Understand The Times
Year End Review
Top 15 News Events In 2006
Number 15
NEW YORK -- Nearly 450
Christian churches around the country plan to celebrate the 197th
birthday of Charles Darwin on Sunday with programs and
sermons intended to emphasize that his theory of
biological evolution is compatible with faith and that Christians have
no need to choose between religion and science.
"It's to demonstrate, by Christian leaders and
members of the clergy, that you don't have to make that choice. You can
have both," said Michael Zimmerman, dean of the College of
Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who
organized the event.
Comment from Understand The Times:
Creation, the foundation of the Christian faith, has been under attack for centuries. However, this past year, we have seen many pastors and church leaders turn their back on the Genesis record and embrace evolution as science. Pastors who embrace the “seeker-friendly” movement often see creation as too controversial and something that offends people who believe that God and evolution can both be embraced. This trend will continue as part of the apostasy that is underway in the church today. In the future, Christians who profess that the Genesis record is God’s revelation to man will be considered narrow-minded religious fundamentalists who are harmful to society.
Number 14
October 17, 2006 - Exponential increase in earthquakes continues to escalate
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/13772.asp
If you plot the number of earthquakes, tectonic disturbances and under ocean volcanoes with that in 1995, you will get scared. The numbers are rising exponentially.
The biggest problem, according to geophysicists is that the tectonic plate shifts have increased the number of serious earthquakes in the past one-year an enormous amount and the rate is exponentially increasing. Scientists are blaming the Polar reversal and these will continue till 2012.Very rarely the Sun and the Earth simultaneously reverses polarity. That is exactly what is happening now. When this happens catastrophes happen in the earth. If history is a guide of anything, these earthquakes and volcanoes will continue to increase till 2012.
According to scientists, all hot spots – Sumatra - Yellowstone and many others are showing signs of extreme disturbance - even harmonic tremors.
According to some, we are really sitting in front of a series of very catastrophic series of earthquakes all over the world.
Comment from Understand The Times:
Over the past year, major catastrophic events seem to have dropped off – the tsunami in South East Asia, the horrific hurricane season of 2005 and earthquakes in Iran and Pakistan. According to the words of Jesus, Last Days signs would be similar to birth pangs – stronger pain and closer together. There seems to be some major events ahead according to those who follow earthquake activity. This would agree with the biblical scenario.
Number 13
Human beings may be forced to be 'microchipped' like pet dogs, a shocking official report into the rise of the Big Brother state has warned.
The microchips - which are implanted under the skin - allow the wearer's movements to be tracked and store personal information about them.
They could be used by companies who want to keep tabs on an employee's movements or by Governments who want a foolproof way of identifying their citizens - and storing information about them.
Comment from Understand The Times:
The system that many have been predicting that will be put in place on a global scale for buying and selling according to the book of Revelation, Chapter 13, is now here. However, now that the system is here, many (even Christians who should pay attention to the warnings found in scripture) don’t care. In fact many, who once believed in the literal second coming of Jesus Christ, now have changed their view. Now they believe that the Kingdom of God can and will be established here on earth by human effort. Many also now interpret the book of Revelation as historical and that it has nothing at all to do with the future.
Number 12
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/1385244.html
Churches which identify themselves as emerging are diverse. Some have distanced themselves from both the mindset of traditional denominations and contemporary "seeker" models of church, while others identify with ancient traditions.
"It's true there has been a lot
of criticism. And, of course, when a group like this is raising very
deep questions, such as do we have the Gospel right? - and you don't get
much deeper than that - people who feel we do have it right already have
to criticise what we're doing.
"And we have to listen, because maybe they're right.
Mr. McLaren acknowledges that there is a huge danger that the movement will appeal mainly to those who have been hurt or turned off by churches.
"This is one of the reasons I don't like the term 'emerging church'. That feeds into the idea that it's an imported programme. The idea of a conversation that New Zealanders play an active role in, but a conversation that takes place increasingly globally, which is easier to do because of travel and the internet, is a much more hopeful way to see it."is that
most of the opposition to him in the US comes
because he is not a right-wing, Republican-voting, fundy.
"A lot of churches are stridently right-wing, or believe that their way
of doing things is the only way. These churches find it hard to
accommodate different ideas.
Tim Cooper - a lecturer in church history at Otago University - also
sees churches in this country well on the way that McLaren points to. As
a former church director of LifeSwitch Church in the Hutt Valley, he was
responsible for facilitating changes to meet the 21st century. He says
the fact that it has developed spontaneously here shows it is an
important movement.
