Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog: ISIS waging war of genocide against Christians in the Mideast.

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog  BREAKING NEWS: ISIS waging war of genocide against Christians in the Mideast. New UN report provides chilling details.

(Austin, Texas) -- The evidence is in, and it's chilling -- the Islamic State is intentionally waging a war of genocide against Christians in Iraq and Syria. The jihadists are systematically trying to exterminate the Christian population in both countries by forcing followers of Jesus Christ to convert to their brand of Apocalyptic Islam or enslaving them, murdering them, starving them, and/or driving them out of the region. This is the case I began to lay out during a presentation at Life Austin Church here in the Texas capital on Thursday night. It was part of a series of messages I'm delivering across the U.S. on radio, TV and in churches as part of The First Hostage book tour. For the moment, ISIS is focusing their genocidal campaign on the populations of Iraq and Syria. But this is only the beginning. According to their Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology, ISIS leaders want expand their genocidal campaign throughout Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and the rest of the region in order to broaden their Islamic kingdom or caliphate and hasten the coming of the Mahdi, who they believe will then establish a worldwide caliphate. Consider the trend lines: The number of Christians in Syria has dropped from 1.25 million to 500,000 in recent years, according to analyses by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ). The number of Christians in Iraq have dropped from 1.4 million to fewer than 275,000 in recent years, which ACLJ notes is "an 80% drop." “When hundreds of thousands of Christians – men, women and children – are killed, this isn’t war -- this is genocide," argues World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder. "And we Jews know what happens when the world is silent to genocide.” Lauder has urged Jews and Christians to join forces against genocide. “Together, we must speak as one and tell the world: no more discrimination, no more terror, no more death, and no more silence!” I absolutely agree. While ISIS is engaged in the slaughter of Christians because they believe it is fulfilling Islamic End Times prophecy, they actually unknowingly fulfilling Biblical prophecy about the last days. The Lord Jesus Christ prophesied in John 16:3 that "an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God." Christ also prophesied that believers will see "wars and rumors of war," the rise of "lawlessness" and vastly increased persecution in the last days before He returns to set up His Kingdom. The Lord Jesus specifically warned that the enemies of the Cross "will deliver you to tribulation" in the End Times "and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many." (see Matthew 24) These are exactly the trends we're seeing emerge in the epicenter. But let's be clear: it's not just Christians who are facing the ISIS genocide. Sunni and Shia Muslims who don't share the ISIS theology and eschatology are also facing this jihadist rampage. So are Yazidis and other minorities. And, of course, ISIS is threatening to exterminate the Jews of Israel soon. “Palestine will not be your land or your home,” ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told the Jews of Israel in an audio message in December. “It will be a graveyard for you. Allah has gathered you in Palestine so that the Muslims may kill you.” In August of 2014, just after I finished writing my first novel about ISIS (The Third Target), I began publicly warning that "we are watching genocidal conditions emerging in the epicenter" as the ISIS jihadist rampage accelerated. The situation has worsened dramatically since then. By February of 2015, the government of Iraq had laid out their case to the U.N. Security Council that the Islamic State was not simply committing atrocities but outright genocide. "These terrorist groups have desecrated all human values. They have committed the most heinous criminal terrorist acts against the Iraqi people whether Shi'ite, Sunni, Christians, Turkmen, Shabak or Yazidis," Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said. "These are in fact crimes of genocide committed against humanity that must be held accountable before international justice." Now, just this week, the U.N. has issued a report documenting the magnitude of the horror. Consider the numbers just in Iraq: 18,802 civilians were killed in Iraq between January 2014 and October 2015 36,245 civilians have been wounded during this same period some 3,500 have been seized as slaves by ISIS 3.2 million civilians have been displaced from their homes and villages, on the run for their very lives "The violence suffered by civilians in Iraq remains staggering,” the report states. “The so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) continues to commit systematic and widespread violence and abuses of international human rights law and humanitarian law. These acts may, in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide.” The U.N. report "details numerous examples of killings by ISIL in gruesome public spectacles, including by shooting, beheading, bulldozing, burning alive and throwing people off the top of buildings. There are also reports of the murder of child soldiers who fled fighting on the frontlines in Anbar. Information received and verified suggests that between 800 and 900 children in Mosul had been abducted by ISIL for religious education and military training....ISIL [also] continued to subject women and children to sexual violence, particularly in the form of sexual slavery." Now consider the numbers in Syria, as well. According to the United Nations: at least 250,000 people have been killed in Syria 6.6 million people in Syria have been displaced from their homes and villages and are on the run for their lives 13.5 million need humanitarian assistance," reported Reuters on January 15, 2016. What's worse, new intel reports indicate ISIS appears to be testing chemical weapons for even larger and more lethal attacks. They must be stopped. First, the President and Congress must publicly acknowledge that the Islamic State is engaged in genocide. Second, it is time for Congress to formally declare war against ISIS. And third, we need to elect a new Commander-in-Chief ready, willing and able to neutralize the ISIS threat, as well as the Iranian nuclear threat before it's too late. As Jay Sekulow, head of ACLJ, and his team note, "The Holocaust gave rise to the necessity to define what 'genocide' is, and Article 2 of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) did just that," defining it as: any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Sophia Kuby of ADF is urging Members of the European Union "to call the atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities in Syria and Iraq by its name: genocide." “Christians in the Middle East urgently need this recognition to wake up the world to what is going on," Kuby notes. "In contrast to other diplomatic notions such as ‘systematic mass murder,’ ‘genocide’ is an internationally recognized legal term. It is necessary to call for further steps, such as a resolution at the UN Security Council and a referral to the International Criminal Court....All necessary criteria are fulfilled in order to recognize this as genocide. To deny this only adds to the horrendous suffering that people are already experiencing.” ————————– Order The First Hostage today — a new political thriller (#9 on the Publishers Weekly best-seller list) about ISIS launching a chemical weapons attack against Israel, Jordan and the United States — it’s now available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats. FACT SHEET: The Iranian leadership’s Apocalyptic Beliefs FACT SHEET: The Islamic State’s Apocalyptic Beliefs What the next US president will need to know about Iran and Islamic State.(my column in The Jerusalem Post) What’s the difference between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology & Biblical eschatology? And why does it matter? (Video & sermon notes) ——————- Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks. Make an investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net), our non-profit organization to help Christians care for Syrian refugees, educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. Read our latest Donor Report, and make a tax deductible, secure, on-line contribution before the end of the year. Follow on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg joelcrosenberg | January 23, 2016 at 9:07 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-40L

