Gun Control and Self Control

Gun control marches: Feel good and accomplish nothing

As sure as death and taxes, gun control advocates began screaming for more gun control laws after the recent massacre in San Bernardino, California where jihadists Sayed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik gunned down 14 people at a state run facility for the developmentally disabled.

Gun control activists want us to believe that if we only had tougher gun laws, then the Muslim Bonnie and Clyde duo wouldn't have acquired the AR-15 assault rifles they used to commit murder at the facility. Even though California has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, that didn't prevent Farook and his wife from obtaining the powerful weapons.

The city of Chicago also has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, and yet that city has one of the highest gun homicide rates of any American city. The majority of Chicago's gun homicide victims are blacks who were shot by blacks. However, Barack Obama and his media sycophants want you to believe that more gun laws would end the carnage and allow everyone to live happily ever after.  

Needless to say, gun laws don't work. Why? Because criminals don't obey the law. Gun laws merely prevent law-abiding citizens from carrying guns. Not so with criminals.

That was the case at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino where guns are forbidden. Had they been allowed at the facility, perhaps one or more of the employees that were there attending the Christmas party on Dec. 2 when Farook and his wife barged in with the big heat, might have limited or even prevented the ensuing tragedy. Or, perhaps not.

For a good analogy, drug laws don't prevent people from acquiring and using illegal narcotics. If drug laws worked, the United States wouldn't be one of the largest consumers of illegal narcotics in the world. In fact, the Mexican drug cartels have made their millions off of drug-consuming Americans. So much for drug laws.

And so much for gun laws. If drugs can be moved so easily across America's porous southern border, then so can guns. For criminals, guns are just another commodity to earn a living. As long as there are street gangs that are allowed to flourish and sell narcotics from Mexico, guns will be made available to them by the cartels so the gangs can protect their business and keep the money flowing to the cartels.

America doesn't have a gun problem, she has a moral problem. The decline of the Judeo-Christian influence in America has given rise to a selfish, violent, narcissistic culture that often seeks to settle disputes with guns and knives. Self control is out and impulsiveness is in. Humbleness and meekness are out and arrogance, braggadocio and pride are in.

In his letters to the early churches, the apostle Paul urged the new Christians to practice self control in their spiritual lives. To the church in Galatia, Paul wrote this: "But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

To fellow apostle Titus he wrote this: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age..." (Titus 2:11-12) 

And the apostle Peter also preached about the necessity of self control: "The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers." (1 Peter 4:7) And nearly 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote this: "A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls." (Proverbs 25:28)

Peter also said this: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) 

It's easy to blame guns for the carnage that's plaguing America and the world. Guns are impersonal. And it's harder to challenge people to devote their lives to Jesus Christ and to stop living in sin and debauchery that often leads to destructive behavior such as gun violence.

But that has to be done. America doesn't need more gun control. Rather, America needs more self control. And that comes by rejecting the world's evil desires and living for Jesus Christ.

Islamic Fundamentalism 101

Sayed Farook and Tashfeen Malik

Farhan Khan, the brother-in-law of the San Bernardino jihadist Sayed Farook, recently claimed with a straight face that I have no idea. I have no idea why would he do (Farook) that, why would he do something like this. I have absolutely no idea. I am in shock myself. I am an honorable person. 

Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik murdered 14 people at a Christmas party held on Dec. 2 at the Inland Regional Center, a state-run facility for people with developmental disabilities in San Bernardino, California, about 55 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

If Khan's telling the truth, then he's a cultural Muslim rather than a fundamental Muslim. However, if he's a fundamental Muslim, then he knows what motivated Farook and Malik to do what they did.

It's possible that Khan had no idea that his brother-in-law and sister planned to commit murder for Allah by killing as many infidels as they could. And it's possible that he did know but he's lying to save his own skin and those who aided and abetted the Muslim Bonnie and Clyde duo.