But Mr. Cooper warns that
churches need to beware that while finding ways to relate to postmodern
culture, they don't become too enculturated. He is unhappy with one of
the early books written by McLaren, A New Kind of Christian, which
appeared to rely more on post-modern thinking than the Bible to resolve
problems.
"If churches abandon the Bible as the basis
for what they doing, that's tricky. The weakness of postmodernism is:
what do you pin it on? What basis is there? Once you take out the idea
of objective truth, what is left?
Comment from Understand The Times:
The Emerging Church, as intended by its supporters, is effectively redefining Christianity world-wide. An experiential form of Christianity that embraces anything and everything that has been called Christian is also providing a bridge that leads to Roman Catholicism. The most important thing to watch in the coming year related to the Emerging Church will be the association with the mystical contemplative practices that have their origin in Eastern Religion. We will see more and more pastors and church leaders ignore biblical warnings and instead embrace the Roman Catholic mystics as a means of getting closer to God. We are living at the very time Paul predicted would be characterized by a “falling away from the faith” because of the “doctrines of demons” that would lead many astray.
Number 11
Rick Warren, the
Southern Baptist preacher's son from tiny Redwood Valley, Calif., is
much in demand these days.
The founding pastor of the Saddleback mega-church south of Los Angeles
and the author of the best-selling The Purpose Driven Life, Warren is
perhaps the most influential evangelical
Christian in America.
With his book - the best-selling hardback nonfiction book in the nation
- and Purpose-Driven Life videos and 40-day Bible study plans, Warren
has created an unparalleled international
network of millions of individuals and 400,000 churches, spanning
faiths and denominations.
Warren "is able to cast the Christian story so people can hear it in
fresh ways," said Donald E. Miller, director of the Center for Religion
and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. He is "a
very important figure in evangelical Christianity,"
part of a "trend we'll see more of," Miller
said, citing Warren's independence, social activism, informality and
ability to reach across racial and national lines.
Now he wants to
use his growing influence - and wealth - for an ambitious global attack
on poverty, AIDS, illiteracy and disease.
The Purpose Driven Life has sold more than 24 million English-language
copies since 2002, with millions more in other languages.
It has been popular with
Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, with pastors
and priests using it as a Bible-study handbook.
vangelicals are often equated with fundamentalists or the
religious right, which annoys Warren.
Although he's politically conservative - opposing abortion and gay
marriage and supporting the death penalty - he pushes a much broader
agenda and disdains both politics and fundamentalism.
Warren is a friend of President Bush and a repeat visitor to the White
House. But he also met for several hours at Saddleback last month with
Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to discuss
issues such as poverty and the environment.
Warren said he sees religious institutions as more powerful forces than
governments for solving the world's problems.
"I would trust
any imam or priest or rabbi to know what is going on in a community
before I would any government agency."
Warren predicts that fundamentalism, of all
varieties, will be "one of the big enemies of the 21st century."
"Muslim fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism,
Jewish fundamentalism, secular fundamentalism - they're all motivated by
fear. Fear of each other."
Comment from Understand The Times:
A major trend underway today within Christianity is the re-invention of Christianity for the twenty-first century. Rick Warren has successfully discovered and promoted Purpose Driven Christianity. The Purpose Driven movement is sweeping the world and promises a plan that will make the world a better place. Rick Warren’s goal is to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth and to work with anyone and everyone who will agree to work together for this cause. As more and more churches become Purpose Driven, there appears to be a tendency for these churches to be less Bible-based. Understand The Times sees the Purpose Driven movement as a trend that is leading people away from the gospel, according to the Scriptures, to a social gospel. This may well be a bridge that will join with Roman Catholicism and a common goal to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth. As Christianity becomes more “works” based, faith will be undone. Apostasy will have swept the planet and sincere people who have believed in the gospel will have been given over to a strong delusion (2 Thessalonians 2: 3-11).
Number 10
July 17, 2006 - Pope asks Catholics to pray for Mary's intercession in Holy Land
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=7182
After praying the Angelus with the faithful gathered in
front of the house at Les Combes in Italy's Valle d'Aosta region which
he is spending a brief holiday,
Pope Benedict XVI called on people to pray for
peace in the Holy Land and, in a special way, to pray for the
intercession of Mary.
