EU RAPID REACTION FORCES TO INTERVENE

Lima, 22 November 2008 16th LEADERS MEETING BEGINS TODAY

• 2008 APEC PERU 21 Member Economies Leaders will examine report that contains recommendations on the 12 major APEC themes
• In parallel last day of APEC CEO Summit meetings began, where United States, Hong Kong, China, Republic of Korea, Canada, Mexico and Colombia Leaders will participate

Today the 16th APEC Leaders Meeting officially begins, and Lima Declaration will be endorsed written on the basis of the report containing recommendations prepared by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the 21 Member Economies.The document covers 12 major APEC topics, such as Trade Liberalization and Facilitation as well as Investment, Regional Economic Integration, Corporate Social Responsibility, Food Safety, Doha Round Support, Human Security, Financial Crisis, among others.Summit Leaders Retreat will be held from 1.00 until 3.00 pm, at the Ministry of Defense Convention Center, After a brief recess, and beginning at 3.30 pm, a dialogue between APEC Advisory Business Council (ABAC) and 21 APEC Leaders Members, will take place. Summit sessions will start at 4.30 pm until 6.00 pm and official agenda related to this day will come to an end at 8.00 pm with a gala dinner.

At the same time and in the same venue, last day of APEC 2008 CEO Summit Meeting will take place. It is important to mention that this event brings together Asia-Pacific region entrepreneurs where critical issues regarding economics and business will be debated.Republic of Korea Leader, Lee Myung-bak will give a speech on the Meaning of Economic Growth in Asia for the World, at 9:00am. Then, at 9:30 a.m, United States Leader, George W. Bush will make a presentation on what can APEC do to strengthen the Asia-Pacific region.Subsequently, Donald Tsang, Hong Kong leader will give an speech on the strengthening of free trade and investment. At 11:00 a.m, Stephen Harper, Canada Leader , will address the global financial crisis topic and its effect on the Forum agenda.Mexico Leader, Felipe Calderon, presentation, will be also carried out. In this presentation, Mexican Leader will talk about the impact of the global crisis in Latin America. At 4.00 p.m. The event continues with presentation of Colombian President, Álvaro Uribe,who attends to the guest standard.

Finally, closing ceremony will be hosted by APEC 2008 CEO Summit Chairman, Jose Miguel Morales, and his counterpart for the 2009 Singapore CEO Summit, Siaka Ching Chong.

Lima, 22 November 2008 APEC PERU: HONG KONG, CANADA AND MEXICO LEADERS DISCUSS THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

• Today Leaders of these three economies participated as speakers at the APEC CEO Summit 2008

On the second CEO Summit Meetings day, Hong Kong Leader, Donald Tsang, provided Strengthening global free trade and investment: which should be keys priorities? conference. Tsang mentioned some numbers regarding Hong Kong economic growth and spoke about policies that contribute to investment facilitation as well as low taxes system.Hong Kong Leader stressed the importance of supporting WTO in order to achieve a global trade liberalization which could stop many people from being poor. He commented on global financial crisis effects, which confronts us with recession and unemployment. The world is convulsed, but we should have a bit of calmness and peace of mind. It´s time to share experiences and knowledge to build a more coordinated economy.Subsequently, newly re-elected Canada Leader, Stephen Harper, offered his presentation. In addition, he has carried out numerous measures to alleviate crisis effects in Canada, which he explained in How does financial crisis affects the APEC agenda: is it necessary to re-think the priorities? conference.

Recent Canadian taxation, monetary and trade policies were outlined in a speech that stressed the need to improve regulation without increasing it. Direct governments involvement in bank regulation, instead of banks led by governments, is the solution for the financial crisis, Harper asserted.Mexican Leader, Felipe Calderón, lectured the conference entitled The impact of the global crisis in Latin America.
What should be the answer? . Calderon showed the main impacts of the financial crisis in Latin American economies, exports drop and reduction regarding foreign investment.He later analyzed mistakes made on the road that lead to the crisis and talked about structural reforms that Mexico has carried out this year. Free trade generates public welfare: the market solution and no problem in this crisis, he said. The Leader also highlighted growth of economies such as China and Peru, declaring that this is where opportunities are.

