General

I’m not trying to be disrespectful when I use Bill Clinton’s line “It’s the Economy, Stupid!” with a current twist. The original phrase was coined by a United States president and aimed at another president (George H.W. Bush).  

Now, our current president has said something that deserves the same rebuttal.

On September 11, 2014, Barack Obama uttered the following words in a prime time television address:

“Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not Islamic. No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state.”

ISIL is not Islamic? ISIL is not a state? He’s wrong. Deadly wrong. 

It’s the Islamic State, stupid.

Here’s why.

Politicians say a lot of things to please the masses or to put a twist on their remarks to send signals to various groups of people. But sometimes they simply say ridiculous things that are not backed up by reality.

I’ve said quite a few things in my life that are stupid–but never before millions of people who are depending on me to protect them.

That’s why President Barack Obama’s words need to be examined. He is the leader of the free world which is currently being threatened and publicly humiliated by a group of jihadists who may be more evil than the infamous Nazis.

This group is called various names: 1) ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), 2) ISIL (The Islamic State of the Levant – a larger geographic area that includes parts of Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus and southern Turkey), and 3) The Islamic State–which is their own chosen moniker.

They are a part of historic Islam, and they are

Islamic

I have chosen the words “historic Islam” carefully. They should be used in media interviews, government speeches and press releases about this subject because they are the closest to the truth.

The historical origins of Islam and their leader, Mohammed, were bloody and violent. Mohammed was essentially a robber baron who lived off the booty of stealing from the Arabian trade caravans. He committed at least twenty raids in his lifetime, personally slaughtered hundreds of people with the sword, and established a religion that was built on the premise of “convert or die.”

That is historic Islam. It is backed up by Mohammed’s “recitations” found in the Koran–which contain over 100 “war verses” that encourage good Muslims to kill infidels (all non-Muslims) to advance their religious cause.

Yes, Mr. President, at least one religion does condone the killing of innocents (infidels).

Islam.

That’s a historical fact. 

They also kill other Muslims with impunity who don’t meet their demands. Sunnis and Shias have been killing each other for centuries. 

I have a copy of the Koran on my desk. Everyone should get one and read it. My copy is open to two of those 100 war verses that are found in Surah 8. Here they are, and they describe what ISIS is doing:

“O you who believe! When you meet those who disbelieve marching for war, then turn not your backs to them. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”

Now you know why we call it the War on Terror. That’s what Allah of the Koran says he will bring through savage beheadings and the like. Think of Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Most recently, think of British citizen David Haines.

ISIS is thoroughly Islamic–the true historical version. It’s doing what committed Muslims have always done.

(If you want to read all of the Koran’s 109 war verses, you should purchase Don Richardson’s Secrets of the Koran and turn to Appendix B for a complete listing. Richardson’s list does not include mention of war in story-telling eg. “David slew Goliath” in Surah 2:251, nor are the verses included in which Allah afflicts infidels himself–just the verse where devout Muslims do the killing.)

Yes, it is true that there are Muslims who do not practice the 100 war verses. Why?  Because a lot of people who are moderately or culturally Muslim are peace-loving and non-violent folks who overlook those sections of the Koran. That’s true in every religion. People pick and choose what they feel comfortable doing.

But if you are a true believer in Islam–a radical believer (getting to the root), then you are fully justified in using horrific violence to bring the entire world under sharia law and a global caliphate.

The Koran demands it.

Thus ISIS, or the Islamic State, is perfectly Islamic.

(As this column went to press, I received an e-mail from a person doing humanitarian aid work in Iraq. The aid worker said that the town next to his had just fallen to ISIS and he was fearful for his staff (they live ten minutes away). He also said that to plant fear in the hearts of the townspeople, ISIS had started beheading children. That’s a fact from the ground.)

For some historical context, here’s a brief history of Islam’s three attempts at taking over the world through violence and force.

The first jihad started with Mohammad when his armies conquered all of Arabia. In the hundred years after his death, they subjugated most of the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. The first jihad lasted from 622 AD until 750 AD. Scores of thousands of innocent people were killed in the name of Islam.

The second major jihad started in 1071 AD. Islamic armies toppled Constantinople and spread into Europe, India, and further into Africa. The second jihad began to decline when the Muslim army was stopped on September 11th, 1683 at the gates of Vienna, Austria. (Notice the interesting date of 9-11-1683.)

Its remnants lived on until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. During the second jihad, hundreds of thousands were killed to advance the religion of Allah.

