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Understand The Times
Year End Review
Top 15 News Events In 2006
www.understandthetimes.org
For printer friendly version, please
click here |
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Number 15
February 11 - Churches to mark Darwin's
birthday
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0602110101feb11,0,7802118.story?track=mostemailedlink
NEW YORK -- Nearly 450
Christian churches around the country plan to celebrate the 197th
birthday of Charles Darwin on Sunday with programs and
sermons intended to emphasize that his theory of
biological evolution is compatible with faith and that Christians have
no need to choose between religion and science.
"It's to demonstrate, by Christian leaders and
members of the clergy, that you don't have to make that choice. You can
have both," said Michael Zimmerman, dean of the College of
Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who
organized the event.
Comment from Understand The Times:
Creation, the foundation of the Christian faith, has been under attack
for centuries. However, this past year, we have seen many pastors and
church leaders turn their back on the Genesis record and embrace
evolution as science. Pastors who embrace the “seeker-friendly” movement
often see creation as too controversial and something that offends
people who believe that God and evolution can both be embraced. This
trend will continue as part of the apostasy that is underway in the
church today. In the future, Christians who profess that the Genesis
record is God’s revelation to man will be considered narrow-minded
religious fundamentalists who are harmful to society.
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Number 14
October 17, 2006 - Exponential increase in
earthquakes continues to escalate
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/13772.asp
If you plot the number of earthquakes,
tectonic disturbances and under ocean volcanoes with that in 1995, you
will get scared. The numbers are rising exponentially.
The biggest problem, according to
geophysicists is that the tectonic plate shifts have increased the
number of serious earthquakes in the past one-year an enormous amount
and the rate is exponentially increasing. Scientists are blaming the
Polar reversal and these will continue till 2012.Very rarely the Sun and
the Earth simultaneously reverses polarity. That is exactly what is
happening now. When this happens catastrophes happen in the earth. If
history is a guide of anything, these earthquakes and volcanoes will
continue to increase till 2012.
According to scientists, all hot spots –
Sumatra - Yellowstone and many others are showing signs of extreme
disturbance - even harmonic tremors.
According to some, we are really sitting in
front of a series of very catastrophic series of earthquakes all over
the world.
Comment
from Understand The Times:
Over
the past year, major catastrophic events seem to have dropped off – the
tsunami in South East Asia, the horrific hurricane season of 2005 and
earthquakes in Iran and Pakistan. According to the words of Jesus, Last
Days signs would be similar to birth pangs – stronger pain and closer
together. There seems to be some major events ahead according to those who
follow earthquake activity. This would agree with the biblical scenario.
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Number 13
October 30 - Britons 'could be microchipped like dogs in a decade'
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23372564-details/Britons+'could+be+microchipped+like+dogs+in+a+decade'/article.do
Human beings may be forced to be 'microchipped'
like pet dogs, a shocking official report into the rise of the Big
Brother state has warned.
The microchips -
which are implanted under the skin
- allow the wearer's movements to be tracked and store personal
information about them.
They could be used by companies who want to
keep tabs on an employee's movements or by Governments who want a
foolproof way of identifying their citizens - and storing information
about them.
Comment from Understand The Times:
The system that many have been predicting
that will be put in place on a global scale for buying and selling
according to the book of Revelation, Chapter 13, is now here. However,
now that the system is here, many (even Christians who should pay
attention to the warnings found in scripture) don’t care. In fact many,
who once believed in the literal second coming of Jesus Christ, now have
changed their view. Now they believe that the Kingdom of God can and
will be established here on earth by human effort. Many also now
interpret the book of Revelation as historical and that it has nothing
at all to do with the future.
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Number 12
March 26, 2006 - Just What Is This Thing
Called 'The Emerging Church'?
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/1385244.html
Churches which identify
themselves as emerging are diverse. Some have distanced themselves from
both the mindset of traditional denominations and contemporary "seeker"
models of church, while others identify with ancient traditions.
Any attempt to pin down a definition of "emerging church", therefore, is
daunting. One of the acknowledged worldwide leaders, Brian McLaren,
agrees it presents a problem.
Mr. McLaren prefers to use the term "emergent conversation", because he
says that for those involved it is a theological conversation about
Gospel and culture - "about our understanding of the gospel related to
mission, some fresh and exciting engagement with scripture".