APEC leaders: Trade protectionism is road to ruin
Saturday, November 22, 2008 10:55 AM

(Source: Associated Press/AP Online)LIMA, Peru - Leaders of 21 nations that comprise half the world's economy say it's vital not to abandon free trade - no matter how punishing the global downturn gets. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak says the world must resist protectionist measures even though companies will keep going bankrupt and countless jobs will be lost. U.S. President George W. Bush says such measures would stifle innovation and strangle growth.Both spoke Saturday at a summit of business leaders from Asia and the Americas. At their meeting in Peru, the leaders are trying to build on last weekend's Group of 20 summit in Washington in grappling with a looming global recession. Bush said the Great Depression in the 1930s showed that protectionism leads only to economic ruin.A service of YellowBrix, Inc.

Global Trends 2025 - Future is nuclear war and famine - US intelligence
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24684836-12377,00.html

The use of nuclear weapons will grow increasingly likely by 2025, US intelligence warned in a report on global trends that forecasts a tense, unstable world shadowed by war.The world of the near future will be subject to an increased likelihood of conflict over scarce resources, including food and water, and will be haunted by the persistence of rogue states and terrorist groups with greater access to nuclear weapons, said the report.Widening gaps in birth rates and wealth-to-poverty ratios, and the uneven impact of climate change, could further exacerbate tensions.Called Global Trends 2025 - a Transformed World, the 121-page report was produced by the National Intelligence Council, a body of analysts from across the US intelligence community.Officials said it was being briefed to the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama. A year in the making, the report does not take into account the recent global financial crisis.In one sense, a bad sense, the pace of change that we are looking at in 2025 occurred more rapidly than we had anticipated, said Thomas Fingar, deputy director of National Intelligence.One overarching conclusion of the report is that the unipolar world is over, (or) certainly will be by 2025, Mr Fingar said.But with the rise of the rest, managing crises and avoiding conflicts will be more difficult, particularly with an antiquated post-World War II international system.

The potential for conflict will be different then and in some ways greater than it has been for a very long time, Mr Fingar said.The report has good news for some countries:

- A technology to replace oil may be underway or in place by 2025;
- Multiple financial centres will serve as shock absorbers of the world financial system;
- India, China and Brazil will rise, the Korean peninsula will be unified in some form, and new powers are likely to emerge from the Muslim non-Arab world.

Risk of nuclear war

But the report also says some African and South Asian states may wither away altogether, organised crime could take over at least one state in central Europe; and the spread of nuclear weapons will heighten the risk they will be used.The likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used will increase with expanded access to technology and a widening range of options for limited strikes, it said.The report highlighted the risk of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East where a number of countries are thinking about developing or acquiring technologies that would be useful to make nuclear weapons.Over the next 15-20 years, reactions to the decisions Iran makes about its nuclear program could cause a number of regional states to intensify these efforts and consider actively pursuing nuclear weapons, the report said.This will add a new and more dangerous dimension to what is likely to be increasing competition for influence within the region, it said.The report said it was not certain that the kind of deterrent relationships that existed for most of the Cold War would emerge in a nuclear armed Middle East. Instead, the possession of nuclear weapons may be perceived as making it safe to engage in low intensity conflicts, terrorism or even larger conventional attacks, the report said.The report said terrorism would likely be a factor in 2025 but suggested that al-Qaeda's terrorist wave might be breaking up.Al-Qaeda's weaknesses - unachievable strategic objectives, inability to attract broad-based support and self-destructive actions - might cause it to decay sooner than many people think, it said.Because history suggests that the global Islamic terrorist movement will outlast al-Qaeda as a group, strategic counterterrorism efforts will need to focus on how and why a successor terrorist group might evolve during the remaining years of the Islamic terrorist wave.

The report was vague about the outcome of current conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and nuclear armed Pakistan.In 2025, the government in Baghdad could still be an object of competition among various factions seeking foreign aid or pride of place.
Afghanistan may still evince significant patterns of tribal competition and conflict.
The future of Pakistan is a wildcard in considering the trajectory of neighbouring Afghanistan,it said.