Joel C. Rosenberg - What’s the difference between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology & Biblical eschatology?

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

What’s the difference between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology & Biblical eschatology? And why does it matter? (Video & sermon notes) by joelcrosenberg (Riverside, California) -- Yesterday here in Southern California, I did a Q&A session and delivered a sermon on the differences between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology (End Times theology) and Biblical eschatology. I explained why this topic matters, and why it's particularly important right now. This was the first of a series of messages I will be delivering as part of our month-long book tour for The First Hostage, and I'm very grateful to my friend, Pastor Greg Laurie, for inviting me. My intention is to post notes and the video or audio of each message along the way. I hope you find them helpful. Please feel free to comment on ourEpicenter Team page on Facebook, and to share this with family, friends and colleagues on social media. To watch the video of this message, please click here. NOTES: First, some background: Radical Islam is a serious threat, but it's not the most dangerous threat the West faces. Apocalyptic Islam is far more dangerous. Radical Islam seeks to attack us. Apocalyptic Islam seeks to annihilate us. Radical Islam (al Qaeda, Hamas, the Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood, etc) uses violence for the purpose of persuading Jews, Christians and other so-called "infidels" to withdraw from -- and leave entirely -- the holy lands and holy places they consider their own, namely the Middle East and North Africa. Apocalyptic Islam (such as the top leaders of Iran, and the leaders of the Islamic State) do not merely seek to drive infidels out of their region. They are driven by ancient Islamic prophecies. They believe the End of Days is at hand, that their messiah (known as the Mahdi) will come at any moment to establish an Islamic kingdom or caliphate that will rule over the entire globe, and that the way to hasten the coming of the Mahdi is to annihilate the infidels who refuse to submit to their brand of Islam. To be clear: having an eschatology is not necessarily wrong. What is both wrong and horrific is having an eschatology that requires a person or an entire religion to rob, kill, destroy and even commit genocide to achieve their religious objectives. Devout Jews believe the Messiah will come one day to establish a global kingdom (see Daniel 7, Jeremiah 23 and Isaiah 9, among other passages). Christians believe this as well and believe that Jesus of Nazareth is, in fact, that Messiah and that He will come again to establish His kingdom in the last days (see the Book of Revelation, among other passages).  Having said that, it's important to understand that both devout Jews and Christians believe God will supernaturally achieve these objectives. We do not believe that God requires us to slaughter our enemies en masse to bring about the End of Days and establish His kingdom. Most world leaders do not understand these issues. Most citizens don't either. But the rise of Apocalyptic, genocidal Islam makes it urgent that we and our leaders study and understand these distinctions. We cannot defeat an enemy we cannot or will not define. There are some similarities within Islamic, Jewish and Christian teachings about the End Times. Indeed, when it comes to the study of eschatology, most devout Muslims (Sunnis and Shias), Jews and Christians -- that is, those who take their holy books seriously and haven't rejected or drifted from the orthodoxy of their religions -- agree on five basic points. Ancient prophecies in our holy books give us signs to watch for that will indicate when the End of Days has come. So many signs are coming to pass in our time that we can be confident that we are, in fact, living in the End of Days. The Messiah is coming to earth, and it is possible that this will happen very soon. The coming Messiah is the King, He will establish a global kingdom, and He usher in justice and righteousness on the earth. Each of us must live differently in view of the fact that we are living in the End of Days and the fact that each of us will face the Final Judgment soon. That said, the vast majority of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims are not dangerous. Polling research indicates about 7% to 10% of Muslims