News coming from the Holy Land over the last few days is, said the Pope,
"a cause of new and serious concern to everyone, especially for the
increasing military activities in Lebanon and for the many victims among
the civilian population. At the root of such pitiless contrasts there
are, unfortunately, objective ... violations of rights and of justice.
But neither terrorist acts or reprisals, especially when they have such
tragic consequences on the civilian population, can be justified. Bitter
experience shows that by following this path no positive results can be
achieved."
..."Let us pray to
Mary Queen of Peace," said Benedict, "that she may implore from God the
fundamental gift of harmony, bringing political leaders back to the way
of reason and opening new possibilities of dialogue and understanding.
Comment from Understand The Times:
While Pope Benedict XVI may believe that praying to “Mary” is the key to peace in the Middle East, he is deceived. According to the Bible, God’s peace plan will be set up by the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. However, a false peace plan that will soon be implemented (with the assistance of the Queen of Peace) will dupe the world into believing that peace has been established. The Roman Catholic Church is presently playing and will continue to play a very important role in bringing about a counterfeit peace for a counterfeit Christ.
Number 9
May 14 - Pope: Immaculate Heart of Mary watches over journey of Church and mankind
http://www.understandthetimes.org/newsinreview/newsinreview44.shtml#10
Vatican City - (AsiaNews)
" The pope today once again talked about the apparitions in Fatima and
the prophecy uttered by the "Lady of White
Light" to the shepherds: "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will
triumph". He was speaking during the Regina Caeli prayer, one day after
the anniversary of the beginning of the apparitions (13 May 1917) and 25
years after the assassination attempt against Pope Wojtyla, in which the
"Servant of God, John Paul II, felt he had been miraculously saved from
death by the intervention of 'a maternal hand'", as he himself used to
say. His entire
pontificate was marked by what the Virgin pronounced at Fatima.
The pope called on one and all to invoke "the most Blessed Mary,
thanking her for her constant intercession and praying to her so she may
continue to watch over the journey of the Church and of humanity,
especially of families, mothers and children."
Comment from Understand The Times:
Pope Benedict XVI, like his predecessor Pope John Paul II, has called upon “Mary” to watch over the church. The Roman Catholic “Mary” is placed in a role far beyond what the Bible teaches about Mary. This deification of Mary will play an even more important role as the End Times deception unfolds. More and more attention will be paid to Marian apparitions and these messages coming from a woman claiming to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. This woman, also called the Queen of Heaven, is very likely the same Queen of Heaven that is mentioned in Jeremiah chapters 7 and 44. This counterfeit Mary, points people to a counterfeit Jesus – the Eucharistic Jesus of Roman Catholicism.Number 8
September 3, 2006 - Israel plans for war with Iran and Syria
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2340486,00.html
THREATENED by a potentially nuclear-armed Tehran, Israel is preparing for a possible war with both Iran and Syria, according to Israeli political and military sources.
...The Israeli defence establishment believes that Iran's
pursuit of a nuclear programme means war is likely to become
unavoidable.
...While the American State Department favours engaging with President
Bashar Assad of Syria in the hope of detaching him from the Iranian
alliance, hawks believe Israel missed a golden opportunity to strike at
Syria during the Hezbollah conflict.
"If they had acted against Syria during this last kerfuffle, the war might have ended more quickly and better," Perle added. "Syrian military installations are sitting ducks and the Syrian air force could have been destroyed on the ground in a couple of days." Assad set off alarm bells in Israel when he said during the war in Lebanon: "If we do not obtain the occupied Golan Heights by peaceful means, the resistance option is there."
Comment from Understand The Times:
Not only do we see that Israel’s enemies are threatening to attack just as the Bible foretells, Israel is preparing for this coming attack. These current events should wake up the world (or at least the church) to the importance of the days in which we live as outlined by Bible prophecy. Instead, a large number of professing Christians do not believe in the prophetic significance of Israel and even promise their support for the enemies of Israel.
Number 7
July 12, 2006 - Ahmadinejad: World will soon witness the demise of Israel
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7885
Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on
Wednesday that the world will soon witness the demise of Israel,
the government-run news agency Fars reported
.
"In the near future we will witness the rapid collapse of the Zionist
regime", Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the north-western city of Jolfa.
"The nations of the region will record the names of states that support
the Zionist regime alongside the Zionist's crimes", he added.