Government warns of catastrophic U.S. quake
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AJ9EV20081120

People in a vast seismic zone in the southern and midwestern United States would face catastrophic damage if a major earthquake struck there and should ensure that builders keep that risk in mind, a government report said on Thursday.The Federal Emergency Management Agency said if earthquakes strike in what geologists define as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, they would cause the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States.FEMA predicted a large earthquake would cause widespread and catastrophic physical damage across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee -- home to some 44 million people.Tennessee is likely to be hardest hit, according to the study that sought to gauge the impact of a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in order to guide the government's response.In Tennessee alone, it forecast hundreds of collapsed bridges, tens of thousands of severely damaged buildings and a half a million households without water.Transportation systems and hospitals would be wrecked, and police and fire departments impaired, the study said.The zone, named for the town of New Madrid in Missouri's southeast corner, is subject to frequent mild earthquakes.Experts have long tried to predict the likelihood of a major quake like those that struck in 1811 and 1812. These shifted the course of the Mississippi River and rang church bells on the East Coast but caused few deaths amid a sparse population.People who live in these areas and the people who build in these areas certainly need to take into better account that at some time there is ... expected to be a catastrophic earthquake in that area, and they'd better be prepared for it, said FEMA spokesperson Mary Margaret Walker.

JERUSALEM - IF I FORGET THEE
http://www.onejerusalem.org/2008/11/if-i-forget-thee-o-jerusalem-s.php

[11.16.2008] All Obama Options Call For Dividing Jerusalem

The Times of London reports that President-elect Obama will adopt the Saudi plan that calls for the establishment of a Palestinian State in Jerusalem. Kadima candidate for Prime Minister Livni supports the Saudi plan.Little Green Footballs and Hot Air analyze the story. There have been many stories about what plan will Obama adopt. There are differences between the plans , for example, on the issue of right of return, but they all agree that Jerusalem will be divided to provide for a Palestinian capital. Outgoing Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is determined to see Obama continue her failed peace efforts. This story reports on Rice's efforts and the differences between Netanyahu and Livni on this subject. Livni is seen as fully supportive of a deal based on Israel going back to its indefensible borders of 1949 and Netanyahu defending Israel's right to an undivided Jerusalem and secure borders. Could the differences be any clearer?

Israeli Air Force Ready for Iran's Nuclear Sites
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,455005,00.html

The Israeli Air Force is ready to attack Iran's suspected nuclear weapons project if diplomacy fails to persuade the Islamic Republic to halt uranium enrichment, said Commander Ido Nehushtan in an interview published Tuesday.The news comes as the U.N. watchdog agency reports Iran is probably at the point of being capable of making a nuclear bomb.We are prepared and ready to do whatever Israel needs us to do and if this is the mission we're given then we are ready, Nehushtan told German magazine Der Spiegel.A strike against Iran's nuclear facilities is a political decision, the IAF commander said, but if I understand it correctly, all options are on the table ... The Air Force is a very robust and flexible force. We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us.Asked if the Israeli military would be able to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, which are spread around the country, with some built underground, Nehushtan said, Please understand that I do not want to get into details. I can only say this: It is not a technical or logistical question.While Israel has fought all its immediate Arab neighbors, its pilots have had limited capabilities to carry out missions as far away as Iran. A strike on Iraq's sole nuclear reactor in 1981 was an extraordinary exception at the time but analysts say the F-16I has made long-distance strikes more possible.

Air power has been a major player in every war we've fought since 1948, Colonel Amon, who in line with Israeli military rules did not give his surname, told Reuters during the unusual opening of the Ramon desert base to the foreign media.This is the most capable aircraft in the Middle East, said Captain Grisha, a fighter pilot in his early 20s.The Jewish state, widely believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, has said it will not tolerate an Iranian nuclear bomb and has refused to rule out a military option.Speculation of a U.S.-approved Israeli strike on Iran, fueled by an Israeli attack in Syria last year and by reports of long-range bombing exercises this summer, has faded as the Bush administration prepares to hand over power to President-elect Barack Obama.Iran, which has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, said on Tuesday it aimed to commission its first nuclear power plant in 2009. Tehran insists the program has only civilian aims.

European Union EU billion euro boost for struggling African farmers 22/11 08:57 CETworld news

European Union ministers have agreed to grant a billion euros in agricultural aid to developing countries. African farmers are set to benefit from cash earmarked for the purchase of seed and fertiliser.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso’s plan to provide the cash had run into trouble over financing. It will now be funded mainly from budget reserves.The deal was reached as negotiators meeting in Brussels fixed the bloc’s overall spending for next year.Member states have been keen on a lean EU budget as they need to secure funds to boost economic growth amid the financial crisis.A figure of just over 116 billion euros was set.
It is more than governments proposed but less than the sum advocated by the EU parliament which will give its verdict on the matter next month.

UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1845, SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS EUROPEAN UNION STABILIZATION FORCE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA FOR ANOTHER YEAR
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9507.doc.htm

[Comment] What are EU battlegroups for if not to intervene in Congo?
PETER SAIN LEY BERRY 21.11.2008 @ 08:16 CET

EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - Whether apocryphal or not, it is said that Frederick the Great of Prussia (1712-86) - old Fritz as he came to be known - would urge on his columns of young soldiers with the exasperated cry Wollen Sie ehrmals leben? (Do you want to live for ever?).Were Frederick alive today he might want to say something similar to the European Army, or rather those wanting it to remain pristine and unused and not sent to the dangerous tumult in Africa's dark centre.Europe should intervene in the DRC quickly and decisively (Photo: wikipedia)

The army is not, of course, either properly European, or even an army come to that. It remains a collection of soldiers from a few member states available for constituting battlegroups, which can then be dispatched swiftly to pursue tasks of peacemaking in the wider European interest. For some two years now, and in the teeth of opposition both inside and outside the union, the EU has proudly declared that it has these forces available to intervene where other such forces - for instance the UN or NATO - are unwilling or unable to act with the alacrity required. Small contingents have intervened here and there. But never has decisive force been deployed.In terms of capability to mount overseas operations, Britain and France stand head and shoulders above the rest of the union. The European Defence Force initiative came therefore primarily from Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac in one of their rare moments of accord. Now the potential exists for it to become one of the more significant European achievements of the time.

The dark heart of Africa

In recent days the renewed tragedy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has slowly filtered through to the headlines. This is the former colony, the Belgian Congo, the size of Western Europe, on whose ivory and rubber much of Brussels is built. It is the country that Joseph Conrad called - and for good reason - the dark heart of Africa. A country where some 5 million have died as a result of war these past 10 years.Were the DRC to be moved to the Balkans or the Middle East - to anywhere, in fact, but Africa - our newspapers would not be big enough for the deaths, atrocities, hate, random violence, rape of the land, burnings, summary executions and lines of corpses.We should be screaming about the decimation of the mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park, through which the militias roam, shooting everything that moves, including the wardens. The park is being burnt and its wildlife habitats destroyed to provide cooking charcoal for the swollen population of Goma, the regional capital on the shores of Lake Kivu, now bursting with a million souls.A train of human misery - a quarter of a million strong - has fled south towards the city in recent weeks away from the fighting instigated by the rebel Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda and from the even more insidious and frightening attacks of the so-called Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).The LRA have taken advantage of the turbulence to embark again on their murderous campaign of burning villages, shooting (or worse) the adult inhabitants and kidnapping the children who, drugged to the eyeballs, they force to become child soldiers and prostitutes.No surprise then that the UN reports that from an area of 10,000 square kilometres in the north-east of the DRC scarcely a single person remains.

The largest peacekeeping operation in the world

They flee this rich and beautiful land, built of a raft of valuable minerals that includes a third of the world's tin reserves. Hardly anywhere on earth has suffered more from what Robert Burns termed man's inhumanity to man.There is a savagery, a contempt for feeling, a primitive brutality which, like some curable but virulent disease, has no right to exist in these otherwise enlightened times. Violence towards women is particularly severe, with rape used regularly as a weapon of war. The accounts written by sober doctors in the hospitals of Goma are distressingly revolting. It is not surprising that the people run for safety leaving everything behind at the first sound of gunfire - which is how militias of no more than a few thousand can terrorise a whole land.Indeed, villagers are not safe from the troops of their own government who also rape and steal with impunity. Even the precious hospitals in Goma have been looted of medicine and equipment.The UN of course is already in the DRC. Its 17,000 strong force, MONUC, is the largest peacekeeping operation in the world - 6,000 of its troops are in Goma. But self-evidently the force has failed to protect the civilian population. That is not entirely its fault, as one of its generals, Bipin Rawat, has pointed out. It is something of a handicap to have your tanks painted a livid white. Terms of engagement also require similar advertisement of one's presence with the requirement to give warnings.Three thousand more UN troops have been agreed, but these are not expected to arrive quickly. Meanwhile, Europe has promised only an airlift and humanitarian supplies.

