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Breaking news—ISIS Allegedly Hacks the Pentagon Social Media. Washington Post article here.
Paris—The Justice March of Nations
Fifty years ago this spring, Martin Luther King and his followers faced down brutal violence tied to prejudice with a history-defining march through Selma, Alabama. Yesterday, French president Francois Hollande and some 40 world leaders joined 1.3 million marchers in Paris for a history-defining protest against the brutality and prejudice of radical Islam.
The specter of terrorism was met with the justice march of nations.
Stunningly, the first black man to hold the highest office in our land, who took his Presidential oaths on the Bibles of Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln, who became a primary benefactor of the justice dream for which both men gave their lives… opted out.
“Where was Obama?” CNN’s banner headline last night echoed the wonderings of the world. DOJ head Eric Holder, who ironically was in Paris for terrorism talks at this very time, also opted out. Secretary of State John Kerry was absent. Our French ambassador represented America by marching in the rally.
Turnaround Time
I can say with full assurance that the “turnaround mantle” the Lord granted Dr. Martin Luther King has been reconstituted in the earth. The Lord is resolved to bring His justice to the nations. Windows are opening for historic turnarounds.
In France and Europe, a growing surge of anti-Semitism has been dramatically countered at a heart-level as well as a societal level. And above all, the threat of radical Islamists to civilization has been met with courage, conviction and united resolve unseen in Europe since World War II.
Je suis Charlie… Je suis Juif.
Confronting Terrorism—or Empowering It?
The argument could be made that it was wise for America to shy away from the spotlight. For far too long, the war on terror has been perceived as an American issue in which most of our allies had been co-opted into engaging.
Not anymore.
But here’s a hard truth. Recent actions and inactions have helped to promote terrorism more than confining it. The debacle of our endorsement of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt set the course for this sad decline. Then came Benghazi and Syria. But in my opinion, the greatest stain is our refusal to keep ISIS from invading Iraq this summer.
Our soldiers lost life and limb to secure this nation’s freedom. When we vacated our post, ISIS plowed through the gates of Iraq unhindered, crucifying Muslims and Christians, raping and slaughtering women and even the children of the Levant. All the while overtaking oil fields and banks, gaining more self-generated wealth than any terrorist organization in history.
James Goll commented that such evil has not been seen in the earth since WWII and the Holocaust. I agree. And with their newfound wealth, power and leverage, ISIS’ capacity to inflict this evil on society has increased exponentially. A direct threat to every nation that marched in Paris.
ISIS’ Threat to Muslim Nations
Speaking of which… many were astounded to see both Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas joining Hollande and other leaders yesterday. Leaders of Jordan, Turkey and Egypt marched as well.
Why? ISIS’ existential threat to Israel seems obvious. But what you may not understand is that both western Europe and Muslim nations in the Mideast are also faced with the same existential threat from ISIS. Palestinians included.
As author Joel Rosenberg makes clear in his new novel “The Third Target,” legacy nations such as Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and even Saudi Arabia have already been targeted for takeover by ISIS. Because they don’t measure up to their radical interpretation of Islam, ISIS apparently feels justified in taking nations over by force. Not only that, but all citizens are deemed infidels, and therefore all deaths even of fellow muslims are justified. Including their primary competition, Al Queda.
The Fifth Column
The strategy for taking over these nations are similar to what ISIS employed in Iraq and Syria—and Paris, for that matter. Connect with and radicalize disaffected Muslims now living in these nations. Fund and equip them. Train them to fight and destabilize their nations from within. Train them as a “fifth column,” inviting and supporting an ISIS onslaught from the inside out.
Friends, this is the true face of the existential brutality they and we must now confront.
Lesson to be learned—it’s best to exercise all diligence to keep sworn enemies bent on takeover outside the gates of a nation. Shut the gates of sabotage, and keep the borders secure. Because once these enemies gain a foothold the losses increase exponentially. And the effort needed to overcome, from without and from within, imperils the lives and freedom of every citizen all the more.
Our God is Marching On
I pray my eyes don’t deceive me, that are beginning to see a true turnaround. We are living in days similar to intercessor Rees Howells during World War II. No man or nation is up to the task of restraining this level of evil. Our greatest hope to overcome stems only from our covenantal alignment with the Lord, and His intercession with us to and apart from us to turn the tide.
As the lessons from Selma convey, true justice comes not from a march or a consensus. True justice comes from Jesus Christ alone. He gave His life to redeem the nations, and to make them free!
Let these words from King’s speech after Selma, entitled “Our God is Marching On,” speak to this hour.
“And again the brutality of a dying order shrieks across the land. Yet, Selma, Alabama, became a shining moment in the conscience of man. If the worst in American life lurked in its dark streets, the best of American instincts arose passionately from across the nation to overcome it. There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes.
“I know you are asking today, “How long will it take?” (Speak, sir) Somebody’s asking, “How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding…
“How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
“How long? Not long, because:
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.
“He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; (Speak, sir) He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat. (That’s right) O, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant my feet! Our God is marching on. (Yeah)
“Glory, hallelujah! (Yes, sir) Glory, hallelujah! (All right)
Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on…”