Of course, Farook and Malik pledged their allegiance to ISIS, the Islamic terror group that Barack Obama condescendingly dismissed as a junior varsity group. Remember that remark because it's destined to become part of Obama's true legacy rather than the phony one being crafted by his loyal flunkies and rump-kissers in the media.

ISIS is the JV group that's murdered thousands of Christians and other non-Muslims in Syria and Iraq. That's the JV group that's been stealing oil from Iraq and Syria and selling it to Turkey to finance its terror operations. That's the JV group that's claimed significant amounts of real estate in Iraq since Obama--the most brilliant man on earth--pulled American troops out of that nation four years ago. And that's the JV group that inspired Farook and Malik.

Predictably, after Farook and Malik were shot dead by San Bernardino police during a getaway attempt, America's Marxist media went into full blown denial by claiming that the Muslim couple's motive was likely workplace violence, just as they blamed the Fort Hood massacre (2009) on workplace violence.

Remember that one? That was committed by Army Major Nidal Hasan, a devout Muslim who all but admitted to his military superiors that he hated the United States for killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he planned to do something about it. Those military officials chose to ignore Hasan's rants out of political correctness. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Farook and Malik didn't commit workplace violence. They weren't innocent Muslims who became "radicalized" by consuming ISIS propaganda via the internet. They were Muslims who practiced a fundamental form of Islam. What's that? They were obedient to the teachings of the Quran and the Hadith (the Sayings of Muhammad).

For those who are still unclear as to what motivated Farook and Malik to murder innocent people, then I have a suggestion for you; pick up copies of the Quran and the Hadith and start reading them. If you can't read Arabic, they're available in English and in many other languages.

And read them cover to cover, rather than just selected verses that portray Islam as a "Religion of Peace." I think you'll discover that Islam is anything but the religion of peace that its apologists claim. Apologists such as Barack Obama, John Kerry and George W. Bush who've repeatedly apologized for that religion's violent theology.

What sort of Quranic verses betray Islam's peaceful image? Verses such as this one: "And kill them (infidels) wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al Fitnah [disbelief or unrest] is worse than killing...but if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah [disbelief and worshiping of others along with Allah] and worship is for Allah alone." (Sura 2:191-193)

And this one: "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward." (Sura 4:74)

And this one: "And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder, unbelief) and religion is all for Allah." (Sura 8:39)  And this one: "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination." (Sura 9:73) 

And here's one more: "Those who disbelieve follow falsehood, while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord... So, when you meet (in fight Jihad in Allah's Cause), those who disbelieve smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, i.e. take them as captives)... If it had been Allah's Will, He Himself could certainly have punished them (without you). But (He lets you fight), in order to test you, some with others. But those who are killed in the Way of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost." (Sura 47:3-4)

Those are just some of the many war verses contained in the Quran. Farook and Malik were undoubtedly familiar with those verses and they obeyed them because they believed that they were revealed by God himself. But they weren't.

Farook and Malik weren't radicals. They were fundamentalists. A radical is a person who holds an extreme view of something. A fundamentalist is a person who literally interprets the scriptures contained in a sacred text.

How do you interpret the Quran? If you don't take its scriptures literally, then Islam defines you as an apostate. And Islam counts apostates among the unbelievers. If you interpret the Quran literally, Islam considers you a devout Muslim. And that means you're willing to do whatever that book commands. Such as killing unbelievers in the name of Allah.

And so, how would you define Farook and Malik? Non-Muslims call them radicals. But the Quran calls them devout Muslims. Or fundamentalists. And that's the radical truth.

America's War Against Russia

Suspected ISIS controlled refineries bombed by Russia

Could the United States be using ISIS to fight a proxy war against Russia? Indeed, that sounds absurd, but when you connect the dots, it begins to make a lot of sense.