How should the EU react?

This is not enough. Although General Nkunda has just withdrawn his forces by 25 miles, as agreed with the UN's envoy, the former Nigerian President Obasanjo - he can advance again at will. Many believe it is only a matter of time before he takes Goma and that the the UN cannot stop him.So a desperate request has gone out from 44 civil organisations in the city - the nearest thing Goma has to regional government - for the EU to send a force now to guarantee their security. How should the EU react?

Left to herself there is little question that France would send troops - and Belgium too, the former colonial power. No doubt Germany could also be persuaded.Britain, however, is set strongly against any intervention. Its overstretched defence priorities lie elsewhere - in Iraq and Afghanistan. It fears another long commitment, another drain on the public purse at a time the government wishes only to boost the domestic economy. It argues that MONUC should simply send a greater part of its force to Goma and it is blocking any move to send a European force.Too bad. Europe has a duty - especially following the election of Barack Obama - to secure a different, more co-operative world. Europe should intervene in the DRC quickly and decisively. The battlegroups of the European Army are not there for show.
Peter Sain ley Berry is an independent commentator on European affairs.

The CARMEL ALERT Nov 21st 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.

Josie's Comment:Not A Time To Be Silent
Isaiah 62: 7 You that make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent ..............................

Recently I was reading about Shadrach, Meshach and Abed Nego in Daniel 3. I was freshly touched by their tenacity and boldness to stand for truth. We all know the story. There was a decree sent out by Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon at the time, declaring that whoever did not bow before the gold image and worship his gods, would be destroyed in the fire. The 3 young Jewish men knew who their God was, the God of Israel, and who they would only bow the knee to and worship . They knew they could not and would not bow down to this image of Nebuchadnezzar. They made their confession that the God who they serve was quite able to deliver them, and even if He did not, they would still not bow the knee to false gods. They stood with boldness, they stood without any compromise. They stood totally solid in whom they believed, they stood in faith, not knowing whether God would deliver them or not, but they trusted anyway in whom they believed. They absolutely refused to bow to the false images.Satan who is the god of this age, is, and will form many images and temptations before us, which he will use to intimidate and seduce us into bowing down to the spirit of the world. He has deceived even many Christians about where Israel fits into God's plan. People, family, even friends, Christian friends, may come against us in what we say about Israel. Pray that the Lord will give us every word we need when it comes to defending the truth about Israel, and for those that have an anti-Biblical understanding towards Israel. I don't believe we have the luxury at this very strategic point of time, to compromise in our answers to these people. Let us not be embarrassed or afraid to stand for what, and whom we believe in. We need to be bold and stand and to not compromise in what we believe and what we know is truth,however, it may cost us something. Leave it to God to work the truth in their hearts like He did in Nebuchadnezzar's heart.

As these 3 young Jewish men chose not to bow to idolatry, but stand firm in whom they believed, and what they believed, as they did, great miracles happened. The Messiah was not only in the fire with them, but He came and saved them from the fire and opened up Nebuchadnezzar's eyes to see who it was that was in the fire with them. That in turn, brought about national revival in that day. Let the example of the 3 young Jewish men's faith, courage and boldness, encourage us all as we walk through our own personal fires knowing that Messiah is with us to deliver us. All we are required to do is declare who is the true God, speak the truth, and not bow down to what oppresses or threatens us. Let us also expect that when we do not compromise , even if it is scary or hurts, that God will cause wonders and miracles to happen in our lives and the lives of others. There is no time to waste anymore . Its time to be bold, and let all compromising go. Our job is to be the Lord's mouth-piece; to speak what He has already told us through the His word. After we have spoken it out, then it is the work of the Holy Spirit to outwork the rest. The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to th Jewish people by the God of Israel Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.

Shabbat Shalom - David & Josie.