After that, there was a sixty year lull in Islamic expansion which ended when oil was found in Saudi Arabia. This launched the Wahhabiism era of the third jihad in the 1980s. Funded by petro dollars, militant Islamicists flexed their muscles once again, trying to remove Israel from Palestine and igniting a barrage of terrorism which continues to this day.

Think Osama bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko Haram, and numerous others. 

During the past thirty years, thousands more have died at the hands of jihadists and millions of people have been displaced. If those who practice historic Islam have their way in the 21st century, then millions will die and billions will be forced under global sharia law.

The big bully of the third jihad right now is ISIS–the Islamic State.

A State

President Obama spoke like a nuanced college professor when he also said that ISIS is not a state because they are not recognized by other governments or the United Nations.

Hello? Is there anybody home?

ISIS has declared themselves an Islamic state by taking over territory in Syria and Iraq that is geographically the size of Belgium. They have an organized and trained military that has grown into the thousands, control scores of cities including the Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul, have a caliph (Islamic president or dictator) Ibrahim ibn Awwad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai, more commonly known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and they are making 1-3 million dollars a day to fund their government and holy jihad through oil revenues.

It doesn’t matter what the UN thinks.  It doesn’t matter whether we “recognize” them diplomatically. That’s goverment-ese gobblety-gook.

ISIS has established an Islamic STATE. They have land, leadership, military and money. No amount of nuancing can take away that fact.

One of the first rules of warfare (confronting and defeating evil) is to be able to clearly define your enemy. If you can’t define them (their motivation, strengths, geography and plans), then you can’t defeat them.

It’s time to stop being stupid in foreign affairs. 

The Islamic State has declared war on the Middle East and the world. Because nuclear weapons exist and can get into the wrong hands, we do not have the luxury of saying this is a regional war, we can’t afford to have boots on the ground, or that others should take the lead.

As the world’s lone superpower, the United States must have the clarity and the will to lead a coalition of free nations that will fight tyranny just as we did during World War II. Sixty years ago we defeated Nazi Germany and imperial Japan and helped rebuild and revive both Europe and Asia.

During this new era, we must defeat historic Islam and its most recent expression–the Islamic State.

That’s the role of government–to protect people from evil.

The rest of us should pray for the Muslim world, support missionaries in those nations, and help Muslims everywhere reject the false teachings of the Koran and come into a saving relationship with one of the Koran’s leading figures–Isa (Jesus)–who is the Prince of Peace.

That’s wouldn’t be stupid–it would be wise.

It would bring salvation.

We all learned during childhood that to form words and give them real meaning, it was necessary to learn our ABCs.

At the present time we have an illegal immigration crisis on our southern boundary. Nearly 50,000 people a month, twenty percent of them unaccompanied minors, are crossing over and overwhelming the officials that are supposed to protect us.

Most of the illegals are from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

What are the ABCs of the crisis and what do we do about it?

Let’s use the English alphabet to describe the players, terms, and concepts that we must understand to solve our current immigration nightmare. Problems can be solved when you 1) Define the players, 2) Design a solution, and 3) Have the will to implement it.

Some of the alphabet will have one name or concept, and others will have multiple entries.  At the end, I will give my proposal to end the crisis that is vexing our nation.

A – Z

A. Aliens. A biblical term to describe “foreigners” that come to live in another country. Put together with another word, illegal alien is a person who unlawfully enters another sovereign nation. It is a better term than “undocumented worker” since some do not work, and we don’t call people who break into our places of residence “undocumented visitors.”

Amnesty. The bad idea of treating those of break the law the same as those who keep it. Ronald Reagan, considered the best president since WWII, believed that the amnesty law of 1986 (that didn’t seal the border) was one of his worst mistakes.

B – Borders. Nations have borders for the same reason that houses have walls and fences. They are there to protect the rightful owners or inhabitants from those who would unlawfully abuse them.

C – Compassion. God’s command for his people to care for those who encounter unfortunate circumstances in their lives, including strangers. To be compassionate means to “suffer with” someone else in their adversity. Individuals and churches do best at showing God’s compassion on earth.

Chamber of Commerce. The American business group that is pushing amnesty for millions of illegal aliens for the cheap labor they provide.

D – Democrats. The party in power in the White House and US Senate who are responsible for the current crisis. Their push for “comprehensive immigration,” lax security and lack of deportations is for the primary purpose of gaining votes from future entitlement-dependent foreign immigrants.

