There is too much to ponder that is terrifying, crazy or just generally alarming ... and as I write this the Russian Ambassador to Turkey has been assassinated ... didn't the trigger for the First World War involve something like that?
Read this (H/T Brian Kelly) to underline the challenges of finding genuine peace and harmony in a world beset by the divide between Islamic and Christian world views.
Of course, an unhappy Christmas this year does not mean it cannot be a joyful Christmas! But our joy this year is tempered more keenly than most years by the dark stain of strife and bitterness.
21 comments:
Peter,
Praise to God,this will certainly be a wonderful Christmas.Have just received
a phone from Jim to let us know that he and his fiance had been to the Church in Berlin and then went for a meal in the market.Thanks be to God,the truck missed them.Look forward to being with them on Boxing Day.
No, it's not.
'At least 9 dead as truck ploughs into crowded Berlin Christmas markets in Germany'
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11770132
• A truck has crashed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in Berlin
• At least nine people are dead and 50 injured
• Lorry co-driver dead, another man arrested near the scene
• Owner of truck fears the vehicle, driven by his cousin, was hijacked
• The tragedy has parallels with a terrorist attack in Nice in July, where a truck drove into a beach-front crowd
• The crash is being investigated as a terrorist attack
Gotta love that Liberal diversity.
SHawn, seeing the carnage on the TV terrifies me as a parent as to how blessed he was to escape without injury.The incident can be laid at the feet of Merkel.
'She'll be held RESPONSIBLE' Professor slams Merkel's open borders after Berlin attack
"Professor Anthony Glees, of the University of Buckingham, spoke to Sky News in the aftermath of the tragedy in Berlin and warned the German chancellor would be held “personally responsible” for the incident following her open door policy on migrants.
The academic who leads up his university’s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies predicted there could be backlash following the incident.
He said: “It’s a prime duty of a state to deliver security to its citizens. If you open the borders of a state and you let people in who want to do you harm then your government will be rightly held to account."
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/745387/anthony-glees-angela-merkel-berlin-attack-open-borders
Shawn, you are quite right.It is easy to sit half a world away from all of this and wax on eloquent about all the wonderful Muslims I have known; but when it comes down to your own children coming within a hairs breadth of being killed or injured by murderers, that an elected head of state, has welcomed into the country; it is time to stand up and say ,enough is enough.
No wonder England wants out of the NONSENSE. Italy,Holland and France are seeing through the claptrap that their liberal,socialist and globalist Government are foisting upon them. Anyone who can not understand the TRUMP TRAIN which has swept across the USA, equally can not understand collapse of the USSR or the demolishing of the Berlin Wall.
When the Berlin Wall came down,we saw a people whose spirit the leaders had tried to crush,and a country whose hope they had tried to kill.But, as the wall came down,the people sensed they had dignity and purpose.They were once again free to be individuals.Their lives "mattered to". When Trump's "Thank you" tour went to Alabama,an old Negro guy said:"This is the first time in my 80 years,that a politician has ever come back to say thank you for voting for me.Now I know my vote mattered to him".
The English people have decided that they dignity and purpose and want to be to be individuals again.
In this school where I teach German, I showed the students a film on Friday about the great, happy German custom of Christmas markets and until last year we took a group of senior students to the Christmas market in Koeln. (And wasn't Koeln a great place to be a woman at New Year?)
And we also run a History trip to Berlin, and where the suspect was arrested (near the Siegessauele) is one of our regular stops (also where Barack Obama did his pre-victory world tour in 2008 proclaiming all that Hope and Change stuff that presaged the Arab Winter, I mean Spring, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Saudi-inspired civil war in Syria that has flooded Europe with millions of Muslims, the chaos in Libya (thanks to those smug idiots Cameron and Sarkozy) that has flooded Italy - and Calais - with Africans, thanks to people-smugglers; the rampage of ISIS across the Middle East; the Saudi clusterbomb war against Yemen etc etc - gee, I wonder why some people think Obama was a DISASTER for the world????).
And should I also mention that one year we had to cancel a History trip to the WWI battle fields in Belgium after the Brussels terrorism?
Thus has life in Europe been "enriched" by "diversity". Brexit is no mystery at all. If the remoaners ad their wish for a second referendum (how the EU operates - keep voting till they give the correct andwer), 70% would vote to leave.
Glen,
The entire Liberal establishment, from Hillary and Obama, who helped create the migrant crisis in the first place, to those European church and political leaders who decided that virtue signalling on the world stage was more important than the people they were responsible for, has blood on it's hands.
There will be a reckoning.