A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE NOV 23,08

We want to conclude our study in the new birth by sharing what the true Gospel really is.Easter is the time set aside annually by the world to remember the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the genuine Christian, there is no other plan of salvation. In Galatians 6:14, the apostle Paul states, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.... Then, in Romans 10:9, he adds ...if thou ...shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.The subject content found in these two portions of Scripture constitutes the gospel message: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. This truth should be indelibly inscribed upon every believer's heart. There is no other good news. Eternal life is eliminated if Christ went into a coma and then revived. The gospel, meaning good news, is bad news if Christ did not die by shedding His blood, for then the world has no adequate sacrifice for sin.If He died and remained in the grave, the dilemma is compounded because He then becomes an imposter by breaking all of His promises and predictions concerning His resurrection. Matthew 16:21: From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. John 2:19: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Verse 21: But he spake of the temple of his body.Had Christ not fulfilled these utterances He would have proven himself to be a fraud. However, 1 Corinthians 15:20 states, But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept [or were dead]. He proved His deity through the greatest miracle recorded in the annals of history. Oh, what a wonderful Saviour. Buddha, Mohammed, and Zoroaster never made such claims and are presently skeletal frames lying in the dust of the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only risen Saviour. Were He still lying in a tomb in the Middle East completely decomposed just a skull and bones-He would be disqualified to be the Saviour of the world. But He lives and thereby proves His Godhead and power.

The Gospel of Salvation

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved. What is this gospel or good news that saves? For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.Simplicity, simplicity, thou art a jewel. Could anything be easier to mentally grasp? Little children are able to comprehend God's marvelous plan of salvation. In verse one of this text the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle, says, I declare unto you the gospel. It is, Christ died for our sins ...was buried and that he rose again the third day. This is not symbolic language but means that Christ died literally-in a body, was buried, and rose again literally-in that same body. This is where salvation begins.If you don't believe it, you don't believe God. John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Romans 5:8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. First John 3:16: Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he [God] laid down his life for us....Let's go one step further. Christ's death had to be by the shedding of blood. Had He died from starvation, strangulation, suffocation, or seizure of the heart, there would have been no eternal salvation possible. Leviticus 17:11: It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Hebrews 9:22: ...without shedding of blood is no remission [for sin].The full gospel message is that Christ died for our sins by the shedding of His blood, was buried, and rose again the third day. Be careful that you give the sinner the true presentation of the gospel in your witnessing. Watch out for Bible perversions, organizations, and pamphlets that omit the blood because of the ...offence of the cross... (Galatians 5:11).It is an intellectually humiliating experience to present the picture of a blood sacrifice as far as fainthearted, weak-kneed compromisers are concerned. They don't mind picturing Christ as a great martyr, willing to die for a cause, because this is a heroic portrayal (but inaccurate).We, however, must proclaim the truth. We must tell it as it is or forget it. A lopsided, distorted gospel can't save anyone. It is the blood drawn from the Savior's veins that produces eternal salvation. Christ himself said so in Hebrews 10:4, 5. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.Scores of times the New Testament mentions Christ's holy blood as the only way of salvation. Acts 20:28: ...the church ...he hath purchased with his own blood. Romans 3:24, 25: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.... Ephesians 1:7: In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Hebrews 9:12: ...by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. First Peter 1:18: For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold.... But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. First John 1:7: ...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

The Gospel of Damnation

The one who is behind all opposition to the blessed truth of Christ's death and resurrection is a sinister agent named Satan. He is the commander-in-chief of the demonic denizens from hell and the god of this present world system. His main purpose in existing is to blind men to the true message of salvation. He doesn't care if one goes to church and supports a denominational program. Rituals please him because they give man a false security by trusting in that which invigorates the physical senses. Man's plans to reach heaven through a series of self-righteous efforts delight this arch demon because the program of good works is in complete contradiction to God's master plan for salvation.Is Satan really behind this treason against God's gospel plan? Second Corinthians 4:4 plainly states,... the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Notice that it is the truth concerning the glorious gospel or the glorious good news about Christ-His death, burial, and resurrection-that the satanic hosts from hell are out to blacken and eradicate. If the undercover agents from hell can change the message to eliminate the bloodshed and resurrection of Christ, they have won the battle for the souls of the blinded individuals.You ask if I really believe that evil spirits pervade the atmosphere? Do I believe these spirits can influence thinking? First Timothy 4:1: ... the [Holy] Spirit speaketh expressly [plainly], that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.Notice that the human first of all gives heed to a seducing spirit or demon and then accepts his doctrine. Did you know that the demons have theologians among them? The Bible teaches that there is an order of demonic hosts. Among the demons we find a class that pervades human minds with false doctrine. Once the demon has control, it is practically impossible to free the individual from the heretical error preached and practiced. This explains why some of the cults are so successful in binding their victims. Behind their doctrine is an evil spirit.

