France Decides Their Identity And Future In The Second Round Of Presidential Elections

Decades of social engineering and unregulated immigration policy are now bringing many Western countries to the point of crisis over their identity and their future as citizens of native origin of those countries finally begin to push back against gradual destruction of their distinct cultures.

France is the country with over 1000 years of history and very strong national as well as cultural identity, but it also has the biggest Muslim population of all European countries and a very large immigrant population that began to have a real impact now on French identity and culture, which shows itself in big arguments over burkinis at the beach and women wearing burkas and headscarves in public places, which is considered "not French" by majority of indigenous French citizens. This clash had been escalating to violence over the years with Muslim women physically assaulting scantily clad French woman in a public park to police removing burkini off of a Muslim woman at the beach to a series of Islamic terror attacks in France in recent years and months.

This is a backdrop to today's presidential elections, in which two candidates represent two different visions for the country. Marine Le Pen represents those who wish to control immigration better and to ensure that new comers would not only respect, but assimilate to French culture thus preserving its traditional identity and retain its sovereignty within European Union or even leave it if they must, while Emmanuel Macron represent those in France who want to stay in European Union and  try to create some sort of unity in its fractured society and those who are afraid that any change or strong stand on immigration policy would cause the already frequent riots to turn to a full blown civil war.

This is a difficult choice that French citizens must make today and it is hard to say which side will win, but regardless of who will win, the identity and culture related problems will not go away and other Western countries are going to face the same problems in the near future as France faces today, if they won't change their approach to immigration, especially in the face of the millions of refugees that are flooding them due to wars taking place in Africa and Middle East.

So far, out of all Western countries Canada had been an example of high rate of assimilation of immigrants into the main stream Canadian culture, which celebrates unity in diversity, but that was largely the result of well crafted immigration policy that controlled the number of immigrants and refugees Canada was receiving every year with strict rules regarding the necessity of them knowing either French or English well enough to get around and get jobs before they received their citizenship and them being educated on Canadian values that they will have to abide by as Canadian citizens. Now the current Liberal government is rapidly changing that approach by increasing the numbers of immigrants and refugees received, effectively opening wide its American borders to anyone who wishes to come in, and fast tracking the citizenship even for those who did nit assimilate yet, and in my opinion this will bring down the road to Canada the very same problems that France is facing today. May God give wisdom to the French voters today and may the rest of us learn from Europe's mistakes.

Why Early Churches Did Not Practice Tithing, but Joyful Giving

If you grew up in, or are part of the church who teaches tithing, it might come as a shock to you to find out that early Christian gentile church did not tithe.  For those of you who do not know, tithing was an Old Testament practice of honouring God with the first 10% of one's increase, so the rest would be blessed as well. It was to be given to the priests and used for their sustenance and for helping the poor. The earliest biblical example we have of it was when Abraham gave the tithe of the spoils of war to a priest called Melchizedek, and later it became part of the  temple system law.


It is interesting to note that Jesus never talked about tithing, but  He talked a lot about giving generously to those around us who are in need. As a matter of fact, the only time Jesus even mentioned the tithe was when he rebuked the Pharisees for paying so much attention to tithing and so little attention to more important tenets of the Law.


Perhaps many churches today are committing the same error. The leadership of way too many churches today is not bothered when their church members engage in sinful lifestyle, when they commit sins such as adultery, idolatry, fornication, or when they take financial advantage of the poor or refuse to pay back what they borrowed, as long as they tithe...


Early Christian church, on the other hand, especially the gentile one does not seem to have practiced it at all. There is not a single mention of tithing in Acts of the Apostles or in the letters of the Apostles to the churches, even in passages about giving and supporting financially the ministers of the gospel. Also the counsel of Jerusalem, when they were asked about what gentile churches should observe did not mention it either.  Have you ever wondered why?


I did wonder about that ever since a pastor in Poland whose church did not practice that either, pointed it out to me. And now I think,  I understand why.


You see, when Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, he fulfilled the Law and restored those who accepted His gift of Salvation to the free fellowship with God. Before people get saved, they try to earn God's favour by doing as  many "good deeds" as they can in hopes of earning it, but when they get saved they do them because they are right things to do. They don't do what is right to get saved, but because they already are saved.


In the same way people in the time of Old Testament  gave tithes,  so they could get blessed, now in Jesus we are already blessed, so we give because we ARE blessed, not to get blessed. Though it is true that when we give, we get blessed even more, but it should not be the reason for giving. And the amount such as 10% is not specified in New Testament like it was in the old because we are expected to go way beyond it in our giving.