"Many of us feel we're in a transition period where the world in general
is emerging from modernity, from the Enlightenment, from colonialism,
from the industrial era. People don't know what to call this emerging
culture, so they use words like 'post-colonial', 'post-Enlightenment',
some would say 'post-Christendom'.
Some of the experimentation has included what
looks rather like a New Age form of spirituality, crudely
identified as involving more candles than theology. But Mr. McLaren says
very firmly that the Gospel of Jesus and the kingdom of God must remain
the dominant theology.
"It's true there has been a lot
of criticism. And, of course, when a group like this is raising very
deep questions, such as do we have the Gospel right? - and you don't get
much deeper than that - people who feel we do have it right already have
to criticise what we're doing.
"And we have to listen, because maybe they're right.
Mr. McLaren acknowledges that there is a huge danger that the movement
will appeal mainly to those who have been hurt or turned off by
churches.
"This is one of the
reasons I don't like the term 'emerging church'. That feeds into the
idea that it's an imported programme. The idea of a conversation that
New Zealanders play an active role in, but a conversation that takes
place increasingly globally, which is easier to do because of travel and
the internet, is a much more hopeful way to see it."
From inquiries
made by Challenge Weekly, it would appear that the questions and ideas
promoted by those in the emerging church network are meeting with less
suspicion in New Zealand.
"But I was greatly impressed at McLaren, at his self-deprecating
approach as an American, and at the bigness of his vision. I had a good
talk with him and my impression
is that
most of the opposition to him in the US comes
because he is not a right-wing, Republican-voting, fundy.
"A lot of churches are stridently right-wing, or believe that their way
of doing things is the only way. These churches find it hard to
accommodate different ideas.
Tim Cooper - a lecturer in church history at Otago University - also
sees churches in this country well on the way that McLaren points to. As
a former church director of LifeSwitch Church in the Hutt Valley, he was
responsible for facilitating changes to meet the 21st century. He says
the fact that it has developed spontaneously here shows it is an
important movement.
But Mr. Cooper warns that
churches need to beware that while finding ways to relate to postmodern
culture, they don't become too enculturated. He is unhappy with one of
the early books written by McLaren, A New Kind of Christian, which
appeared to rely more on post-modern thinking than the Bible to resolve
problems.
"If churches abandon the Bible as the basis
for what they doing, that's tricky. The weakness of postmodernism is:
what do you pin it on? What basis is there? Once you take out the idea
of objective truth, what is left?
Comment
from Understand The Times:
The
Emerging Church, as intended by its supporters, is effectively
redefining Christianity world-wide. An experiential form of Christianity
that embraces anything and everything that has been called Christian is
also providing a bridge that leads to Roman Catholicism. The most
important thing to watch in the coming year related to the Emerging
Church will be the association with the mystical contemplative practices
that have their origin in Eastern Religion. We will see more and more
pastors and church leaders ignore biblical warnings and instead embrace
the Roman Catholic mystics as a means of getting closer to God. We are
living at the very time Paul predicted would be characterized by a
“falling away from the faith” because of the “doctrines of demons” that
would lead many astray.
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Number 11
January 8, 2006 - Purpose-Driven Pastor
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/religion/13573441.htm
Rick Warren, the
Southern Baptist preacher's son from tiny Redwood Valley, Calif., is
much in demand these days.
The founding pastor of the Saddleback mega-church south of Los Angeles
and the author of the best-selling The Purpose Driven Life, Warren is
perhaps the most influential evangelical
Christian in America.
With his book - the best-selling hardback nonfiction book in the nation
- and Purpose-Driven Life videos and 40-day Bible study plans, Warren
has created an unparalleled international
network of millions of individuals and 400,000 churches, spanning
faiths and denominations.
Warren "is able to cast the Christian story so people can hear it in
fresh ways," said Donald E. Miller, director of the Center for Religion
and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. He is "a
very important figure in evangelical Christianity,"
part of a "trend we'll see more of," Miller
said, citing Warren's independence, social activism, informality and
ability to reach across racial and national lines.
Now he wants to
use his growing influence - and wealth - for an ambitious global attack
on poverty, AIDS, illiteracy and disease.
