK YOU -- ALL OF YOU -- for your
expressions of concern. The surgery is over
(for now) and improved sight is back. We can
now get on with fulfilling our responsibility to
encourage the Christian Church in America to
wake up and accept the challenge which it has
faced for two thousand years. Please continue
to help us by referring each weekly issue to
your friends -- and remember: if you should
miss an issue, you can always find it at this link:
http://american-news.notlong.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

CONSIDER TWO CURRENT QUESTIONS:
IS OBAMA THE MESSIAH, OR IS HE THE
ANTI-CHRIST? AND THE FALLACIES IN
THE "COMMON GROUND" CONCEPT

Neither of those words is used very frequently
in the New Testament. "Messiah" is used only
twice, and both times in the Gospel of John.
Literally, in Hebrew it means "the anointed
one." In Greek the same word is "Christ."

For example, when Andrew sought for men to
follow Jesus, he first went went to his brother,
Simon Peter, and said to him, "We have found
the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the
Christ." (John 1:41) When Jesus asked His
disciples: "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter
answered with what has been called the "first
Christian creed" -- "Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:15-16)

Thus Jesus was confirmed as the Christ... the
Messiah...the anointed One...the Son of God.
Nowhere in the entire Bible is such designation
ever given to anyone else. Nor, in all the pages
of the history of the world, has any one else
ever rightfully claimed that title.

But the media, oh yes, the media. There
is the memorable statement by Newsweek
magazine editor, Evan Thomas, writing
about Mr. Obama: "In a way, Obama is
standing above the country, above the
world. He's sort of God." Or Chris Matthews,
host of the once popular MSNBC talk show,
Hardball, speaking of Obama: "This is bigger
than Kennedy ... This is the New Testament ...
I felt this thrill going up my leg... seriously;
It’s a dramatic event.” Or Ezra Klein, of the
Washington Post,“Obama’s finest speeches
do not excite. They do not inform. They don’t
even really inspire. They elevate... He is not
the Word made flesh, but the triumph of
word over flesh." Even the London Times
(on line): "He ventured forth to bring light
to the world. The anointed one's pilgrimage
to the Holy Land is a miracle in action, and
a blessing to all his faithful followers." And
among those faithful followers is, for example,
Oprah, who helped him so much as he began
his campaign. She simply calls him "The One"
and says, "we need politicians who know how
to be the truth." (Remember that Jesus says in
John 14:6 "I am the truth.")

And even some clergymen have been caught
up in the Obama-Messianic fervor: “I would
characterize the Senate race as being a race
where Obama was, let’s say, blessed and
highly favored. I think that Obama, his
election to the Senate, was divinely ordered
... I know that that was God’s plan.”– Rev.
Bill Rush “I cried all night. I’m going to be
crying for the next four years. What Barack
Obama has accomplished is the single most
extraordinary event that has occurred in the
232 years of the nation’s history ... The event
itself is so extraordinary that another chapter
could be added to the Bible to chronicle its
significance.” -- Rev Jesse Jackson, Jr.

It is not hard to recall the theme of Obama's
presidential campaign rallies -"We Can Change
the World" ... "We Can Save the Planet" ...
"Yes, we can." But we knew those were simply
campaign promises, and that no mere mortal
could ever achieve them. But millions of fellow
Americans believed them. He offered hope to
a troubled nation, and hope is a very powerful
emotion ... in the terms of contemporary jargon,
"The force was with him." There was -- and
there still is -- a spiritual hunger in America. To
the extent that the churches have failed in being
salt and light to the world -- the vision of hope
for a changed world which Barack Obama held
out found a ready audience, an audience which
spoke with its ballots at the polls.

Obama himself, did little to dispel the Messiah
concept which was being developed. At a rally
for Dartmouth University students in Lebanon,
New Hampshire in January, 2008 he said, "A
light will shine through that window, a beam
of light will come down upon you, you will
experience an epiphany ... and you will
suddenly realize that you must go to the polls
and vote for Obama." And in his nomination
victory speech in Minnesota in June, 2008, he
said, "I am absolutely certain that generations
from now, we will be able to look back and
tell our children that this was the moment
when we began to provide care for the sick
and good jobs to the jobless; this was the
moment when the rise of the oceans began
to slow and our planet began to heal."