Ahmadinejad caused an international furor last year when he publicly
declared that the Holocaust was a "myth" and said that
Israel must be "wiped off the
map".
Comment from Understand The Times:
For years, Bible prophecy teachers have been looking to the Middle East and the coming attack upon Israel from her enemies based upon the Ezekiel 38 scenario. This past year we have seen prophecy fulfilled, especially with the statements made by Iran’s president, who has vowed to wipe Israel off the map. The threat for nuclear attack is no longer future, it is present. Further, other countries besides Iran that will be assisted by Russia are also in place.
Number 6
October 13, 2006 - Pope Meets Dalai Lama During `Private,' Unannounced Audience
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aa4Fo32OOl2U&refer=europe
Pope Benedict XVI met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Rome today in an audience that was unpublicized by the Vatican.
The audience
did not appear on the Vatican's page of daily
appointments.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after the country's failed revolt
against Communist China, a country with which the Vatican is trying to
repair diplomatic ties.
The meeting with the Dalai Lama was ``private, a
courtesy, of religious content,'' Ansa news agency quoted the Vatican's
Deputy Press Director Father Ciro Benedettini as saying.
Today's encounter was the Dalai Lama's first meeting with Benedict, though he met with his predecessor Pope John Paul II as many as nine times.
Comment from Understand The Times:
This news item regarding the meeting of the Dalai Lama and Pope Benedict is very interesting in light of another event that occurred February 20, 2006, when the Dalai Lama was asked to set up a "religious united nations" in Jerusalem. Also, it is known that the Dalai Lama "venerates" our Lady of Fatima (also venerated by the past and present pope). The Catholic Mary called the Queen of Heaven is also given the title of "Our Lady of Peace." This could complete a major part of the peace plan for the Last Days - a religious United Nations is Jerusalem with the Dalai Lama as the head – endorsed by the Pope in Rome and of course “Mary” the Queen of Peace who is also known as the Queen of Heaven.
Number 5
September 21, 2006 - UN Chief Warns of Global War Over Religion, Says Only UN can Solve World's Problems
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06092101.html
On Tuesday, Secretary General Kofi Annan delivered his final address to the United Nations General Assembly before he retires at the end of the year. During the speech, which comes on the heels of the media-generated controversy regarding Pope Benedict XVI's quoting of a text on Islam, Annan said, "insensitivity towards other people's beliefs or sacred symbols -- intentional or otherwise -- is seized upon by those who seem eager to foment a new war of religion on a global scale."
"Moreover, this
climate of fear and suspicion is constantly refuelled by the violence in
the Middle East", he said, adding: "We might like to think of the
Arab-Israeli conflict as just one regional conflict amongst many. But it
is not. No other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional
charge among people far removed from the battlefield."
Annan sees
the United Nations as the only solution to the world's woes. "Yes, I
remain convinced that the only answer to this divided world must be a
truly United Nations", he said.
Comment from Understand The Times:
It is apparent that the problems created by Islamic terrorists have now become the catalyst which forces mankind to find a religious solution for the cause of peace. As time passes, the United Nations will play an ever more important role in bringing a peaceful solution to this dilemma. A religious United Nations with an outpost in Jerusalem is already being discussed. The Catholic Church, with headquarters in Rome will be called upon to play the role of mediator between Jews and Muslims. It is very likely that the Old City of Jerusalem will be the location (perhaps even the Temple Mount) where this religious United Nations will be established.
Number 4
November 9 - Humanity must rediscover source of hope in the Eucharist, return to Eucharistic adoration, Pope says
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8022
Meeting with members of the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses this morning, Pope Benedict XVI said today that he hopes the practice of Eucharistic adoration “will become ever more widespread.”“How much need modern humanity has to rediscover the source of its hope in the Sacrament of the Eucharist,” the Pope said. “I thank the Lord because many parishes, alongside the devout celebration of Mass, are educating the faithful in Eucharistic adoration. And it is my hope that - also in view of the next International Eucharistic Congress - this practice will become ever more widespread."
Comment from Understand The Times:
Eucharistic adoration and the belief that Jesus is “physically present” in the Roman Catholic communion host plays a very significant role in the Last Days deception that Jesus warned about in Matthew 24. As time passes this Roman Eucharistic Christ will be manifesting in Roman Catholic churches as the faithful bow down and worship a wafer they believe is actually the presence of Jesus. This will also be one of the major attractions that will be categorized as “signs and wonders” that will draw many to Roman Catholicism. Jesus said that when the time comes that people reported that He was appearing in various places (inner rooms), these appearances would be counterfeit Christs who would lead many astray (Matthew 24: 25-26).