A war against Russia seems to be taking place. A lot of wars have been taking place in recent years, fulfilling a prophecy that Jesus Christ revealed 2,000 years ago when He said this concerning the last days preceding His return: "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." (Matthew 24:6-7)

First of all, how can we connect ISIS to the U.S.? By NATO. So what? What does NATO have to do with ISIS? It has to do with this: Turkey is a member of NATO and the Turks recently shot down a Russian fighter-jet. If Russia had retaliated militarily, that would've been considered an act of war against a NATO nation. And that could've touched off an international conflagration.

The Turks claim they were merely defending their airspace. But the Russians believe Turkey shot the plane down because the Turks feared they were about to be attacked. But why would the Russians attack Turkey?

Because they've been watching ISIS oil trucks and tankers move stolen crude into Turkey from Syria and Iraq. From pravdareport.com: The top Turkish administration and President Erdogan are personally involved in illegal production and transportation of Syrian and Iraqi oil to Turkey, Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Antonov said.

Russia's Central Directorate of the General Staff, Sergei Rudskoy, states that we have detected three basic oil transportation routes to Turkey. The oil goes to Turkey from ISIS-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq. The western route goes to Turkish ports on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The northern one goes to the Batman refinery, and the eastern one reaches the base in the town of Cizre. 

According to Rudskoy, This terrorist organization receives the income (from oil sales) worth three million dollars a day. After Russia launched the anti-terrorist operation in Syria, their income dropped to 1.5 million a day.

We know that ISIS is selling the stolen crude to fund its military and terror operations. How does that affect Russia? Russia is one of the largest oil producing nations in the world. The Bear's economy is heavily dependent on crude oil sales. Thus, more crude oil on the international market creates an oil glut that results in lower prices and lower demand for crude. And that hurts Russia.

Certainly, the amount of crude that ISIS is unloading in Turkey probably doesn't amount to very much in terms of the global market. In fact, the U.S. has been dumping a ton of oil on the international market in order to hurt Russia's economy. If you don't believe that, then check out gas prices these days. That excess crude has lowered gasoline prices and global demand.

However, the revenue generated by the crude ISIS is selling to Turkey is helping them beef up their military and terror operations in Iraq, Syria and around the world. And the Russians want to put an end to that because without money, ISIS will have a difficult time staying in business. Religious ideology only goes so far.

Now we can begin to understand why the Obama administration wanted Syrian President Bahar al-Assad gone. And now we can understand why the Obama administration helped foment Syria's civil war to overthrow Assad by arming Syrian rebels. And now we understand why the Obama administration so abruptly pulled American troops out of Iraq four years ago, leaving behind military hardware and equipment that ISIS snatched up.

Why? To hurt Russia. If Assad goes, then ISIS and other Islamic terror groups will have a clear path to Russia because the Bear sits to the northeast of Syria and Iraq. And the nations that are in between Russia, Syria and Iraq are all Muslim. Though Assad isn't a nice guy, he's clamped down hard on Islamic terrorists since he's been in power. That's why the Russians want to save Assad and the U.S. wants to get rid of him.

And so, we can begin to understand why the Obama administration wants so badly to resettle Syrian refugees--mostly Muslims--in the United States. Why? To appease the Muslim world and keep ISIS on Obama's side.

And now, we can begin to understand why the Obama administration couldn't care less about the plight of Syrian Christians or other non-Muslim Syrians. Those people are anathema to Islam, and Obama doesn't want to give the Muslim world the impression that he's concerned about Christians. Because he isn't. In Obama's eyes, Christian lives are inconsequential in his war against Russia.

And now, we can begin to understand why Obama has been so accommodating to Iran and so harsh on Israel. And now we understand why the Obama administration has steadfastly refused to acknowledge Islamic terrorism and attribute it to Islam. And now we understand why the Obama administration--and its media sycophants--have been so hostile to American conservatives and Christians.

And don't forget that the Russians rightly suspected the Obama administration of instigating last year's Euromaiden Revolution in the Ukraine that led to the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych who was a Russian puppet. What was the revolution's objective? To install an American puppet who would hurt Russia by admitting the Ukraine into NATO.