Satan hates the message of Christ and His blood. I can testify to weird happenings in crusades across the nation when messages on the blood were proclaimed. Satan hates the blood so he plants other theories in men's minds. These include reincarnation, transcendental meditation, religious experimentation through the use of LSD, emotionalism, and good works.Man says, Certainly in this enlightened intellectual age one does not need Christ's gory sacrifice upon a cross. One only needs to do the best he can in this world-help others, give to charity and follow the Golden Rule, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Ten Commandments. This all sounds very humanitarian and seems reasonably logical to the mind, but it is another gospel.
Every child of God should do good works and help others because of Christ's presence in his life. He does not work to become saved but rather because he is saved. Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.... Notice that a believer works because goodness, morality, righteousness, and service are created in him by Christ Jesus. To change that order and teach men that they must work for salvation is the gospel of damnation planted in minds by the demonic god of this world system. It is wrong because it keeps men from accepting the true gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's Grace

Romans 4:5 tells us, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Ephesians 2:8, 9 adds, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Again, Titus 3:5: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.Grace means unmerited favor. God bestows a favor upon a sinner that he does not deserve. All of us deserve eternal damnation because of our sin. God, however, loves us and gives us the gift of eternal life when we put our faith and trust in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ (obtained through His death, burial, and resurrection). Romans 6:23 states ...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is a gift, dear friend.A gift ceases to be a gift when one pays for it. If the message of the gospel makes demands upon one through a system of works, the receiver of the so-called gift has been swindled. If salvation comes by following a code of ethics, the Ten Commandments should certainly provide salvation for a sincere heart, because it is the best man can do upon earth. However, God never gave the Law-called the Decalogue or Ten Commandments-as a methodical plan to produce salvation. Hebrews 7:19: For the law made nothing perfect....Rather, God's Law was given to reveal man's sin. By the Ten Commandments ... is the knowledge of sin... (Romans 3:20). In other words, as one hears God's Law proclaimed or reads it in Exodus 20; he realizes his failure and is driven to Christ for salvation. Romans 3:19 states that the Ten Commandments were given so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.Notice that the Commandments were given to produce guilt, not salvation! The thunderings of Sinai produce deep conviction over sin. The conscience becomes disturbed, and the sinner runs to the cross for cleansing. Revelation 1:5: Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Do you see it? There is not one human work that has ever been administered upon this earth or one that shall ever transpire in the future that will ever save a soul.

In this chaotic age of apostasy and liberalism, the true message setting forth the plan of salvation is a necessity. Proud humanity would obscure the simplicity of God's plan with high-sounding phraseology, thus hindering man's understanding of the gospel or good news. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:3: But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.Satan loves for a minister to use terminology that is incomprehensible and above the hearer's I.Q. Why? If the listener finds the message unintelligible because he fails to grasp the eloquent utterances of the speaker-the message is useless and the hungry soul lost. The old slimy, slithering serpent Lucifer wants to blind men to the light of the glorious gospel.What is the gospel message that Satan so vehemently attacks? It is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.I declare unto you the gospel.... It is, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The good news, in all of its simplicity, is that Christ died by the shedding of blood for our sins, He was buried, and He literally arose from the grave in bodily form.Let's return to the doctrinal dogmas of the Bible and preach Christ crucified, buried, and risen again. This is the true gospel. Anything else has God's anathema and judgment upon it. Galatians 1:8: ...though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Ministers who have detoured the cross calling it a slaughterhouse religion have done so because their minds have become alienated from God and darkened through the mind manipulations of demonic spirits. Any person who rejects the true gospel message is under the influence of the spirit world mentally.

Hear God again. Second Corinthians 4:4: ... the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. It is the gospel concerning the death, burial, and resurrection that the hosts of hell are out to discredit and eradicate. Oh, fall on your face before God and change your mind about Christ. Receive the abundant and eternal life Christ longs to give you. Let Him be your Saviour today!