The Purpose Driven Life has sold more than 24 million English-language
copies since 2002, with millions more in other languages.
It has been popular with
Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, with pastors
and priests using it as a Bible-study handbook.
Evangelicals are often equated with fundamentalists or
the religious right, which annoys Warren.
Although he's politically conservative - opposing abortion and gay
marriage and supporting the death penalty - he pushes a much broader
agenda and disdains both politics and fundamentalism.
Warren is a friend of President Bush and a repeat visitor to the White
House. But he also met for several hours at Saddleback last month with
Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to discuss
issues such as poverty and the environment.
Warren said he sees religious institutions as more powerful forces than
governments for solving the world's problems.
"I would trust
any imam or priest or rabbi to know what is going on in a community
before I would any government agency."
Warren predicts that fundamentalism, of all
varieties, will be "one of the big enemies of the 21st century."
"Muslim fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism,
Jewish fundamentalism, secular fundamentalism - they're all motivated by
fear. Fear of each other."
Comment
from Understand The Times:
A major
trend underway today within Christianity is the re-invention of
Christianity for the twenty-first century. Rick Warren has successfully
discovered and promoted Purpose Driven Christianity. The Purpose Driven
movement is sweeping the world and promises a plan that will make the
world a better place. Rick Warren’s goal is to establish the Kingdom of
God here on earth and to work with anyone and everyone who will agree to
work together for this cause. As more and more churches become Purpose
Driven, there appears to be a tendency for these churches to be less
Bible-based. Understand The Times sees the Purpose Driven movement as a
trend that is leading people away from the gospel, according to the
Scriptures, to a social gospel. This may well be a bridge that will join
with Roman Catholicism and a common goal to establish the Kingdom of God
here on earth. As Christianity becomes more “works” based, faith will be
undone. Apostasy will have swept the planet and sincere people who have
believed in the gospel will have been given over to a strong delusion (2
Thessalonians 2: 3-11).
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Number 10
July 17, 2006 - Pope asks Catholics to pray
for Mary's intercession in Holy Land
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=7182
After praying the Angelus with the faithful gathered in
front of the house at Les Combes in Italy's Valle d'Aosta region which
he is spending a brief holiday,
Pope Benedict XVI called on people to pray for
peace in the Holy Land and, in a special way, to pray for the
intercession of Mary.
News coming from the Holy Land over the last few days is, said the Pope,
"a cause of new and serious concern to everyone, especially for the
increasing military activities in Lebanon and for the many victims among
the civilian population. At the root of such pitiless contrasts there
are, unfortunately, objective ... violations of rights and of justice.
But neither terrorist acts or reprisals, especially when they have such
tragic consequences on the civilian population, can be justified. Bitter
experience shows that by following this path no positive results can be
achieved."
..."Let us pray to
Mary Queen of Peace," said Benedict, "that she may implore from God the
fundamental gift of harmony, bringing political leaders back to the way
of reason and opening new possibilities of dialogue and understanding.
Comment
from Understand The Times:
While
Pope Benedict XVI may believe that praying to “Mary” is the key to peace
in the Middle East, he is deceived. According to the Bible, God’s peace
plan will be set up by the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. However, a
false peace plan that will soon be implemented (with the assistance of
the Queen of Peace) will dupe the world into believing that peace has
been established. The Roman Catholic Church is presently playing and
will continue to play a very important role in bringing about a
counterfeit peace for a counterfeit Christ.
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Number
9
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May 14 - Pope:
Immaculate Heart of Mary watches over journey of Church and mankind
http://www.understandthetimes.org/newsinreview/newsinreview44.shtml#10
Vatican City - (AsiaNews)
" The pope today once again talked about the apparitions in Fatima and
the prophecy uttered by the "Lady of White
Light" to the shepherds: "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will
triumph". He was speaking during the Regina Caeli prayer, one day after
the anniversary of the beginning of the apparitions (13 May 1917) and 25
years after the assassination attempt against Pope Wojtyla, in which the
"Servant of God, John Paul II, felt he had been miraculously saved from
death by the intervention of 'a maternal hand'", as he himself used to
say. His entire
pontificate was marked by what the Virgin pronounced at Fatima.