Yes indeed. Now we can begin to understand a lot of things about Barack Obama, an utterly contemptible person with an utterly corrupt administration.

Even worse, Obama has woken up a sleeping giant. Unlike Obama, Putin's a shrewd and intelligent man. And he knows who his enemies are. At the appropriate time, he'll reciprocate against those enemies. And that's going to be extremely bad for America and NATO. Just wait and see.

Dear Loser

Robert Lewis Dear

Christmas came early this year for leftists when Robert Lewis Dear, an oddball loner from North Carolina, shot up a Planned Parenthood Clinic located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Dear killed three people including a police officer before he finally surrendered.

Why was Dear's shooting rampage a gift to leftists? Because it provided them with valuable ammunition in their ideological war against conservative Christians. Leftists hate Christians, especially the conservative type, and they consider them more dangerous than Islamic terrorists who are committing murder and mayhem all over the planet.

Whether Dear claims to be a Christian or not is irrelevant. For leftists, he fits their stereotype of the typical conservative Christian; brutish, crude, stupid, violent, backwards and uneducated. Dear's the type of guy that Barack Obama had in mind during the 2008 presidential campaign when Obama maligned conservative Christians as ignorant bible-believers who cling to their guns and religion during difficult times.

That wasn't a slip of the tongue. That's how Obama feels about conservatives and he's done nothing to dispel that position since he's been in the White House. Conservative Christians have been the frequent targets of his wrath. If you doubt that, then you've already forgotten about the IRS scandal.

Why did Dear shoot up the Colorado Springs abortion clinic? He told the police that he was incensed about Planned Parenthood's trafficking of the body parts of aborted babies. He had a right to be incensed about that because that's repugnant. In fact, that's even worse than repugnant--it's evil.

However, Dear had absolutely no right to do what he did. Maybe he's a nut. But more likely, he's probably someone who knows nothing about Christianity and merely uses it as an excuse to justify his hatred of godless secularists. And that's dead wrong. Because all he did was provide leftists with an excuse to find moral equivalence between conservative Christians and Islamic terrorists.

Since leftists control the popular culture in America, they'll use the media to portray Dear as your typical Christian. And while Islamic terrorists commit murder, rape and violence throughout the world, the media will paint conservative Christianity as just another "strain" of terrorism. 

That's how Obama defines jihadists who commit murder in the name of Allah. He calls them a strain that perverts the true peaceful message of Islam. Anyone who truly knows Islam understands that it isn't a peaceful religion. Nor has it ever been. It's holy book the Quran contains over 100 war verses that encourage Muslims to conquer the world via the sword. And murder has historically been one of Islam's proselytizing tools.

There is no moral equivalence between Islam and Christianity. When Muslims commit violence in the name of their religion, they're being obedient to what Muhammad taught. When Christians commit violence in the name of their faith, they're being disobedient to what Jesus Christ taught. 

Here's what Christ told Peter after Peter planned to fight off a crowd sent by the rabbis to arrest Jesus: "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" (Matthew 26:52-54)

And here's what Christ told His disciples concerning those who reject the Gospel: "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town." (Matthew 10:14-15)

Christ never told His followers to murder those who refuse the Gospel. He never told them to cut off the hands, feet and heads of those who reject Christianity. He never told them to kidnap non-Christian women and rape them and sell them off as sex slaves to other Christians. And He never told them to go throughout the world and commit violence against those who resist the Gospel. 

That's what Islam teaches. And it doesn't matter if 95 percent of the Quran contains peaceful scriptures. As long as the Quran contains scriptures that encourage murder and mayhem as a means to spread Islam, it stands alone as a violent religion that has no equal.

Climate Fascism

While France has been in the news a lot lately since the recent terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, something else just occurred in that nation that was barely noticed by the global media.

And it should've received much more attention than it did because it's something that's likely going to be repeated across the world as we head toward a global government.