There are so many who have written or spoken
to dissuade Americans from this Messianic
delusion; Thomas Sowell has said it as plainly
as any: "Barack Obama says that he wants
to 'heal America and repair the world.' One
wonders what he will do for an encore and
whether he will rest on the seventh day. That
we have so many people who are ready to be
swept along by such rhetoric is a huge danger,
for it means that the fate of this great nation is
at risk from any skilled demagogue who comes
along."

One is reminded of the editorial in the New
York Sun, in 1897, written by Francis Church,
with the title, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa
Claus." We can readily appropriate that phrase
and affirm, "No, America, Barack Obama is
NOT the Messiah." In fact, we affirm that truth
on the authority of the Word of God: Barack
Obama is NOT the Messiah. Not even close.

As for him being the anti-Christ, a "yes"
or "no" answer cannot be accurate within our
present time constraints. Jesus was very precise
in speaking of the end-times: "But of that day
or hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels
of heaven, but my Father only." (Matt. 24:36)

The term "anti-Christ" is found in only four
places in the New Testament, and all in Epistles
of John. But even those uses are quite broad,
and can be taken to refer to anyone or any thing
which is contrary to Jesus Christ -- and therefore
"anti-Christ." Equivalent terms, such as the
"man of sin," "the beast," "the wicked prince,"
and, even further removed, "the little horn"
spoken of in Daniel, are also used in Scripture.

Through the years, Christians who have become
deeply involved in eschatological matters have
found many characteristics in one world leader
or another which would indicate that he might
be the anti-Christ. This sort of guessing took
place in somewhat recent years when Hitler,
Mussolini and Gorbachev, for example, were
all named as being the anti-Christ.

Those who have been positively definite in the
time of the end of the world and of the identity
of the anti-Christ have always experienced brief
and soon passing ridicule. One is reminded of
the British stage presentation of the 1960s,
"Beyond the Fringe," where Peter Cook led
his followers to a hillside outside London to
watch the end of the world. When the expected
moment had passed, and nothing had happened,
he said, "Well, it's not quite the conflagration
I'd been banking on."

And so, based on the Scriptural accounts of
the end times, and related leaders, we cannot
say with any certainty that Barack Obama is the
anti-Christ. Nor can it be said that he may not
yet be. It may be noted that some of his actions
and some of his positions may be considered
as "anti-Christian," and could conceivably be
seen as representing the "spirit of anti-Christ"
as described in John's epistles. So the answer
to this question about his identity in this regard
is, at best, "doubtful."

One other term is much in the news: it is
the two word phrase "common ground." We spoke
in the opening heading for this issue of the fallacy
of that concept as seen in two contemporary
events. One such example comes from Barack
Obama himself. In last week's meeting with Pope
Benedict XVI. Obama spoke of his desire for a
debate with the Pope on the subject of abortion,
and said he was looking for a common ground.
What colossal arrogance, for this young man,
unlearned in Christian doctrine, to "debate" the
leader of the largest branch of Christianity, the
largest religion in the world. There can never be
any "common ground" between Christian
doctrine which includes among the Ten
Commandments of God the commandment
"Thou shalt not kill," and those who condone
the murder of babies through abortion, with
already more than 50 million killed since the
practice became legal in this country. Such
"common ground" is a fallacy, unattainable,
and totally foreign to any understanding of the
Christian faith.

The other use of the term "common ground"
emerged from the recent speech by California
pastor Rick Warren, when he addressed the
Islamic Society of North America. He spoke
of his desire for an interfaith project, and urged
his listeners to work together with Christians
for the common good. The news headlines of
this past weekend should make it clear to any
person of reasonable intelligence that such
cooperation is not possible. In Iraq, in a 3 day
period, Islamists bombed and destroyed 7
Christian churches, killing four and injuring
more than 35 Christians. One spokesperson
for the Christian cause, said, "There will soon
be no Christians left in Iraq if the bombing
of the churches continues." Already many of
Iraq's one million Christian believers have had
to flee the country. And at almost the same time,
in Somalia 7 Christians were beheaded, charged
with violating Islamic Sharia law. It is difficult
to grasp Mr. Warren's concept of an interfaith
project with a religion which considers all non-
Islamics "infidels," deserving of beheading, and
their churches to be bombed and destroyed.

America was born as a Christian nation;
it has grown and prospered and been a blessing
to the whole world as a Christian nation. This
is no time for the Christians in America -- 82%
of the population -- to step aside and allow
new concepts of religion, social and political
experiments, to destroy all that this nation has
always stood for.