If you have conviction to give tithe, by all means give it, but understand that you are free to give any amount you like to give, according to your ability. Ten percent is a good place to start, but don't limit yourself just to that, and know that giving is not just about giving your money or things (originally tithe was never money but things), it is also about giving of your time, love, and care to others in the name of Jesus. Giving is about sharing joyfully with others what God has already blessed us with. So, don't allow people to manipulate you into giving by saying that if you will not ( give to them or their church), then God will Curse you( quoting Scriptures taken out of context of the entire Bible), or that you should give in order to receive as a some sort of get rich quick scheme. Don't give to such people, especially if you see that they are living a lavish lifestyle out of offerings. But listen to the Holy Spirit and give generously to the churches, ministries, or people in need that He wants you to give to and do it freely knowing that you are already richly blessed.


"H who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32 )

Road Side Bomb Explosion In Germany And What To Make of Donald Trump's Move Against Syria

A lot has been happening lately in world politics, but I am going to tackle two events today and what they mean in terms of biblical prophecy, and what can we expect moving forward.

The first is the roadside bomb that exploded yesterday in Germany clearly targeting one of the elite soccer teams in Germany, Borussia Dortmund. Thankfully no one was killed. We are used to seeing such attacks in Iraq or Afghanistan, but now we are seeing them in Germany. This  is coming at the heels of series of Islamist truck  and knife attacks. If it is discovered that indeed this attack too was conducted by an Islamist who gave his allegiance to ISIS or some other terror group, it will continue the heated discussion about Angela Merkel's open door policy for refugees from Islamic countries( and refugee policies of other countries) as ISIS also claimed the responsibility for a bomb attack against a Coptic church in Egypt, and after a chemical attack in Syria that Assad regime is accused of conducting based on the statements of witnesses.


But what it was the ISIS and not the Assad regime who was behind this attack? The Islamists'  openly proclaimed goal is to draw western military forces ( esp.American) into the battle with Islamic forces in Dabiq, located near the Syria-Turkey border.


Now, that they are losing ground in Iraq they might want to provoke the Americans and the rest of the Western world to a military campaign there that would unleash a long Iraq style conflict, which they could later claim as the fulfillment of the Islamic "Dabiq Prophecy."


The American President, Donald Trump, might have wanted to send a strong message to anyone using chemical weapons that he is going to respond in order to deter such attacks, but he might be unwittingly be pulled into the type of military campaign he never wanted to participate in, as well  as create a greater conflict with Russia, Iran, and possibly Turkey over it.


We must pray it will not happen, but if it does happen it might bring the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy about the destruction of Damascus , which also spells out trouble for Israel, but also a supernatural deliverance.


These are no matter how we look at it, a very prophetic times in which we are living.

God's Ancient Promise For Iran And The Ezekiel War

As I mentioned in my previous post : "Iranians Are Persians, Not Arabs," Persia  has ancient historic

ties to the Jewish people and their God. And even though few people may realize it, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob specifically mentioned the people of modern day Iran and proclaimed both future judgement and restoration for the Iranian people.


One of the ancient regions that the Persian empire arose from, now in modern day Iran, is Elam. God proclaimed through the prophet Jeremiah that because of some treacherous dealings this land will be judged one day, the monarchy will cease, and the Iranian people will be scattered around the world, very much like it happened to the Jewish people, but that eventually they will be restored to their country and that God will establish His throne there.


Now this could be confusing even to the most seasoned Bible student, because as we all know God said many times that He will be ruling  one day out of Jerusalem, so how will He establish His throne in Iran out of all places?


This seems like a contradiction until we  read it in the context of the entire Scripture. We will find out from Psalm 22: 3 that God establishes His throne upon the praises of His people, so if Iranians as a country turn to God, His throne will be established there upon their praises.


Now let us look at the prophetic Scripture passage that I mentioned above : "That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
      “Thus says the LORD of hosts,
            ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
            The finest of their might.      ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds
            From the four ends of heaven,
            And will scatter them to all these winds;
            And there will be no nation
            To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.      ‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies
            And before those who seek their lives;
            And I will bring calamity upon them,
            Even My fierce anger,’ declares the LORD,
            ‘And I will send out the sword after them
            Until I have consumed them.      ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam
            And destroy out of it king and princes,’
            Declares the LORD.     ‘But it will come about in the last days
            That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’”
            Declares the LORD. ( Jeremiah 49: 36-39)


Judgement has come upon Elam who later became Persia, then Iran because its rulers became hostile to the Jewish people, especially during the Second World War when the Iranian Shah sided for a time with Nazi Germany and renamed Persia, Iran, "The Land of Aryans." His descendants became proud and arrogant, so the Islamic Revolution became its judgement. The monarchy was destroyed as prophesied and many Iranians for the first time in their history were scattered among the nations of the world, but it also drew many Iranians to God. Thousands of them every year both in Iran and abroad became accepting Jesus as their Messiah even at the risk of death. So, it follows that God will fulfill the promise contained in the last verse of this prophecy and restore them.