What happened in France? The French government decided to silence the voices of people who have serious doubts about climate change. From theguardian.com: At least 24 climate activists have been put under house arrest by French police, accused of flouting a ban on organizing protests during next week’s Paris climate summit. French authorities did not respond to requests for comment but lawyers said that the warrants were issued under state of emergency laws, imposed after the terror attacks that killed 130 people earlier this month.

In the not too distant past, that sort of thing was the modus operandi of dictators and fascist governments. But France? How does that happen in supposedly one of the freest and most liberal nations on earth? How? Because it turns out that France, like a lot of western nations these days, isn't so free after all.

One of the people arrested in France's crackdown on free speech was an activist named Joel Domenjoud who was shocked to find the police swarming his residence when they came to place him under house arrest: I feel angry about it because I think they made a big mistake. They weren’t looking for people like us activists – or if they were, it shows that they can target people for no reason at all and our civil liberties are in danger.

Indeed. Domenjoud likened his arrest to a raid, not unlike the type of raids that the police typically conduct at drug houses or suspected terrorist hideouts. But climate deniers? Many people will laugh at France's crackdown, and they'll quickly forget about it.

However, if you value your freedom of thought and speech, you should be more than merely appalled at such government encroachment of individual rights; you should be alarmed. If a nation such as France can silence the dissent of climate change critics, then any nation can, including the United States.

Certainly, the U.S. hasn't gotten to where France is, just yet. But make no mistake about this: global elites and their political puppets such as Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, David Cameron, Justin Trudeau and Angela Merkel want absolutely no dissent when it comes to climate change.

Why? Because the facts speak otherwise. Climate change isn't happening and the world isn't getting any warmer. And when you don't have the facts on your side, you use the power of the state to silence your critics. And the global elites--many of whom are scheduled to attend the Paris 2015 COP21 climate conference on Dec. 7-8--don't want to be embarrassed by street rabble such as Joel Domenjoud who come equipped with the facts.

And so, the elites will use police muscle to shut up their critics while they churn out the propaganda through their media sycophants that the world is doomed unless all the nations band together and come up with a solution. And what solution is that? In the short term, that "solution" involves capping fossil emissions in industrialized nations and transferring billions of dollars to developing third world nations.

Capping fossil emissions means that coal plants that produce electricity will close resulting in higher energy costs. It also means that costly regulations will be imposed on heavy industries that depend on fossil energy such as coal and crude oil. That will drive up the cost of products; eliminate jobs and encourage manufacturers to move to the third world where they'll find cheap labor and fewer costly climate regulations.

In the long term, the "solution" involves creating a world government that will have the absolute power and authority over every nation and person on the planet. That government will use its authority to radically lower the earth's population because the greatest source of greenhouse emissions that environmentalists claim is threatening the planet is human beings. Every time a person exhales, they exhale CO2. Thus, less people means less CO2. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out what the climate change agenda is truly about.

One of the biggest proponents of the environmental agenda is none other than Pope Francis who's firmly on the climate change bandwagon: It is an opportunity to address inequality; for powerful people and nations to acknowledge that their environmental well-being, their security and sustainability, is dependent on the well-being, security and sustainability of others. To acknowledge our inter-dependence, and the strengths and vulnerabilities we share.

If we “carry on as usual”, there may not be another opportunity...It’s a simple equation, really. Agree on mechanisms to enforce adherence to environmental justice, or consciously embrace injustice and add fuel to the fire of human division and pain. We know that the only answer is to reduce carbon emissions, and the only way we can do that is by reducing our dependency on carbon fuels.

That's code-speak for a world government. And we know that a world government is coming. Biblical prophecy revealed an end time world government as far back as the 8th century B.C. (Isaiah 10:13-14) And this government will be a killing machine.

Nearly 2,600 years ago, the prophet Daniel received an allegorical vision of this tyrannical government: "After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast--terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns." (Daniel 7:7)

Concerning the dreaded tyranny of a world government, Jesus Christ said this: "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:21-22)

Understand what the global environmental movement is really all about. It's about creating a one-world government and nothing else. And when you see the police coming for those who openly oppose the climate change ruse, then understand how close we are to the end.