The pope called on one and all to invoke "the most Blessed Mary,
thanking her for her constant intercession and praying to her so she may
continue to watch over the journey of the Church and of humanity,
especially of families, mothers and children."
Comment from Understand The Times:
Pope
Benedict XVI, like his predecessor Pope John Paul II, has called upon
“Mary” to watch over the church. The Roman Catholic “Mary” is placed in
a role far beyond what the Bible teaches about Mary. This deification of
Mary will play an even more important role as the End Times deception
unfolds. More and more attention will be paid to Marian apparitions and
these messages coming from a woman claiming to be Mary, the mother of
Jesus. This woman, also called the Queen of Heaven, is very likely the
same Queen of Heaven that is mentioned in Jeremiah chapters 7 and 44.
This counterfeit Mary, points people to a counterfeit Jesus – the
Eucharistic Jesus of Roman Catholicism.
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Number 8
September 3, 2006 - Israel plans for war
with Iran and Syria
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2340486,00.html
THREATENED
by a potentially nuclear-armed Tehran, Israel is preparing for a
possible war with both Iran and Syria, according to Israeli political
and military sources.
The conflict with Hezbollah has led to a strategic rethink in Israel. A
key conclusion is that too much attention has been paid to Palestinian
militants in Gaza and the West Bank instead of the two biggest state
sponsors of terrorism in the region, who pose a far greater danger to
Israel's existence, defence insiders say.
...The Israeli defence establishment believes that Iran's
pursuit of a nuclear programme means war is likely to become
unavoidable.
...While the American State Department favours engaging with President
Bashar Assad of Syria in the hope of detaching him from the Iranian
alliance, hawks believe Israel missed a golden opportunity to strike at
Syria during the Hezbollah conflict.
"If they had acted against Syria during this last kerfuffle, the war
might have ended more quickly and better," Perle added. "Syrian military
installations are sitting ducks and the Syrian air force could have been
destroyed on the ground in a couple of days." Assad set off alarm bells
in Israel when he said during the war in Lebanon:
"If we do not obtain the occupied
Golan Heights by peaceful means, the resistance option is there."
Comment from Understand The Times:
Not
only do we see that Israel’s enemies are threatening to attack just as
the Bible foretells, Israel is preparing for this coming attack. These
current events should wake up the world (or at least the church) to the
importance of the days in which we live as outlined by Bible prophecy.
Instead, a large number of professing Christians do not believe in the
prophetic significance of Israel and even promise their support for the
enemies of Israel.
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Number
7
July 12, 2006 - Ahmadinejad: World will soon
witness the demise of Israel
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7885
Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on
Wednesday that the world will soon witness the demise of Israel,
the government-run news agency Fars reported
.
"In the near future we will witness the rapid collapse of the Zionist
regime", Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the north-western city of Jolfa.
"The nations of the region will record the names of states that support
the Zionist regime alongside the Zionist's crimes", he added.
Ahmadinejad caused an international furor last year when he publicly
declared that the Holocaust was a "myth" and said that
Israel must be "wiped off the
map".
Comment from Understand The Times:
For
years, Bible prophecy teachers have been looking to the Middle East and
the coming attack upon Israel from her enemies based upon the Ezekiel 38
scenario. This past year we have seen prophecy fulfilled, especially
with the statements made by Iran’s president, who has vowed to wipe
Israel off the map. The threat for nuclear attack is no longer future,
it is present. Further, other countries besides Iran that will be
assisted by Russia are also in place.
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Number 6
October 13, 2006 - Pope Meets Dalai Lama
During `Private,' Unannounced Audience
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aa4Fo32OOl2U&refer=europe
Pope Benedict XVI met with exiled Tibetan spiritual
leader the Dalai Lama in Rome today in an audience that was
unpublicized
by the Vatican.
The audience
did not appear on the Vatican's page of daily
appointments.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after the country's failed revolt
against Communist China, a country with which the Vatican is trying to
repair diplomatic ties.
The meeting with the Dalai Lama was ``private, a
courtesy, of religious content,'' Ansa news agency quoted the Vatican's
Deputy Press Director Father Ciro Benedettini as saying.
Today's encounter was the Dalai Lama's first meeting with
Benedict, though he met with his predecessor Pope John Paul II as many
as nine times.