My Biblically educated guess is that it will happen during the War of Gog and Magog described in the book of Ezekiel chapters 38-39. It is said there that Persia will be one of the nations that will be part of the alliance along with other Islamic nations such as Turkey and possibly even Russia, and join the attack against Israel where their armies will be destroyed.


The destruction of their army will allow the people of Iran to take back their country and to overthrow  the Islamic Republic themselves without any foreign intervention, so the fanatic zeal and hatred of this government against Israel will bring its ultimate destruction. It is just like God to do something like that.

Most Iranians Are Persians, Not Arabs

It is a Persian New Year right now, an ancient celebration of Spring and new life that is celebrated until this day in countries that used to belong to the ancient Persian Empire and are still influenced by its culture, that is well and alive today in Iran.

Most westerners make the mistake of thinking about Iran as an Arab country, especially since the Islamist minority had taken over the power in Iran in 1978-1979 Islamic Revolution, but the culture, art, and language of Iran are distinctly Persian, predating Islam by thousands of years.

As a matter of fact, Persia under king Cyrus the Great produced the first human rights code in history.

This empire was very different from all the others in that it was multicultural and multifaith empire. Persian kings did not destroy the cultural and religious heritage of the people they conquered, but allowed them to flourish. For example, they paid for the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed, robbed, and desecrated by the Babylonians. For that, Persia, and especially King Cyrus has a venerated place in the Hebrew history.

And what is even more amazing is that King Cyrus was mentioned by name by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah a 100 years before he( King Cyrus) was even born! ( Isaiah 45: 1-6)
I think that this alone blew his mind away and favourably disposed him towards the Hebrews and their God who had called him in those prophetic Scriptures His "anointed shepherd."

Anyway, this tolerant and multicultural mindset is still present among the people of Iran and because of its history, besides the dominant Persian majority, there are many other ethnic minorities that live in Iran and still maintain their ethnic identity and languages, though after the Islamist takeover of Iran they have much less freedom than they had for ages before.

It is a very harsh reality for the people who are modern and cosmopolitan in nature to have to live under Shariah law, which is very foreign to them. For that reason over 6 million Iranians left Iran following the Revolution even though they still dearly love their country.

But the majority of them have to suffer in silence back in Iran because they cannot  or do not want to leave. The good news though is that most Iranians ( 70 %) are under the age of 35 and do not agree with the system they were forced to live under since their birth, so once the older generation that brought it in dies, the Islamic Revolution will die with them. It is just a matter of time.

To all those interested in knowing more about what is really happening in Iran, I recommend  reading of the book written by an Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi, "Until We Are Free." In it, she describes the story of her fight for human rights in Iran under the current regime and the persecution she and others like her faced  and are still facing as a result, especially those who are unknown and have no one to stand up for them.

Despite of all this oppression, Iran is experiencing the greatest spiritual awakening in its history with thousands of people coming to know Jesus as their King of Kings, the righteous King they always longed for, which in itself is a fulfillment of another ancient prophecy, but I will write about that next time...

Author's Note: This is a new version of an article titled "Persians, Not Arabs," that I first published on Triond back in 2006, but because the site has been taken down recently, I decided to republish it again since it generated so much interest garnishing more than 20, 000 views. I hope that this one will be equally successful. Feel free to share it with others and to comment.

"...And The Love of Many Shall Grow Cold" : Is Facebook Making Your Relationships Superficial?

Facebook and other social networking platforms allow us to keep in contact with more people including family, friends, acquaintances, and people whom we never met in person.

And this is a great tool, especially if like me, you have family and friends who live very far away from you and you cannot see them face to face that often.

But I noticed a considerable downside to this. It seems that because we are almost constantly connected to Facebook via our phones, tablets, and other devices and we interact with those people daily often by liking their content, commenting on what they post, and occasionally exchanging a few words by a Facebook chat, that it gives us an illusion of continuing relationship with them and it often begins to replace other more comprehensive forms of communication with the people we care about.

It is only an illusion, because liking someone's content, commenting on their photos, and occasionally exchanging few words cannot really maintain  real relationships. Those activities DO NOT equal having a real conversation with them.

Now, I get the fact that not everyone on your friends list is your real friend and when you have several hundred people there, you really cannot maintain real relationships with them all, so it will be natural that you will have this superficial relationships with most of them, but what is most disturbing to me is the fact that Facebook can turn even those real close relationships we used to enjoy with  friends and even family to the very superficial relationships we have with acquaintances and  strangers.

Personally, I consciously try to prevent this from happening with my close relationships, but I sadly discovered that others do not always make the effort and because of that many of my close relationships became superficial soon after those friends and family joined me on Facebook.

