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"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task,go to sleep in peace. God is awake." - Victor Hugo
INTRODUCTION
Fear is a paralyzing power. In recent times, it has almost bankrupted the global airline industry, hampered the US Postal Service because of the anthrax scare, hindered the economy, given the world a new syndrome called SARS and in too many cases, even stopped folk from leaving the house. Since 9/11, fear has reached new heights. It causes confusion and chaos, which in turn lead to insecurity. America has declared war against one of its manifestations, terrorism! In one spiritual sense, this recent war in Iraq can be seen as America going up against the Prince of Persia (see Daniel 10:12-14), the same spiritual prince that Gabriel told Daniel he needed help from Michael, another archangel, to overcome. And this was after a three week spiritual war, interestingly enough, the same length of time as Gulf War Two.
THE BASE OF BABYLON
Iraq is the cradle of biblical civilization. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, the original home of Abraham, and the base of Babylon. The word 'Babylon' means chaos and confusion, from the incident where God confounded the tongues of the inhabitants of the city (see Genesis 11:9). However, Daniel is told by the angel, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." (Daniel 12:9-10). If we are indeed living in the 'time of the end’ and the books are being unsealed, should it be any surprise to us that the same Prince of Persia might be active again today, intent on enlarging his influence to global proportions through global terrorist networks originating in the Middle East?
STAMPEDING THE HERD
Fear has another subtle, but equally powerful ally in the West to do its bidding. Just as electrical power needs the medium of power lines to travel to your light bulb, so fear needs the electronic media to spread to you through your TV set! The very nature of our media system forbids it from presenting a comprehensive view of the truth. In the never-ending search for the pot of ratings at the end of the rainbow, media outlets bombard us constantly with limited perspectives that give us a distorted view of the truth, which can raise the fear level, easily stampeding a nervous American herd. On media distortion, Don Feder comments, "Less than 30% of the American people agree with [the anti-war movement]... but the movement reflects the mentality of the Left – which exerts an influence in this country out of all proportion to its numbers. The ideologues of the anti-war movement have their counterparts in Hollywood, academia, public education and the news media.... Their dogma fills our airwaves, newspapers, public school classrooms and college lecture halls. Ladies and gentleman, I urge you to support our troops by fighting for America on the home front – by confronting and refuting the toxic lies of an anti-American elite that cloaks its evil in idealism. As our troops are willing to brave bullets on the battlefield, you must be willing to brave scorn and derision to tell the truth about America...."
THE TRUTH ABOUT AMERICA
Canadian television commentator, Gordon Sinclair, recently said, "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of  the debris of war by the Americans, who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts…. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries….” Australia and New Zealand were saved from an imminent Japanese invasion sixty years ago by thousands of young American men who went to their aid, many never returning. It would be a different world, a much worse one, without America.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE STATE
One of C. S. Lewis' profundities simplifies the issue of the State: "The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden – that is what the State is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc., are simply a waste of time."
THE TRUTH ABOUT US
Children, don't be fooled. Anyone who does right is good, just like Christ himself. Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done. God's children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power lives in them and makes them his children, so that they cannot keep on sinning. You can tell God's children from the devil's children, because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other." (1 John 3:7-10 Contemporary English Version). The world is full of good people and not so good people. It's got nothing to do with being Iraqi or American; sin and salvation know no national boundaries. Those who are not so good have just surrendered to their lower nature. Many times they give in without even a fight. Those who are more good than bad continue to fight, knowing full well that they may stumble, but they are determined never to surrender to the dark side. Their weapons are discipline, control, prayer and intimacy with God. When these things are in place, we can sleep peacefully knowing that God is awake.
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