Weekly Prophecy Review

News from around the world...

• According to AP reports, "Switzerland's three biggest banks offered $600 million to settle claims that they stole the assets of Holocaust victims." Plaintiffs say this offer is "insultingly low, " and that "bank officials stonewalled survivors and their heirs after World War II, claiming they could not find accounts or demanding nonexistent death certificates before giving funds to relatives of those who died in concentration camps." A study by the banks showed that more than $442 million of assets had been plundered—$4 billion in today's dollars.

• Retired Air Force Major General Perry Smith resigned as CNN's military advisor to protest Peter Arnett's CNN/Time report alleging the U.S. murdered defectors and used nerve gas during the Vietnam War. Smith said he tried hard for a week to convince CNN's top executives to do a retraction, but to no avail. It seems the story has been contradicted by a number of troops and officers who were involved, as well as by the historical records of the North Vietnamese. In fact, the only source of the story was a Lt. Robert Van Buskirk, a man who CNN deliberately failed to reveal was later arrested by the U.S. Army for arms trafficking and was forced to leave the military. The new issue of Time Magazine, the sister company of CNN, carries a statement from the managing editor that it will now conduct its own investigation of Arnett's story and will correct any mistakes in future issues.

• Senate majority Trent Lott has come under criticism for citing Scriptural passages which call homosexual activity a sin. In response, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said calling homosexuality a sin is a "backward" view. This from the man who daily speaks for the President, though he admits he is "out of the loop" concerning what the President has said or done concerning a certain intern. I submit he is also "out of the loop" when it comes to the sinfulness of homosexuality, and the day is coming when the Lord will impress that fact on him.

• Apparently McCurry is not alone in assuming the Bible is no longer a valid authority on such issues. Actor Bruce Willis claims, "Modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology. But there are people who interpret the Bible literally. I choose not to believe that's the way."

• Also joining in the criticism of Lott was the pastor of the country's largest predominantly homosexual congregation, Cathedral of Hope in Dallas. He noted that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. (We assume the writings of Moses and of Paul are not held in high esteem by that particular "pastor." )

• Last week an 11-year-old Bronx boy accidentally drowned. When a classmate asked the teacher, Mildred Rosario, whether the boy was in heaven, she told the students "if they wanted to sit talk about God it was their free will and right to do so." She then explained that anyone not wanting to participate in the conversation should go use the computer or read some books. Then she told the students that God sent Jesus to save the Human race. This was followed by a short prayer. What came next—was her dismissal. The school board promptly fired her. According to the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, "This is the first time I've heard of such an explicit recognition of Jesus Christ and God in a public school."

• This week about 800 people, including an equal number of blacks and whites, gathered outside the courthouse of Jasper, Texas. They came together to pray for the family of James Byrd, a black man who was brutally murdered when three men from a white supremacist group chained him to the back of a pickup and then dragged him two miles. Pastors led the crowd in songs and prayers for racial reconciliation.

• The week before the Southern Baptists held their annual convention in Salt lake City, they converged on Idaho Falls, Idaho. After a day of door-to-door witnessing, block parties, and a concert by the Oklahoma Singing Churchmen, 51 professions of faith were recorded. Among them was a 95-year-old man who was an LDS (Mormon) member, and a woman who grew up Mormon but then became a Jehovah's Witness!

• For 18 years, American missionaries had been going to Mozambique to minister to that country's believers. But when a recent team of mission volunteers witnessed the "extraordinary faith" of that country's people, they were obliged to invite them to come to America to share their faith here! So, an 11- member team from Mozambique is currently visiting and encouraging churches in New York and Vermont.

• What film is bigger than "Titanic"? The "Jesus" film is being credited as the most watched and most translated film in history. Since its release in 1979, it has been viewed by 1.28 billion people and, world-wide, 446 translations have been made. The "Jesus" film is an accurate portrayal of the life of Jesus based on the Gospel of Luke.

• Despite civil war, the churches in Sudan are some of the fastest growing in the world. In the last three years, 30 tons of Bibles and 10 tons of medical equipment and supplies have been delivered to Southern Sudan by Frontline Fellowship, a missionary organization. Oh yes, and the "Jesus" film (in Arabic) has been used extensively by the missionaries in the region.

• In Mexico City, 45,000 people recently saw the "Jesus" film and 5,000 of them became Christians.

• According to Youth With a Mission, 80% of the new Christians in Eastern Europe are under the age of 18.

• The Southern Baptists now have 4,447 active missionaries. Yet, the president of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, Jerry Rankin, says they can do more. He suggests that it is not unreasonable to think that 1 out of every 1,000 church members would respond to God's call for missions. That would mean not 5,000 but 16,000 missionaries.

• In New Delhi, India, more than 30,000 came to Christ last March during an evangelistic crusade led by Reinhard Bonnke. This, despite strict security measures and unseasonably cold weather.

• The number of Protestant Christians in Vietnam is now estimated at 700,000. That is four times as many as there were in 1975. By and large, these believers meet in house churches, of which there are said to be "significantly more than a thousand." According to the Worldwide Evangelical Fellowship, "Christians around the world can learn much from the bold faith of the Vietnamese Christians."

• The mission group, International Christian Concern, describes the evangelistic fervor in Cuba as "unstoppable." A representative noted that the illegal house churches in Cuba are much like the early churches of New Testament days. "There are no 'loose cannons' or individuals bent on drawing attention to themselves." He also mentioned that the churches in Cuba now have a vision to send missionaries abroad."

• Persecuted countries are not the only ones experiencing growth in house churches; they are also growing in popularity in the United States. According to Les Buford, who helped organize a recent conference on house churches at Clemson University, "Many people are finding that there aren't enough relationships being formed in established churches." What are these churches like? Typically, 30 to 50 members meet in a home. One person presents a prepared message, then others talk about what they have learned in their daily studies of the Bible. There are web sites dedicated to establishing and growing house churches, as well as registries to help locate the house church congregation nearest you.

Issues that have something to do with prophecy...

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has reportedly reached the double conclusion that further withdrawal from Judea and Samaria is inevitable, and that his government will fall as a result. Chalk another one up for the good old U.S. of A. (Maariv Newspaper reported that U.S. Secretary of State Albright, in a phone conversation with Netanyahu demanded that the decision to withdraw be made by June 24.)

As part of his "end game" Netanyahu is seeking guarantees that Washington will oppose any unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. In return Israel would agree to forego establishing any new settlements in the "occupied territories" (though they could expand the ones already in existence). You will remember that Palestinian Authority Arafat has already said that on May 5 of next year, he will declare Palestinian statehood.

In a related development, the U.S. President who sponsored the first great divestiture of Israeli land will be honored with a Mount Rushmore-like bust which will be carved in the cliffs of Israel's Negev Desert. The Nakash brothers, owners of the Jordasch Jeans Company, will erect a monument to the signers of the 1979 peace agreement between Israel and Egypt—President Carter, Menachem Begin, and Anwar Sadat. (Though this is a great honor from man's perspective, you have to wonder if the praise from men is worth it, especially when you consider how God feels about those who conspire to "divide up his land" [see Joel 3:2 and Ezekiel 35]).

Till He Returns...