Wanna Know What's Going on in Libya? Ask Al Qaeda. They Know. We Don't.

By Pastor Ed Evans

Dr. Peter Waldron, head of Advancing American Freedom, asks the question, "Who are the rebels in Libya? Obama did not identify who the rebels are.

"According to a report in the British media, a key rebel leader is Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi. Hasidi left Libya to fight against "the foreign invasion" of Afghanistan in 2002. In other words, he left his homeland and joined Al Qaeda to wage jihad against U.S. forces.

"The president of Chad, on Libya's southern border, is warning that Al Qaeda forces in Libya have pillaged Libyan military arsenals and seized major weapons, including surface-to-air missiles. Al Qaeda is promising to impose its version of Islam on the country once Qadhafi is gone. If that happens it helps the Islamists achieve their goal of a Middle East caliphate."

It's pretty clear the U.S. is not in control of what is happening in Libya, and entered into that fray with nothing more than military goals in mind. When it is over, we will not be in control, but it seems pretty clear Al Qaeda will be. And that helps the American position in the Middle East how?

We entered into this following after the French, without consulting the U.S. Congress, without working through the multiple possible consequences, and now we are asking NATO to take the responsibility for this fight off our hands. That we could do what we did militarily was never in question. In fact, we could have done a great more. But there is a lingering question of what our goal is and who is in charge.

For example, on a Sunday morning CBS News show, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said explicitly there were no U.S. ground troops in Libya. He said that even though the news media days before had announced the explicit presence of U.S. Army Special Forces personnel inside Libya. He explicitly lied. Or he just didn't know what was going on. Either possibility should be disturbing enough to launch at least a Congressional inquiry into what we know, when we knew it, and who the heck knows!

In terms of leadership, morals, and ethics, it seems to be every man for himself. How long before America's enemies quit trying to figure out who is in charge, and decide to begin taking us in charge?

Which Reminds Me of a Story....

Ad Hominem Remarks
by Pastor ed evans

Women in the Military

There is a new initiative by Congress to put more women into the military and open up the combat arms fields to them. Proponents like to point out the success of women in the Israeli Army, such as in the American movie, "GI Jane."
However, there is a marked difference between the Israeli military culture and our own. First there have been remarkable performances by our own female soldiers, although what you hear most about from the sales-oriented news media are about the ones who get pregnant in the Army and the Navy. The one story that comes to mind is of the female Army Sergeant who took command of a convoy when it was attacked on the road in Iraq and led a successful counter-attack against the enemy. However, our own approach to the military is different, and never more evident than in a recent photograph of a group of Israeli female soldiers in a coffee shop, standing around the counter, rifles slung over their shoulders, magazines within easy reach. Contrast that with the U.S. Army middle east Major who was able to kill several innocent soldiers at will, on base, because our Army will not allow its soldiers, male or female, to go armed. Until we put our military off-limits to the social scientists, the politicians and the non-military lawyers, neither male or female military members will be allowed to be at their best.

The Second Coming; Delayed?

The following was written in response to Ray Walker's written thoughts on illegal immigration, the disappearance of American jobs, and the housing/mortgage disaster leading to America's financial disaster.
Ray, always enjoy your enlightened insights.
There is a great deal of hand-wringing going on along with cries of "Even so, come Lord Jesus!"
You and I do not subscribe to exactly the same reality, so it probably means little when I say I've read the book and I know how it ends. However, although you may think you understand what I mean by that, there may yet be a great misunderstanding.
I'm of the opinion we don't "get off that easy" by our God just cranking up His timetable and lifting us out of this mess we've stirred up. In fact, I think there are far too many looking for the Second Coming, and not nearly enough convinced of Jesus' continuing presence. We are called, I believe, to put into action his instructions from the Sermon on the Mount, be His hands and feet. As someone has said, it isn't that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, but has been wanted but not tried. We should read and reread Acts, chapter 2, very carefully and thereby become convinced that He is worth the wait. I remember fondly my reading the words of an old escaped slave, who said he prayed constantly for freedom, but he was never so successful in gaining freedom, "until I prayed with my legs!"

China and America

In the planning for WWII, the Japanese military decided they should not attack the American continent directly because every American was armed; there would be a weapon behind every bush. I believe the Chinese are biding their time -- they plan not by the year, but in the hundreds of years -- because they know behind the waves of Obama sheep stands a solid wall of patriots, armed with both weapons and knowledge, and dangerous. America will get through this, because Americans are resilient and committed, and we believe not just in our government, but in our God, and in ourselves. Against such no weapon stands.