And from our sixth president, this very fitting
quote: "Posterity -- you will never know how
much it has cost my generation to preserve
your freedom. I hope you will make good use
of it." --John Quincy Adams


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


As long as you still enjoy them, here are
a few "one liners" from this week's research:

"There is nothing quite so infuriating as
watching ACLU attorneys running roughshod
over the rights of students and teachers in a
small public school district." -- Mat Staver,
Liberty Counsel

"Americans grew tired of being thought to
be dumb and stupid by the rest of the world,
so they went to the polls last November, and
removed all doubt." -- Source unknown

"Mr. Obama has bought time by casting the
struggling economy as the legacy of President
George W. Bush, but as time passes it
increasingly becomes his problem and his
party’s."--NY Times, July 9

"If Evan Thomas is free to ascribe a God-like
quality to Obama, I also have my own free
speech observation of “The Anointed One”—
which is also biblical. Barack Obama is
a lot less God-like, and a lot more Antichrist-\
like." -- Robert Frederick

Al Gore never seems to go away. What he
couldn't accomplish in his failed attempt to be
president, he is accomplishing through his
"Global Warming Hoax." Note this news
brief: "Eco-Zealot and financial opportunist
Al Gore said of the recently passed House
Climate Bill, 'It is the awareness itself that
will drive the change and one of the ways
it will drive the change is through global
governance.'” Global governance: just what
we always wanted -- but not very much.

From the German Press (GW-World):
How other nations envision things in America:
"A large crowd gave President Obama a
rapturous send off from Accra airport before
he and his family began the flight back to
their present home, the White House, in
Washington D.C., a mansion built by slave
labor at the end of the 18th century."

The American Episcopal Church, still trying
to keep up with the times: Episcopal bishops
from the six states where same-sex marriage is
legal, are seeking to have the historic Book of
Common Prayer revised to accommodate use at
such unions. The Episcopal Church has made
a substantial change in traditional doctrinal
norms by consecrating an openly homosexual
bishop in New Hampshire in 2003. However,
the church's liturgy and rules still define marriage
as between a man and a woman. Movement in
the direction of some recognition of gay clergy
appears to be taking place at the Convention
currently in session in Anaheim, California.

President Obama's denial that America is a
Christian nation in his speeches to Muslim and
Islamic audiences has frequently been spoken
about in this Commentary (and will be again,
we promise!). Of concern is the fact that the
Atheists in America are not giving up in their
support of his position. Two examples are
before us this week -- in Pennsylvania, the
Democrat Speaker of the House has issued
and enforced a policy which bans the use of
the name of Jesus in any prayer offered before
the Pennsylvania state legislature. The case was
brought to attention when a pastor, scheduled
to offer the opening prayer, was told his prayer
could not be used. When he asked for the
reason, he was told it contained an "offensive"
word -- and was told that word was "Jesus."
The pastor was not allowed to offer a prayer,
and the House Speaker says he fears a lawsuit
from Atheist groups.

Across the nation, in Lodi, California, the City
Council has scheduled a debate on August 5
as to whether the name of Jesus can be used
in prayers before the opening of City Council
meetings. The Lodi mayor says the city is
being threatened by Atheists from the Freedom
From Religion Foundation in Madison, WI.
The group is currently targeting other small
cities, not equipped for expensive lawsuits,
including Chesapeake, VA and Independence,
MO, and has attacked various "Mayor's Prayer
Breakfasts" and the National Day of Prayer. A
public prayer rally is scheduled on August 5
in Lodi prior to the Council debate and vote.
It isn't getting any easier to be a Christian in
America!

Looking ahead to next week's issue: This
headline, just selected from our extensive news
sources, will be the basis for our lead story:
"Obama's Numbers Plunge to New Lows."

And from a Supreme Court Chief Justice:
"I believe no one can read the history of our
country without realizing that the Good Book
and the spirit of the Savior have from the
beginning been our guiding geniuses ...
Whether we look to the first Charter of
Virginia... or to the Charter of New England
... or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay ...
the same objective is present ... a Christian
land governed by Christian principles. ...
I like to believe we are living today in the
spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to
believe that as long as we do so, no great
harm can come to our country." -- Supreme
Court Chief Justice, Earl Warren, 1954

Comments: Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]