Dreamers. The children of illegal aliens who are not responsible for the wrong choices of their parents, grew up in America, and should be provided a path to citizenship.

Deportation. Sending illegal aliens back home. For years the Obama administration reported they were deporting more illegals than George W. Bush and other past presidents. However, we now know that they changed the definition to “cook the books” which helped create the crisis. President Obama is currently asking for more money to process and deport the masses crossing the border. But that is not realistic since 90% of illegals don’t show up for their deportation hearings.

E – E-Verify. A national computer system to certify citizenship that will screen out illegals from working in the United States. It’s never been fully implemented because of the resistance of the Democratic Party and Chamber of Commerce. A person should not be able to work in a nation if they are not a citizen or have a legal work permit.

Elections. What the American people need to use in 2014 and 2016 to get rid of either wimpy or bad leaders who have brought the illegal immigration problem upon us.

F – Fence. The building of a wall to protect private property or national sovereignty. Critics say that our 2000 mile southern border is impossible to fence. However, this is the first step we should take in solving the immigration problem–and where any new monies from the federal government should be spent. When your basement is flooding, you don’t waste your time and money buying buckets. You stop the leak first.

Freedom. Freedom in an individual or nation is always in direct proportion to self control (boundaries). Right now neither illegal immigrants nor the American people are “free” to pursue their dreams and livelihoods because of the out-of-control situation which drains jobs and resources and raises taxes.

G – Government. Its primary function is to protect its citizens. The refusal to defend and guard the southern border by our federal government is a total abdication of its constitutional responsibilities and is the main driver of the rising anger in the nation.

H – Homeland Security. A monstrous federal bureaucracy that is failing the people of the border states.

I – Illegal. See “Alien” above. No matter if the motive for crossing a border is food, provision, or a better life, it is wrong to break the law. The end does not justify the means. People in desperate circumstances must look to God for deliverance, not to criminal acts that hurt others.

Impeachment. What Sarah Palin suggested for President Obama’s dereliction of duty over immigration. I don’t disagree that he is committing impeachable offenses, but I would wait until after the November elections to not distract from the tepid economy, the noose of Obamacare, and numerous other scandals engulfing this administration. 

J – Jobs. in the midst of the weakest recovery in seventy years, the illegal immigration invasion is hurting low income Americans who must compete in many industries. It is a myth that Americans will not do the work.

Justice. What is NOT being done on the southern border or in the towns where the feds are dropping off new illegal entrants into the country.

K – Krauthammer. As in Charles, a syndicated columnist, who recently quipped when critics said a fence would never work: “If fences don’t work, then why is there one around the White House?”

Katrina. The hurricane that flooded New Orleans in 2006 that was poorly managed by the Bush Administration. Some Democrats are now saying that the current crisis at the border could be “President Obama’s Katrina.”

L – La Raza. A pro-Hispanic extremist group that is pushing for Open Borders and helping to fuel the illegal alien invasion. They have strong influence in the Democratic Party.

M- Mexico. Our southern neighbor who has strict laws regarding its own border security and national sovereignty, but is encouraging and aiding the mass exodus of Central American illegals across the  border. We should threaten to cut off all aid to Mexico until they stop supporting the pipeline.

Murrieta, CA. A town in southwestern Riverside County, California that has made the news recently when their citizens resisted the efforts of the federal government to ship illegal aliens their way. They are akin to Lexington and Concord during the Revolutionary War when patriots rose up to stop the unlawful British invasion.

N – National Guard. The name suggests they should be sent immediately to the southern border to help stop the flood. They are back from deployments in Irag and Afghanistan. Rotate them into the 2000 mile border for training and security purposes. At this moment, could there be any wiser use of the US National Guard?

O – Obama. From Reagan onward, no president has dealt well with the problems at the southern border. But Barack Obama has exacerbated the situation by lax federal enforcement and deportations, denying states the rights to protect their people, breaking the law with executive orders, and possibly using the current crisis as a distraction from his other domestic and foreign policy failings.

Open Borders. The ridiculous and anarchic idea that nations should just do away with borders and let anybody come in. I’d like the Open Borders crowd to model their philosophy for us in their own homes. Remove all locks and doors and invite anybody who wants to come in, use the fridge, electricity, spend the night etc. and to do so at will. Hint: If it doesn’t work at home it won’t work in the nation.