Number 3
ctober 10, 2006 - Synagogue Planned For Temple Mount, Hashemites to Add Minaret
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=113311
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) is drawing up plans to construct a synagogue on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site. Jordan's King plans to build a fifth minaret on the site as well.
The synagogue would be build upon the Temple
Mount, but in an area that is indisputably not within the areas that
require immersion and other preparations, according to Jewish law.
Ariel says that the synagogue would not
change the Muslim status quo on the mount, which is home to the Al-Aksa
Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. "This is not a new idea," Ariel
stressed, "it has been brought up and considered countless times since
the [1967] Six Day War [during which the Temple Mount was liberated from
Jordanian occupation."
The plan will be
submitted to the Jerusalem municipality and the Committee for Design and
Construction for approval. Ariel says that every aspect of the plan will
be submitted to leading Torah scholars for approval.
The National Union MK, who
visited the Temple Mount himself Monday, said that such a plan was an
opportunity for the Muslim world to prove it is capable of rising above
the violence and intolerance that have surfaced in the past year as a
result of papal remarks and political cartoon portraying Islam’s founder
Muhammad. Referring to Ariel's visit to the holy site, MK Talab el-Sana
(Ta’al) said the “provocation” would bring nothing but “war and
bloodshed.”
Comment from Understand The Times:
According to the Bible, a temple for Jewish worship will be built on the Temple Mount in the Last Days. While the building of such a temple seems to be highly unlikely and even impossible at this present time, it will happen. The building of this Jewish Temple will likely play a significant part of a peace plan that will allow Jews, Muslims, Christians and all religions to worship the gods of their choice for the cause of peace. We also believe that supernatural signs and wonders associated with Marian apparitions will also play an important role to bring this false peace plan together.
Number 2
February 19, 2006 – Chief Rabbi Asks Dalai Lama to Help Set up Religious UN in Jerusalem
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=98813
Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yonah Metzger, meeting with the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist monk who is the leader of Tibet, suggested that representatives of the world's religions establish a United Nations in Jerusalem, representing religions instead of nations, like the UN currently based in New York.Also at the meeting was Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee (who is on good terms with the Roman Catholic Church), Rabbi Menachem Froman of Tekoa, kadis (Ethiopian rabbis) and various Islamic sheikhs.
Comment from Understand The Times:
An important part of the Last Days peace process will be a plan to resolve the religious problems that are focused in the Middle East. In fact, the Bible states that Jerusalem will be the epicenter of global problems that will impact the whole world (Zechariah 12:2). A religious United Nations with headquarters in Jerusalem would be a major piece in the puzzle with regards to this End Times peace plan. Further, the Dalai Lama met with the Pope in Rome this past year. We are anticipating that Rome will play a significant role in bringing about a solution for peace and that a United Nations, headed up by someone like the Dalai Lama is only a matter of time.
Number 1
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.366746799&par
Pope Benedict XVI's moment of prayer at Istanbul's Blue
Mosque last week has opened up a "new horizon in interreligious
dialogue" according to a top Italian Roman Catholic cleric, Monsignor
Vincenzo Paglia.
"For the first time a Pope appealed to God in a Mosque. Not even Pope
John Paul II did it in the Damascus Mosque," Paglia said referring to
the 2001 visit to Syria by Benedict's predecessor.
Paglia, who heads the Italian Bishop Conference's interreligious
dialogue commission and is bishop of the central Italian town of Terni,
made the remarks in an inteview published Thurday on the Rome-based
daily Il Messaggero.
Benedict, before his election as pope in April 2005 and as Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger spoke out against what he called "relativism" - the
trend to regard all religions as essentially equal - a conviction that
according to Paglia has not wavered despite the pope's prayer in the
mosque accompanied by Turkey's Muslim Grand Mufti.
"There
is no contradiction and no concession to relativism and confusion.
Interreligious
dialogue must progress along well defined parallel paths without any
space for syncretism.
Comment from Understand The Times:
Pope Benedict’s gesture to bow towards Mecca during his visit to Turkey while visiting a Muslim mosque shows that the world is headed towards a One World Religion with headquarters in Rome. In the future we will see the unification of global religions for the cause of peace as foretold in 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-5:
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.