World War III?

Fighter-jet in trouble: A Russian SU24 shot down by Turkey

The world's beginning to learn that it's unwise to cross Russian President Vladimir Putin. After Turkey recently shot down a Russian SU-24 fighter-jet when the plane allegedly violated Turkish airspace, Putin vented his anger at Turkey and threatened repercussions.

Putin called Turkey's action "a stab in the back by accomplices of terrorism." Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan responded that if the Russians continue to violate Turkish airspace, there will be "serious consequences." Thus, the war of words began between the two, and it's likely that Putin will respond against Turkey with more than just words at some point in the future.

Russia has been bombing ISIS fighters in the Latakia region of Syria which is in close proximity to Turkey's southern border. While the Russians claim that they've been careful to avoid Turkish airspace, the Turks claim otherwise. To compound matters, Turkey is a NATO member and a predominantly Muslim nation. 

And so, Putin believes that Turkey is using its NATO status as a shield to support ISIS terrorists. Putin sees NATO as a giant serpent with the United States at the head and nations such as Turkey as part of the serpent's long tail. 

Remember that Putin blames the United States--and specifically the Obama administration--for trying to coerce the Ukraine into NATO in 2014 so the U.S. and NATO could exert political and economic pressure on the Bear. Putin believes that the U.S. was behind the Euromaidan Revolution that ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych who was a de facto Russian puppet. 

It's no secret that the U.S. wanted to cutoff Putin's power by admitting the Ukraine into NATO. Why? Because the U.S. believes that Putin has a vision to create a new Russian empire in the eastern world on the ashes of the old Soviet Union. That's a legitimate concern because Putin indeed wants to build an empire to counter and ultimately put an end to American hegemony. 

Although Putin certainly isn't a nice guy, he's not the crazed, power-hungry madman that the west's media hacks who masquerade as journalists portray him. He's a pragmatist who's concerned about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the eastern world and the west's desire to build a one-world government behind the ruse of global warming-climate change. 

Putin wants to drive Islam out of the eastern world, and he needs a coalition of nations to do that. He understands that unless Islam goes, Europe, Africa and Asia will be conquered by Islam. And he needs a coalition to protect the eastern world from being coerced into a one-world government. 

Make no mistake about this: the climate agenda has absolutely nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with a one world government. And Putin knows that better than anyone. He doesn't want Russia being dragged into a world government that would have absolute authority over every nation on earth. 

Thus, Russia's involvement with Syria in its war against ISIS and American-backed Syrian rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is literally the beginning of a new world war between the eastern world and the west. Remember that Syria's civil war is the handiwork of the Obama administration that armed the rebels and abetted ISIS by pulling American troops out of Iraq while leaving military hardware and weapons behind for the terrorists to inherit. 

Putin knows that if Assad falls, then nothing will prevent ISIS from marching into Russia. Russia sits to the northeast of Syria and is separated by several nations that are all Islamic and would offer little defense against the burgeoning caliphate. The U.S. wants to see Assad fall because that could eventually lead to Russia's downfall.

And so, Russia's fight against ISIS in Syria is not only a fight against a terrorist organization, but it's also a fight against the west and the U.S. that made that fight possible. And don't think for a second that Putin's not aware of that.

How does this fit into biblical prophecy? The Bible reveals that Russia is eventually going to prevail and build its dreaded political-economic-military coalition that will dominate the world. (Daniel 11, Ezekiel 38-39) That will take several years because Russia currently doesn't have the economic resources to expand its fight beyond Syria into Turkey and other NATO nations. 

While Putin recognizes that the west has become weak and is dominated by pacifists such as Barack Obama and David Cameron, the west still possesses a lot of military firepower and might use it against Russia if necessary. Thus, the time for Russia's big move in the east hasn't yet arrived.

