I wonder how long it will be before the world, and Americans, understand that Donald Trump means every word he says. Behind the bluster and buffoonery, is a serious contender for world domination.
Interesting that he touted the idea of owning Gaza, turning it into one massive resort. A few weeks later he meets with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and a couple of weeks after that, Israel is flattening Gaza and making zero secret of her intention to clear the area of all Palestinians and take possession of the land.
I have always been pro-Israel. As a Christian it is a given that the land of my Lord and my God is an integral part of my faith. I trust in the scripture that says we should bless Israel. I have believed the Word that says nations that bless Israel will themselves be blessed, and for those that curse the Lords favoured people, it will not go well with them.
But scripture is also full of tales of the hard-heartedness of God’s chosen people, how they stray from his laws and go their own way, how God has brought punishment on them time and again to try and keep them in line.
When the horrifying raids by Hamas took place on that awful day I was incensed and heartbroken at the suffering, especially of the women and children. The tales of vicious rapes, children burnt alive in the arms of parents, the horror and magnitude of the hatred fuelled my stance.
I was also angry at Hamas. They are a cold and calculating group and they knew full well the retribution the horror they unleashed would bring. They have a degree of complicity in what has followed with their strategy of housing their offices under what should be inviolate sanctuaries, but I have no desire to become embroiled in the arguments of both sides. They are moot in view of what is happening.
I cannot look my God in the eye and condone the actions of Israel. The mind-boggling devastation, the careless obliteration of life, the deliberate withholding of food and medical supplies is beyond the bounds of belief. There is no justification for what is happening, and I find myself agreeing that Netanyahu should face the consequences of his actions and be imprisoned for crimes against humanity sooner rather than later. Together with the leader of Hamas – they are all cruel and unfeeling men without a thought or care for their people.
The killing has to stop. Yes, the hostages must be returned, but months of bombardment prove this is not the way to achieve that goal. I have always believed that Israel’s Mossad is the best intelligence agency in the world – how come they have not been able to find the hostages? Is it that hard or would finding them lose the rationale for the wholesale slaughter that we are witnessing?
It seems to me the violence has increased incrementally since Netanyahu’s visit to Washington to the point where it is now obliteration. How much has Trump’s desire for real estate impacted the current offensive?
Talking of him whose ego knows no bounds his latest caper is so lacking in anything that resembles normalcy that I’m not sure it is worthy of comment. We have had the statue of gold to be placed in the newly refurbished Gaza, we have had the picture on Time magazine of the crowned head, now we have countless repostings of Donald Trump posing as the Pope.
There is much misunderstanding within evangelical and Pentecostal movements of the Catholic Church, its origins, and the role of the Pope. Like every church on this earth, there are faults within Catholicism, and one can argue the ideology and theology as much as you like. None of which will alter the fact that the Catholic is the first formal church established after Christ died.
It was the only church until Martin Luther led the reformation away from Rome. This does not mean that the Catholic church is not founded on the teachings of Christ, or that they do not follow those teachings today. Their position as home for 1.4 billion Christians alone, as imperfect as we may consider them, is worthy of respect.
Be wary of judgement.
I was baptised in the Holy Spirit at a crusade led by a Roman Catholic decades ago in 1979. Yes, there are spirit-filled Catholics, and you better believe they are on God’s list of people entering heaven.
I was reading in Acts 10 yesterday:
v 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.
45. and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured on the Gentiles also.
46. for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,
47. “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
To my Christian friends, you are treading perilously close to the one unforgiveable sin spoken of in the bible – the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. What is that sin? It is calling what is evil good, giving the Lord’s glory to the works of the devil.
We are told again and again in scripture not to judge others – we have one judge, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. Remember how David refused to kill Saul on two occasions (1 Samuel) when he had the chance. Why? Because he was the Lord’s anointed. Saying it is ‘okay’ because you believe the pope is not a Christian, or worse, that he is the anti-Christ, is ignorance. Do you know that the Pope is not an anointed servant of the Lord? How do you know this? And have you not read that the anti-Christ comes from the east?
For heaven’s sake, study the word, get on your knees and seek your Lord before you open your mouths and by your words condemn yourselves!
Mathew 12: 37
For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
Hosea 4:6:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being a priest (We are a royal priesthood, remember, 1 Peter 2:9 ) for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Watching events closely, I think Trump never intended to align with Putin, it was a ruse as so much of what he does is ruse. He intended all along to set up his own dynasty, his own power bloc in opposition to the rest of the world – and aligned with him is Israel under Netanyahu. So, you have Russia and China in the east, Europe with Canada and possibly Australia and New Zealand as the old order, Trump and his Ali Baba band of brothers in America and the Middle East.
Which brings me to Africa.
As America diminishes, Africa is set to rise and not before time. I wonder if the regeneration of this continent is not what will level the global playing fields, redress the imbalance of power that has dominated the world for so long.
I look at this continent I call home, and I want to shout from the mountain tops: Africa, do not cry for America! Look at us, we have it all! As someone said this week, Africa is the only continent that does not have to import a single thing. We are rich, but we have allowed ourselves to be proclaimed poor, lived as if that were truth. Those condemnatory words taking up a life of their own and giving an illusion of truth to the lie.
This is our time to rise and live according to the wealth God has blessed us with.
The tiny country of Burkina Faso is leading the way in its stand against colonial dominion. A dynamic leader, Ibrahim Traore has emerged, a son of the soil, with the courage needed for this moment. He has sent France packing and taken control of his country’s destiny, and in a powerful turnaround changed the fortunes of his people.
As Kamala Harris said, as fear breeds fear, so does courage breed courage, and this is being proven in the Sahel region. More countries are standing up and saying: we have what it takes to achieve what we need. Mali, Niger, and Ghana are following the lead set by Traore, and other countries are joining the movement.
Maybe, just maybe, Donald Trump has done us a favour. What seemed such callous cruelty might be the catalyst that Africans needed to begin to look to themselves and take their rightful place in this global world we all call home.
To those who seek only their own glory, I leave the words of the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in his poem, Ozymandias. I thought instantly of these words when I saw Trump’s golden statue:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