worldwide subscribe to the concept of violent jihad to achieve their objectives. And while all devout Muslims believe the Mahdi is coming in the End Times to establish a global caliphate, the vast majority do not support violence much less genocide to achieve those ends. But some do, including the leaders of Iran and ISIS, and that's what makes them so dangerous. What, then, are the main differences between Apocalyptic Islamic eschatology (based on the Qur'an and the hadiths) and Biblical eschatology (based on the Old and New Testaments)? I've prepared a simple chart to draw out some of the important distinctions.Some important questions are these: According to the Bible, how does one enter the Kingdom of God? According to the Bible, how is one adopted into the royal family of God? What did John the Baptist mean when he preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"? What did Jesus mean when he preached "the gospel of the kingdom"? I hope you'll take some time to watch this message in full. For more resources, please see below: Order The First Hostage today — a new political thriller about ISIS launching a chemical weapons attack against Israel, Jordan and the United States — it’s now available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats. FACT SHEET: The Iranian leadership’s Apocalyptic Beliefs FACT SHEET: The Islamic State’s Apocalyptic Beliefs What the next US president will need to know about Iran and Islamic State.(my column in The Jerusalem Post) ——————- Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks. Make an investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net), our non-profit organization to help Christians care for Syrian refugees, educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. Read our latest Donor Report, and make a tax deductible, secure, on-line contribution before the end of the year. Follow on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg joelcrosenberg | January 18, 2016 at 6:08 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-3WQ LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FEATURED BOOK Paperback: $5.99 Kindle: $1.99 Buy here: End of Days - Steve Martin My heart yearns for the glory of the Lord Jesus to be revealed in the earth, touching the hearts and souls of men, women and children in each and every nation. As we see the days become darker, we believe that the Lord God of Israel will show Himself strong, and prove that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, as He says He is. I wrote this book for you who also long to walk in strong faith, courage and commitment to the end, for whatever the Lord has planned and purposed for you and I.  Together, as the Body of Christ, and the glorious Bride that we will become, we will one day see His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The Gospel, the Good News of salvation, will be declared, and that which is just and good will for all eternity overcome the evil one. I sincerely believe we are living in the end of days, as prophetic words have been rapidly fulfilled since the re-birth of Israel in 1948. Jesus Himself had said that when we see the fig tree budding, we know that the time is near.  This book, my 10th published in the last three years (all between 2013-2015) and before my 61st birthday, is very special to me. I sense it is something the Lord put on my heart to do several months ago, giving it that “urgency of getting it done and out there” feel as I wrote.  Originally these chapters were Now Think On This messages. It was amazing to me how many were done in September and October of 2015 alone, as the Holy Spirit would speak a word or sentence to me, and I would write soon after. I am truly grateful for His impartation, and acknowledge Jesus (Yeshua), my Lord and Savior, above all.  The photos I have included in the book are primarily ones I took (exceptions noted), both to document history and to share another way the Lord also speaks to His Body. Capturing moments of the Holy Spirit action, especially in the two “fire” photos, were exciting. In both cases I wasn’t even aware of it until they were “developed”. I trust this book will both encourage you and cause you to re-commit yourself - to know the Lord’s will for your life, do all you can to allow Him to direct your steps, and be the light in these dark days we desperately need and have been called upon by the Lord to be. I am with you, arm in arm!  Ahava (love in Hebrew) and shalom (peace),  Steve Martin Founder Love For His People