Comment from Understand The Times:
This
news item regarding the meeting of the Dalai Lama and Pope Benedict is
very interesting in light of another event that occurred February 20,
2006, when the Dalai Lama was asked to set up a "religious united
nations" in Jerusalem.
Also, it is known that the Dalai Lama
"venerates" our Lady of Fatima (also venerated by the past and present
pope). The Catholic Mary called the Queen of Heaven is also given the
title of "Our Lady of Peace." This could complete a major part
of the peace plan for the Last Days - a religious United Nations is
Jerusalem with the Dalai Lama as the
head – endorsed by the Pope in Rome and of course “Mary” the Queen of
Peace who is also known as the Queen of Heaven.
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Number
5
September 21, 2006
- UN Chief Warns of Global War Over Religion, Says Only UN can Solve
World's Problems
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06092101.html
On
Tuesday, Secretary General Kofi Annan delivered his final address to the
United Nations General Assembly before he retires at the end of the
year. During the speech, which comes on the heels of the media-generated
controversy regarding Pope Benedict XVI's quoting of a text on Islam,
Annan said, "insensitivity towards other people's beliefs or sacred
symbols -- intentional or otherwise -- is seized upon by those who seem
eager to foment a new war of religion on a global scale."
"Moreover, this
climate of fear and suspicion is constantly refuelled by the violence in
the Middle East", he said, adding: "We might like to think of the
Arab-Israeli conflict as just one regional conflict amongst many. But it
is not. No other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional
charge among people far removed from the battlefield."
Annan sees
the United Nations as the only solution to the world's woes. "Yes, I
remain convinced that the only answer to this divided world must be a
truly United Nations", he said.
Comment from Understand The Times:
It is
apparent that the problems created by Islamic terrorists have now become
the catalyst which forces mankind to find a religious solution for the
cause of peace. As time passes, the United Nations will play an ever
more important role in bringing a peaceful solution to this dilemma. A
religious United Nations with an outpost in Jerusalem is already being
discussed. The Catholic Church, with headquarters in Rome will be called
upon to play the role of mediator between Jews and Muslims. It is very
likely that the Old City of Jerusalem will be the location (perhaps even
the Temple Mount) where this religious United Nations will be
established.
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Number 4
November 9 - Humanity
must rediscover source of hope in the Eucharist, return to Eucharistic
adoration, Pope says
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8022
Meeting with members of the plenary assembly
of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses
this morning, Pope Benedict XVI said today that he hopes
the practice of
Eucharistic adoration “will become ever more widespread.”
The
Holy Father recalled,
"just how beneficial the rediscovery of Eucharistic adoration by many
Christians is.”
“How much need modern humanity has to
rediscover the source of its hope in the Sacrament of the Eucharist,”
the Pope said. “I thank the Lord because many parishes, alongside the
devout celebration of Mass, are educating the faithful in Eucharistic
adoration. And it is my hope that - also in view of the next
International Eucharistic Congress -
this practice will become ever more widespread."
Comment from Understand The Times:
Eucharistic adoration and the belief that Jesus is “physically present”
in the Roman Catholic communion host plays a very significant role in
the Last Days deception that Jesus warned about in Matthew 24. As time
passes this Roman Eucharistic Christ will be manifesting in Roman
Catholic churches as the faithful bow down and worship a wafer they
believe is actually the presence of Jesus. This will also be one of the
major attractions that will be categorized as “signs and wonders” that
will draw many to Roman Catholicism. Jesus said that when the time comes
that people reported that He was appearing in various places (inner
rooms), these appearances would be counterfeit Christs who would lead
many astray (Matthew 24: 25-26).
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Number
3
October 10, 2006 - Synagogue Planned For
Temple Mount, Hashemites to Add Minaret
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=113311
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) is drawing up
plans to construct a synagogue on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest
site. Jordan's King plans to build a fifth minaret on the site as well.
The synagogue would be build upon the Temple
Mount, but in an area that is indisputably not within the areas that
require immersion and other preparations, according to Jewish law.
Ariel says that the synagogue would not
change the Muslim status quo on the mount, which is home to the Al-Aksa
Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. "This is not a new idea," Ariel
stressed, "it has been brought up and considered countless times since
the [1967] Six Day War [during which the Temple Mount was liberated from
Jordanian occupation."