P – Pelosi. Probably the strangest leader in American history who said yesterday she would like to take all the children that are coming here illegally in the name of compassion. Memo to Homeland Security: Send all the buses of illegals to Nancy Pelosi’s homes in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. That will solve the problem.

Q – Quickly. It is way past time to solve America’s vexing illegal immigration disaster. The people need to continue to speak out and our leaders need to act swiftly.

R – Republicans. Have been guilty of squishiness and duplicity on this issue. We need to vote for leaders with both compassion and spine.

S – Secure. The main purpose of government: “To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men…” (Declaration of Independence). Our government is failing in its basic responsibility.

T – Terrible. The idea that we should now throw 3.7 billion more taxpayer dollars at the problem created by our fickle politicians.

U – Undocumented. A way to make illegal sound okay.

V – Visas. Ninety percent of the illegal immigration problem in this nation is people coming legally to America and then staying beyond their visas. This must be stopped and prosecuted.

W – Welfare. The welfare/entitlement state is a main driver of illegal immigration. If these things were not offered, then people wouldn’t come. We should not be giving entitlements to non-citizens.

X – Exceptional. What America used to be when it came to justice and mercy. No longer. We are looking more like a banana republic everyday.

Y – You. We need to care about this issue and elect people who will do something about it.

Z – Zombies. We must vote out our “zombie” politicians and elect people who will honor and defend the Constitution and principles of the United States.

Here’s my plan:

1. Mobilize the National Guard to the southern border and have half of them protect it and the other half build the fence (that’s where we spend any new taxpayer money).

2. Require E-verify in all fifty states.

3. After completing the fence, require all remaining illegals to register with the government within 60 days, pay a fine, and go to the back of the line in terms of applying for a work permit, green card, or citizenship.

4. Police and patrol our borders in accord with the US Constitution.

5. Continue to lead the world in inviting legal immigrants to our nation to experience the blessings and responsibilities of liberty.

How do you spell that solution?

F – R – E – E – D – O – M.

Of the three primary idols of secular culture–sex, money and entertainment–sexual immorality is the more pernicious. Money is tempting and can harden our hearts toward others. Entertainment is often a waste of time and life.

But when you deny God’s wise prescription for healthy sexual activity–a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage–you not only harden your heart and waste your time, but you defile yourself in a way that is destructive to both body and soul.

Which brings us to a new phrase that I recently heard for the first time.

Sexual atheism.

It’s a great description of the essence of rebellion against God.

I’m indebted to long-time YWAM pioneer and spiritual father Peter Jordan for acquainting me with the phrase sexual atheism. If you have a YWAM background and don’t receive Peter and Donna’s eTouch monthly newsletter you can check it out and sign up for it here.

It’s loaded each month with wisdom that will benefit your life.

Peter is a pithy writer with many years of experience in life and love. The older I get, the more I treasure the “wisdom of the aged” who are not beholden to the whims and fads of twenty-somethings, but have learned what is true from real history and practical experience.

Peter’s recent article and deep burden for the problem of sexual atheism among young people today really spoke to me. I will include some of it here with accompanying commentary.

Peter Jordan’s recent article begins with these words:

“I’m probably considered to be a prude as well as a fool, certainly by unbelievers, and maybe even by some who identify themselves as followers of Jesus. Why is this? Am I deluded, or just simply not keeping up with the times? Is it just me that thinks that society’s morals are in a spiral dive?”

No, Peter, you’re not the only one who’s noticed. America’s moral airplane is definitely in a nosedive that could crash to the ground and burn.

He then goes on to discuss the concept of “critical mass” either for evil or for good. He states, on the positive side that “Jesus took 12 quite ordinary men (minus one dropout), a group of supportive women, and as many as 500 other full or part-time followers. 2000 years later, over one billion people identify themselves as Christians…Those early believers formed a critical mass—for good.”

Then he asks the question: “But what does a dark and demonic critical mass look like?”

He’s talking about the critical mass of sexual immorality that has exploded in in the Western world in his lifetime–what he calls “anti-Biblical habits and lifestyles.”

He laments, “What was the critical mass that got the ball rolling? Or has it always been this way? In one sense, of course it has—sin has been around a long time. But occasionally—as during the Puritanical and Victorian years—sin went largely underground. So, which is better for us and for our children? Underground, or ‘open pit’ sin?”

Good question with an easy answer. We used to believe that underground was better; that “closets” were good for hding clutter, dirt and grime and smelly shoes and clothing. Today, we celebrate bringing the crap out of the closet.