Flat Tax

The "Entitlement Party" must be disabused of the notion that anyone owes anyone a living. America is the land of opportunity. You don't want to work for it, you don't get it. But we do need to work harder to ensure everyone has an opportunity. The idea of a flat tax counters the Orwellian idea that some people are more equal than others.
The current tax system pits underachievers against over achiever, which leads to some people seeing themselves as "victims" and demanding redress. Equal outcome without equal effort didn't work with Karl Marx, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" and it won't work with the Progressive idea of "redistributive change."
We need a flat tax where everyone is invested in the outcome with their tax dollars. When you pay less tax than others, or in some cases no tax, "everything is affordable" since you aren't paying for it. And if your needs are being met, even though you are not working, then it pays you to stay home and not seek opportunities. Within many large cities across America, nearly all inner city minorities have cell phones, housing paid for, air conditioning, cable TV, and money for food; all paid for through public taxes. Everything is provided, paid for, without the stress of working for it. The stigma once associated with welfare has all but been eliminated by calling it "entitlement," which in itself sends the absolutely wrong signal.


Response to email discussions concerning funding denied Marines for equipment, weapons and programs at the Pentagon, at Department of Navy, and at meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. January 12, 2010
As insightful as this thread is, adding details many of us have suspected over the years, it also brings to light a question of dereliction of duty. It appears our military is beset by either inept amateurs, covetous scoundrels, or both, and it really doesn't matter which, the resulting national disaster of botched, under-equipped, and fouled missions is the same.
Just that much will put you on notice that many who are involved in this thread are not going to like the way I see this. Nevertheless, as now a minister of the Gospel I am used to dealing with inconvenient truths, and as a retired enlisted Marine I am steeped in such historic advice as "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" and "C'mon you sonsuvbitches, you want to live forever?"
So let me get right get right to it. Are the high-priced officers who have earned their way to senior rank and assignment, who go to battle with those in the Dept. of the Navy, with green-eye-shaded civilians, with other members of the Joint Staff, are they putting their lives and their careers on the line the way rank and file Marines do when they go into battle? What blood is spilled there in the conference rooms? Because there are no compromises when in combat the bullets fly and the blood flows. It is kill or be killed. No one should misunderstand that. But those in that situation must rely upon those with rank on their collars verses on their sleeves, who go to battle for Marine Corps battle priorities in terms of weapons, flying and tracked equipment, as well as bullets, beans and bandages. And if those senior members of the Marine Corps are not willing to lay down their life and their career for that Marine in the field, that Marine in the field will surely lay down his under circumstances that should have been avoided.
And no one should bother telling me that I just don't understand the complexity of the situation. I spent 27 years in the Marine Corps, was in Vietnam twice and Beirut once, and while a federal civilian with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers saw duty under fire in Iraq at age 65. So I know, keenly, what it is like to do without, and what it is like to have everything you need. That Marine in the field deserves better. Put me in, Coach, I'll fall on that Naval officer's sword before I let him steal from my Marines. Nobody says he has to like me.


My Testimony

After six decades on this earth, I stand today in the armor of Ephesians and say to the enemies of Almighty God, "I am bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him."
I first came to know Christ in 1958 at an old U.S. Army Reserve encampment known as Camp Casey, near Seattle, Washington, where the Free Methodist Church near my home was hosting a teen retreat. It was December 28th and the wind came whipping off a nearby lake. We slept in cold, drafty old wooden barracks, ate meals in an old Army mess hall, and worshiped in the old chapel. The retreat was three days long, and it was on the last night, in the last moments of our singing "Just As I Am," that I was overwhelmed with an urging to come forward and give my life to Christ. And I did. I don't remember what I expected, but I remember thinking as I returned to my seat, with other teens slapping me on the back and shaking my hand, that I didn't feel any different. Then I walked outside.
It was cold, so everyone stayed inside the chapel to sit and talk, some playing the piano and singing. I walked outside, and was stunned. It was a night of the full moon, and everything looked as though it had a layer of gold over it. The lake was molten gold, with golden waves lapping along the shoreline. The trees, the grass, the path, the barracks, all gold, and I looked back at the door to see if I had suddenly passed into heaven. That has been my life with Christ, blessed. I am alive and still preaching Christ by the grace of God.
By the way, none of the other teens reported seeing what I saw that night, God's night of gold. Mine is an individual experience. So will yours be. He's crazy about you.


Why Get Upset?

Once while riding in a bus in Japan driven by an elderly Christian missionary, I remarked about the heedless drivers weaving in and out much too close to the bus. Didn't it upset him sometimes. No, he smiled, it was just part of driving in Japan. I learned so much from Pastor Marty Shaw, Sr., about Christ, about life, about myself. It's all just part of where my God and Savior want me to be. Life isn't what happens to me. Life is my reaction to it.