History repeats
In 1829 when relations between Persia and Russia were tense the Russian Ambassador in Tehran was murdered by a mob
The British incited this to create tension between the Tsar and the Shar
The Shar sent his Grandson to the Court of Alexander I to apologise and to gift him this 89 carat diamond
Why am I telling you this?
BTW While all this turmoil is going on where is the leader of the so called "free world"".
In Hawaii playing golf of course
Over the centuries, the Church has been a beacon of light for many people. Sometimes, the light takes the form of solace in time of need. Other times, light comes as forgiveness, grace, or conversion of heart. This light is conveyed through human beings. Our Baptism calls us to be bearers of Christ’s light to the world. This requires an openness on our part to allow Christ to work through us individually and collectively. When we do our part to be sources of light in the world, we diminish the effects of darkness.
(Jesuit Press article today)
O Saviour of the world, Lord Jesus, who by your Incarnation, Life on earth. your Death and Resurrection have redeemed us, save us and help us, we humbly beseech you. Marana tha. Come, Lord Jesus!
"And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”" - Nehemiah 4:14
"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends, and break all bonds of fellowship; but it is not this day! An hour of wolves, and shattered shields, when the Age of Men comes crashing down; but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!" - LOTR
A YEAR OF SLAUGHTER & MAYHEM IN GERMANY
"Germany has been wracked by a spate of Islamist violence directly linked to irresponsible migrant policies pursued by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Under Merkel’s stewardship, more than 1 million mostly male, Muslim migrants have been allowed entry into Germany and the result has been catastrophic for Germany.
On July 18, 2016 a Muslim immigrant of Afghan nationality boarded a train in Wuerzburg and attacked passengers with an axe, seriously injuring five.
On July 22, 2016, an Iranian shot and killed nine people in a Munich shopping mall.
On July 24, 2016, A Syrian refugee attacked a pregnant woman with a machete in the German city of Reutlingen, murdering her and wounding three others.
On July 24, 2016, A Syrian refugee detonated a bomb at an open-air music festival in the southern city of Ansbach, wounding 12.
On October 16, 2016, a 19-year old medical student and part-time volunteer at a refugee center was raped and murdered by a 17-year-old Afghan refugee. Her corpse was found in a river in Freiburg, Germany.
On October 30, 2016 a 16-year old was stabbed to death in Hamburg. The perpetrator, who was never apprehended, was described as a male between the ages of 23 to 25 who had a “southern appearance.” ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
These attacks represent the tip of the iceberg and do not include numerous sexual assaults and other forms of malfeasance committed by Muslim migrants. Many of these attacks simply go unreported, the victims too embarrassed to come forward. In other instances, German police, practicing an extreme form of political correctness, deliberately downplayed the significance of the crimes and discouraged sexual assault victims from pursuing complaints.
What is occurring in Germany is symptomatic of a larger problem afflicting progressive Europe."
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265198/year-slaughter-mayhem-germany-ari-lieberman
Progressive Liberalism is a cancer in the body of the West.
Remember, folks. The word "GOSPEL" means Good News.
Let's leave the Secular world to perpetuate the Bad News!
It is the task of God's Church to be Light, not Darkness.
Come, Lord Jesus! Happy Christmas, Everyone!
"Let's leave the secular world to perpetuate the bad news." Ron.
The so called secular world, can and often does cast a terrible shadow over the light of our faith.Two days ago,our family came within a hairs breadth of having two of it's young adults killed by a Muslim in Germany.They had been to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and went across the street to the beautiful market, to get a meal when that dreadful incident happened.We praise God that they were shaken and shocked but not hurt.
It is into this world,full of sin and hatred,that Christ was born.The GOOD NEWS of that event was heralded to the shepherds by the Angels;and the star of David led the Wise Men to Him.It was in this world that He ministered and preached the GOOD NEWS.It was this world which rejected Him and hung Him on a CROSS.It was for this world full of sin and hatred that He died; that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.It was for this world that He did; what we could not and still can not do for ourselves;He paid the price of our SINS.
The so called Secular world, is nothing more or less than rebellious man who still rejects the Risen Christ and it is into their darkness that the Church has the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel of light.The secular world consists of ALL those who reject the Risen Christ and follow the "father of lies".For all their protests,the Islam faith is in there large.It is not a true religion of God the Father,as they categorically reject the Resurrection of His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON,our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
The destruction,harm and hurt which this brutal and bloodthirsty cult perpetrates onto all those who will not follow their particular faction of the cult, is sadly the world into which we must proclaim the Gospel of Light.Our only way of this reality, is to hide ourselves away in the piety of some monastic order.
"Let's leave the Secular world to perpetuate the Bad News!"