That’s quite a change in one lifetime.

In analyzing this trend, Jordan quotes Franklin Graham: “Like a frog in boiling water, our culture has been so desensitized to immorality and debauchery that we have lost even the semblance of a moral compass.”

You can read Franklin’s entire article here.

Peter Jordan next reveals both the statistics behind and the origin of the phrase sexual atheism.

“Kenny Luck, a pastor at Saddleback Church in California, shocks us by giving results of a recent study by ChristianMingle, an online dating ministry that asked Christian singles between the ages of 18 and 59, “Would you have sex before marriage?”

“The response? 63% of the single Christian respondents indicated yes. Luck concludes: “It is honest to say that over 6 out of 10 self-proclaimed single Christians are, in practice, sexual atheists…that’s to say, “God can speak into some things, but not sex.”

That insight is both profound and deeply disturbing. Here’s why.

The essence of being reconciled to God–becoming a follower of Jesus–is dying to our own opinions and ways and making Jesus Christ the Lord (authority) of our lives. The humbled, repentant heart says “You are wiser than I am.  I will put my trust in You.”

In all things–nothing less.

When someone is your boss or authority, you don’t pick and choose the areas you want to obey. If you do, you will probably be fired due to your selective obedience. Obedience to authority–unless they ask you to go against God’s commands–is always intentionally 100%. We may occasionally make mistakes or sin, but the intention is to follow all the orders of those over us.

In the case of making Jesus the Lord of your life, there must be absolute trust that He is wiser than you in every category of life. Thus, you humbly obey Him and seek to know His will in all things.

But back to Peter Jordan who shares a Scripture from The Message by Eugene Peterson:

“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on” (Galatians 5:19-21).

That powerful paraphrase strikes home. Being our own authority leads to disaster in morals, relationships, and many arenas of life. Nothing could be truer than Father knows best. We really do need a wise and forgiving Lord and Savior to guide our daily choices.

Peter goes on to describe the landslide of immorality that’s the result of sexual or other forms of selected atheism. “Immorality of all kinds has become acceptable by more and more who bear the name, ‘Christian.’ You may think me harsh, judgmental, out of touch and more. We’re all fallen people. Donna and I and just about every family or extended family we know, has been touched by those who flaunt or ignore their sin, or else they don’t see that there’s any need to change.”

“Today, cheating in universities is a big problem, but big deal! It’s pretty well overlooked. The drug culture of the 60s, legalized abortion in the 70s, lasciviousness (Ephesians 4:19) in the name of art is now widely available; men are marrying men, women marrying women. Our children are susceptible to gender-confusion. What’s next? The mind boggles. Polygamy? Polyandry? Worse?”

Yes, Peter, it’s far worse. Being a sexual atheist can easily lead to pedophilia and bestiality (sex with animals). That was the case of the Roman Empire when it fell and other kingdoms who refused to obey God’s commands.

Peter ends his article with the following action points:

• Go see the movie God is Not Dead. He says it will remind us that atheism is really a very dangerous philosophy.
• Put on your spiritual armor and trust that God is wiser than you when it comes to every area of life–especially important things such as human sexuality.
• All is not doom and gloom: Don Finto writes, “I don’t look forward to living at a time when world wickedness has reached its zenith, but I must remember that this will also be the finest hour for the people of God.”
• God is here with us and truly wants to walk alongside us, day by day, temptation by temptation; He is an ever-present help in times of trouble.
• Get religion! (in the biblical sense). “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).

The worst from of pollution is not carbon-based. It is sin-based. And remember, the essence of sin is saying that I am smarter than God and will not live by his principles.

I like the term sexual atheism because it communicates rightly that all human beings have the capacity to say that we believe in God and then selectively deny that reality in various areas of life. Those areas include human sexuality, our speech and actions, our obedience to His will, and many other categories.

The Bible calls such dualism hypocrisy (e.g. Matthew 23:13-34).

Are you practicing sexual atheism or any other form of God-denial? Are you addicted to pornography?  Are you sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend outside of a covenant marriage?  Have you committed adultery and never made it right with all involved?

If so, the remedy is to repent of your rebellion and reassert Christ’s Lordship over all that you are. He is wiser than you. He loves you very much. His commands are for your good.

Put the sin back in the closet. Don’t be a sexual atheist or deny God’s reality in any area of your life.

Live for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).