But it's coming. Realize that Russia has a wealthy ally in China, its southern neighbor. And realize that Russia possesses a lot of energy in natural gas, oil and coal that China needs to fuel its growing heavy industries. The Russians need money while the Chinese need energy. Certainly, the Chinese buy energy from other sources, particularly America. But the Chinese hate the U.S. almost as much as the Russians do, and the Chinese will eventually stop buying American energy and buy more from their northern neighbors in order to hurt the U.S.

China will help finance Russia's expansion into the dreaded monster that the Bible warns us is coming in the very last days directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible identifies that monster as "Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal." (Ezekiel 38:1) The Bible identifies the other members as Persia, Cush and Put. Persia is now Iran; Cush is now Ethiopia, and Put is now Morocco. These nations will be joined by many Asian, African, eastern and western European nations.

Who is Gog? Gog was one of the ancient names for the Caucasian tribe of Rosh that many modern Russians are descended from. And Meshek and Tubal? They were part of what is now modern Turkey. Thus, Russia's current problems with Turkey aren't going to last.

And the U.S. and NATO aren't going to last either. The U.S. is going to collapse as a superpower and NATO is going to disappear. We're seeing the beginning of the fulfillment of biblical prophecy concerning Russia's rise to world dominance in the last days. It will take time--perhaps many years. But it's coming. 

When the World Will Be as One

The Interfaith Movement: Unity without truth

Though the late rocker John Lennon never considered himself to be a prophet, his song, Imagine that was released in 1971 has since turned out to be quite prophetic.

Like many agnostics and atheists, Lennon attributed much of the world's ills to organized religion. He believed that global peace and tranquility would never be achieved until the world did away with religion. 

That belief was reflected in the lyrics of his song: "Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today. Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too."

And of course, Lennon's creative imagination dreamed that a world without religion would beat its swords into plowshares and live together as one. Certainly, with Islam causing serious trouble throughout the world, many people would love to see Lennon's prophetic song fulfilled.

And indeed, it will be fulfilled--to an extent. The world will live as one, but with only one religion instead of the myriad of religions that currently encompass the planet. What will that religion be? It certainly won't be Islam because Islam is eventually going away. And for good. 

Many nations are finally realizing that there will never be peace in the world as long as Islam exists. Islam is a violent religion that can't coexist peacefully with anyone, anywhere. Thus, either Islam goes, or the free world will eventually be subjugated to Islam. Since we can find no reference to Islam and the coming one-world government in the last days preceding the return of Jesus Christ, we have to conclude that Islam will be going away for good.

For many folks, that sounds like good news. However, what comes after Islam is going to be much worse than Islam ever was. Why? Because it will be partnered with a global government. That means that everyone will either follow the one-world religion, or they'll be going away. But to where? To the graveyard.

What is this coming religion? It will be a counterfeit form of Christianity that will be headed by the Antichrist himself. The Antichrist will be an elaborate counterfeit of Jesus Christ who will gain the world's attention through the supernatural. The apostle Paul wrote: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

When this begins happening, the world will embrace this man as divine. However, he will be backed by Satan and he will be invincible. The apostle John wrote: "The dragon (Satan) gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority." (Revelation 13:2) And then John revealed this: "He was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb (Jesus Christ) who was slain from the creation of the world." (Revelation 13:7-8)

John revealed that this man will force the world to worship him as God. Those who refuse will be killed. John wrote: "He also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17)

When the Antichrist appears and begins performing incredible miracles, the world will be convinced that it's finally achieved global peace and tranquility, just as Lennon dreamed of with Imagine back in 1971. However, it won't last long. Paul warned: "While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

Concerning that dreaded time, Christ issued this caveat: "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:21-22)

There will never be true peace and unity on earth until the real Prince of Peace Jesus Christ lives in the hearts of all human beings. That's the only way peace will come. It'll never come through political alliances, interfaith movements or the utopian dreams of songwriters such as John Lennon.