Being light to the world does not mean sticking our heads in the sand and pretending everything is light. It means facing, and naming the darkness, so we can push back.
I am not convinced that a concern for the Christian task of being salt and light is the reason you do not want the horrors of imported Islamic terrorism discussed here, given that such horrors are, in large part, a result of the open/inclusive ideology of modern liberalism.
Church leaders and clergy who try to control the narrative by censoring uncomfortable truths should watch out that they don't come under the condemnation that Ezekiel made in his day against the false prophets of Jerusalem who insisted 'Nothing to see here, move along!', even as the Babylonians gathered at the gate:
"'Because they lead my people astray, saying, "Peace," when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash' (Ezekiel 13.10)
Being Salt and Light means telling the truth, not trying to cover it up.
It means facing the facts, not trying to avoid them in a hail of semi-biblical clichés ('semi' because it tells half or less than half of what Christ said and came to reveal about our hearts).
"The Light has come - but men loved the darkness because their deeds were evil.'
I understand that Francis has said that we all (including Islam), worship the same God; but how can that be so,unless Rome has become Arianist.
We share the Old Testament but not the New,with the Jews, unless they are Messianic.Islam has re-written the Old Testament into the Koran and there can be no Messianic Muslim;because of the teachings of Mohummad.
Christianity stands alone in their belief in the RISEN CHRIST,the Pre-existent Logos,Who was with God and was God.
Therefore any other faith which does not recognize that Christ is part of the Godhead is not worshiping the same God as Christianity.Any Christian who states that they are is drastically mistaken,because by doing so,they rejecting the CHRIST of Christianity.
"I understand that Francis has said that we all (including Islam), worship the same God"
I have read the Koran several times. The "god" described in it is not the God revealed in the Bible. It is not the God revealed in the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This kind of superficial liberal ecumenism is Biblically ignorant, theologically ignorant, and spiritually dangerous.
Francis has also claimed that Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. Anyone who has studied Islamic theology and history knows this to be an extremely dubious claim at best, and the fact that the vast majority of all the terrorism inflicted on the West and the world for the last twenty years has been at the hands of those professing Islam is simply an observable fact.
There is no way to be polite about this. The man is a dangerous fool, and no amount of "but he's nice to kittens and puppies and refugees and the divorced" can cover that up.
This is the reality Liberals want to hush up.
In the Swedish town of Malmo, which has become a virtual Islamic colony, 17 percent of teachers have quit due to rapidly rising levels of violence and abuse from Muslim students.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/12/21/fifteen-per-cent-of-teachers-quit-migrant-crisis-malmo-in-just-six-months/
Police in Austria will be handing out 6,000 pocket rape alarms for New Years celebrations after the mass sexual assaults in Cologne and other cities last year.
"During the 2015/16 New Year’s Eve celebrations in Cologne, Germany, hundreds of sexual assaults (including groping and at least five rapes) were reported.
Witnesses described the attackers as of “North African or Arab origin”. It later emerged that most suspects came from Algeria, Morocco, or Iraq, that many were claiming asylum in Germany, and 70 per cent had been in the country for less than a year.
Local media later apologised for ‘covering up’ and initially failing to report on the attacks. Leaked documents and e-mails showed the police were also under pressure to keep quiet about the migrant attacks."
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/12/21/police-hand-6000-rape-alarms-new-years-migrant-attacks/
And the German chief of police has warned that more terrorist attacks are likely. The likely perpetrator of the latest attack that has claimed twelve lives was a Muslim "refugee" from Tunisia.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/12/21/germany-expects-further-significant-attacks-warn-police-chiefs/
And despite the clear fact that this latest wave of terrorism in the West is a direct result of Europe's open arms policy towards Muslim "refugees" Pope Francis continues to insist that the West take in millions more.
Liberalism's ideology of multicultural tolerance, or at least tolerance for everyone except European Christians, is literally getting people killed, at an alarming rate, and more than a few of our political and church leaders are guilty of complicity in this horror show.
Merkel should resign in shame. So should Francis.
"It later emerged that most of the suspects came from Algeria,Morocco or Iraq"
Shawn, don't mention Morocco. As John Cleese so famously said:"I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it". The Dutch Courts are very touchy about the "Moroccan RACE"??
"Merkel should resign in shame, so should (Pope) Francis" - S.H. -
What? For offering hospitality to refugees?
The Bethlehem Innkeeper, Thank God, did not think in this way.
But then, the Gospel was always 'contra mundum'
a Blessed Christmas, Everyone!
Joy to those who can rejoice - at the Birth of The World's Redeemer.
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