The plan will be
submitted to the Jerusalem municipality and the Committee for Design and
Construction for approval. Ariel says that every aspect of the plan will
be submitted to leading Torah scholars for approval.
The National Union MK, who
visited the Temple Mount himself Monday, said that such a plan was an
opportunity for the Muslim world to prove it is capable of rising above
the violence and intolerance that have surfaced in the past year as a
result of papal remarks and political cartoon portraying Islam’s founder
Muhammad. Referring to Ariel's visit to the holy site, MK Talab el-Sana
(Ta’al) said the “provocation” would bring nothing but “war and
bloodshed.”
Comment from Understand The Times:
According to the Bible, a temple for Jewish worship will be built on the
Temple Mount in the Last Days. While the building of such a temple seems
to be highly unlikely and even impossible at this present time, it will
happen. The building of this Jewish Temple will likely play a
significant part of a peace plan that will allow Jews, Muslims,
Christians and all religions to worship the gods of their choice for the
cause of peace. We also believe that supernatural signs and wonders
associated with Marian apparitions will also play an important role to
bring this false peace plan together.
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Number 2
February 19, 2006
– Chief Rabbi Asks Dalai Lama to Help Set up Religious UN in Jerusalem
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=98813
Israel's Ashkenazi chief
rabbi, Yonah Metzger, meeting with the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist monk who
is the leader of Tibet, suggested that
representatives of the world's religions establish a United Nations in
Jerusalem, representing religions instead of nations, like the UN
currently based in New York.
"Instead of planning for nuclear war and buying
tanks and fighter jets, it will invest in peace," Metzger said.
He later reported that the Tibetan leader was very excited about the
idea and offered to help advance it.
Also at the meeting was Chief
Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish
Committee (who is on good terms with the Roman
Catholic Church), Rabbi Menachem Froman of Tekoa, kadis
(Ethiopian rabbis) and
various Islamic sheikhs.
Comment from Understand The Times:
An
important part of the Last Days peace process will be a plan to resolve
the religious problems that are focused in the Middle East. In fact, the
Bible states that Jerusalem will be the epicenter of global problems
that will impact the whole world (Zechariah 12:2). A religious United
Nations with headquarters in Jerusalem would be a major piece in the
puzzle with regards to this End Times peace plan. Further, the
Dalai Lama met with the Pope in Rome
this past year. We are anticipating that Rome will play a significant
role in bringing about a solution for peace and that a United Nations,
headed up by someone like the Dalai
Lama is only a matter of time.
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Number 1
December 7 - Vatican: Pope's Prayer In
Mosque Is A 'New Horizon' In Interfaith
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.366746799&par
Pope Benedict XVI's moment of prayer at Istanbul's Blue
Mosque last week has opened up a "new horizon in interreligious
dialogue" according to a top Italian Roman Catholic cleric, Monsignor
Vincenzo Paglia.
"For the first time a Pope appealed to God in a Mosque. Not even Pope
John Paul II did it in the Damascus Mosque," Paglia said referring to
the 2001 visit to Syria by Benedict's predecessor.
Paglia, who heads the Italian Bishop Conference's interreligious
dialogue commission and is bishop of the central Italian town of Terni,
made the remarks in an inteview published Thurday on the Rome-based
daily Il Messaggero.
Benedict, before his election as pope in April 2005 and as Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger spoke out against what he called "relativism" - the
trend to regard all religions as essentially equal - a conviction that
according to Paglia has not wavered despite the pope's prayer in the
mosque accompanied by Turkey's Muslim Grand Mufti.
"There
is no contradiction and no concession to relativism and confusion.
Interreligious
dialogue must progress along well defined parallel paths without any
space for syncretism.
Comment from Understand The Times:
Pope
Benedict’s gesture to bow towards Mecca during his visit to Turkey while
visiting a Muslim mosque shows that the world is headed towards a One
World Religion with headquarters in Rome. In the future we will see the
unification of global religions for the cause of peace as foretold in 1
Thessalonians 5: 1-5:
But of the times and the
seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the
night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden
destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and
they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that
day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
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