I used to talk on the phone with them or face to face in person, or via Skype regularly, which allowed us to really share our life experiences with one another. Now with most of them it is only short Facebook messages and likes. They really don't know what is happening in my life beyond what I share on Facebook ( which is very little) , and I don't know what is really happening in their lives. But the sad thing is that when I try to find out, I get only short polite and very concise answers, and it is only me who is making the effort. If I don't write to them asking how they are doing, they will not write or talk to me for years on end. This is NOT a relationship anymore. Real relationships go both ways, not just one, and real relationships demand that we make time for real conversations.

I am very thankful for those few friends and family who do make time to talk to me, and I do anything possible to make time for them, but there were quite a few relationships that were important to me that Facebook killed.

Let's not allow this to happen, especially if we are Christians. You know, liking things on Facebook or sitting in the same Church building for an hour every Sunday is not really fellowship. The Lord Jesus warned us of this when He predicted that in the end times "the love of many will grow cold" because of the lawlessness. The greatest law binding us together is the Law of love. When we allow the relationships with people we care about to become superficial, our love for them grows cold and we begin to practice lawlessness.

Evaluate the relationships you have today and make sure that they do not become superficial. make it a point to have real conversations with people you care about, and if your relationships became superficial, do whatever in your power to change that.

An update: In 2020, I finally left Facebook for good. Before cancelling my account, I sent private messages to people I wanted to keep in touch with and told them the ways, we can stay in contact after I leave. Only a few responded. Some did not even acknowledge my message, but kept mindlessly sending me links. It really hurt, but at least now I know who my real friends are and I am happier for it. Facebook is a friendship killer. I don't miss it at all.

Revelation 12 : Mystery of The Woman, Child, and The Dragon

Revelation 12 is a very interesting chapter in Bible prophecy. In the beginning of the Book of

Revelation itself, apostle John receives the information that what is being revealed to him in this book pertains to the events of his own time and to what will happen after this all the way to Jesus' glorious return, His 1000 year reign on earth, the last Judgement, and the creation of New Heavens and the New Earth.


This chapter begins with two signs in the heavens. First of the Woman clothed with the sun, with moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars. She appears to be in labour pains and is about to deliver a male Child whom the Dragon ( another sign in heavens) waits to devour as soon as He is born.


That reminds all of us of the story of Jesus' birth and how the enemy induced  king Herod to try to kill baby Jesus, but an Angel of God warned Joseph in a dream and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus managed to escape to Egypt. The only thing is that it is talked of as a future event and by that time Jesus was no longer on earth and it was Jesus reveling to John this very thing, so what was Jesus talking about? Who is the woman, and the Child?


We must look to the symbolism used in prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament to find the answer. There we find out that repeatedly the nation of Israel is being called the Woman, and God the Father calls Himself her Husband, so the Woman must be Israel.


Israel as the nation gave birth to the Messiah for which the Dragon ( Devil) hates her and tried to destroy her multiple times throughout the history, now she is reborn and being restored. Along with the Messiah, Israel also gave birth to the Church ( true followers of Jesus) and we are being called His body and His representatives on earth, so could it be possible that we are the Child? As the extension of the Messiah?


With this possibility in mind, let us look at what Revelation 12 predicts will happen. It says that after she bore the Child, her Child was caught up to heaven to the throne of God. We know that this is what happened to Jesus after His death and resurrection, so if the Child of the end times is an end time Church, it would follow that the same will happen to the Church. We call the rapture of the Saints. Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, he told His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them, so that when the time comes, they would be where He is also. apostle Paul predicted the same thing in his letters to the churches.


Then it describes the war that happened in heaven between the archangel Michael ( who protects Israel-Daniel) and the Dragon and his fallen angels. About Jesus during His earthly ministry talked about in the past tense, could a similar war, this time in second heaven take place in the future?


As the result of this war Satan and his angels were cast to earth and the saints of God overcame him by the blood of the lamb ( Jesus), by the word of their testimony, and did not love their lives even unto death.


It also predicts that right after he has been cast down to earth, the Dragon began persecuting the Woman, sending a flood against her, but the earth helped the Woman and swallowed the flood. Could this be describing and increase of demonic power on earth, and the persecution and armed conflict against Israel in the end times?


it follows that the Dragon began to be now enraged with the Woman after failed attempt to destroy her and went after her offspring who hold the testimony of Jesus,  that would be the Church. Perhaps after failed attacks against Israel the Devil would incite people whom he uses on earth to persecute the Church for standing with Israel.


Now many speculate that the coming arrangement of stars and planets in the constellation of Virgo that will appear on September 23, of this year is the very sign in the heavens spoken of by John in  Revelation 12:1.


If they are correct, it would mean that the events described here are going to begin to be fulfilled after this. There will be a spiritual outpouring of evil on the earth, followed by the attack on Israel, then on the Church before the rapture shortly before or even at Jesus' return. We don't know how long this period of time would be, but if it is about to begin this September, then we must get spiritually ready for it.