Christianity and Islam

I have observed that those who equate the Christ with Mohammed, Christianity with Islam, know about the Christ, but do not know the Christ. They are stuck in learning about religions and equating human good with divine intentions. They do not recognize that Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ, a living, breathing relationship, minute by minute, as we have with any other living person. If they knew the Christ, the sheer inhumanity of Islam extremism would not permit their conscience to excuse the brutality of this man-made religion. But they, like we, are human, and we are advised by Christ to forgive them. They have chosen their own way

Close the Borders; Ethics in Government

It is fundamentally wrong, maybe not ethically wrong but organizationally inept, to expect American people to deny others, American citizens or not, educational, medical, social benefits. Most Americans will not say no to hungry children, homeless aliens, etc. The only answer is to keep them out of America; close the borders to illegal aliens, drugs, weapons, everything except what is eyeballed and found legal. The purpose of organized government is to perform services for the citizenry what they cannot perform for themselves, such as organizing military protection, border protection, justice systems, and such. When the government does not meet these expectations, the people have every right to rise up and change those in charge of the government. That time has come. While we can still do it legally through justice and electoral processes, the government leadership must be replaced. The election of 2012 may be our last opportunity to put integrity, ethics and morality back into government, and remove those who are intent on serving themselves and their political agendas, and not the people of the United States of America. On that we must focus, and concentrate every effort.

Abortion Is Murder

Wrong is wrong, murder is murder, and pointing fingers will not stop it. We must concentrate our strengths, our energies and our prayers on stopping the killing of children. We must be strong, courageous, not weak, and not drawn off. Focus on stopping the killing of children.
We can work to determine who are the thieves, the scammers, the serial killers and such. But unlike such crimes, it is no mystery who is committing abortions, who they are committed upon, who are the accomplices. Identities are known. That doesn't stop abortions. We can waste our time and energies marching against them, holding up signs against them, pointing our fingers at them ... to no avail. It's been done. It has not stopped abortion. Our purpose must be to STOP the murder of children. Period.

Foreign Aid

Foreign aid, though a small percentage of our budget, pays huge dividends in providing food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, healing to the ill and hope to those with AIDS, and all in the name of the People of the United States of America. It also aids the American economy and builds in a future for American business and workers. Finally, as it fulfills the admonitions of the Sermon on the Mount, it also puts a new face on the "Ugly American," some of whom are still crying "me first" in a land of plenty over lands of destitution.

America Supports 'Bogus Imperialistic Corporate Profiteering Wars'

Response to a young American man who decried the ‎"...bogus imperialistic corporate profiteering wars..."? I served twice in Vietnam, once in Beirut and once in Iraq. I saw men, women and children freed from tyranny, torture and murderous dictators. I could write a book about the personal thanks we received from these people; fathers grateful their daughters were no longer abducted, raped and murdered by those in charge; young men who could finally get a job and plan on a future with a wife and family; mothers whose children were no longer treated as sexual toys by sadistic thugs. Welcome to the real world. You have no idea what you are talking about.

It's the Entry to WWII All Over Again, Led by Evil Geniuses

I lived through those times. It wasn't that simple or that clear-cut. I agree that Obama is ignorant of history, of business management and leadership techniques, and inept as a financial manager, but evil genius he is not. The bugaboo of capitalism is that greed and envy sometimes lead ordinary citizens in sensitive positions to act as selfish and consummate flaming asses, putting the rest of us in danger. Until we can make the resurgence of integrity, ethics and morals the de rigur of government and business activities, we will continue to suffer.

Answer to "New World Order" Conspiracy Theorists

From Dr. Peter Waldron: " HE LAUGHS IN HEAVEN: My God, the Living God of the Jews and Christians is in charge, in control, and involved in a global revivial. Why do the heathen rage? Why do they conspire against my God? He roars with laughter at their machinations and manipulations. NWO, corporate elitists, secret organizations will collapse from their vanity. Our God, the Awesome God, reigns supreme over all that is seen and unseen."

Prepared for Socialism

Why does America seem asleep in the face of the threat of socialism now confronting it? It began in high school and college. Those who never met a payroll, never heard a shot fired in anger, never knew the true price of freedom, fed an impressionable generation on dreams and pie in the sky, denigrating heroes to make themselves seem more important. We have our work cut out for us, for reality is a hard taskmaster.
Whatever Happened to Real Men?
This question occurred to me as I read about the death of the last World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, on February 28, 2011, in Los Angeles, California. My grandfather, William Leroy Kelley, was a World War I veteran who died in the 1970s, what I would term a real man.
I am 70 years old, and just the other day asked the question of my wife, "What has happened to real men? Where has the old-fashioned, rugged, American individualism gone among men of America? It appears most of the "men" today have become what are best known as "wusses", self-absorbed, me-first. I have begun many an argument over foul language in a public restaurant in the presence of my wife. She is content with the fact I will never change. Basic civility and good manners are no longer practiced on television and so, everyone seems to think it's okay to "act out" in public. It is not. And those who quietly endure it only ensure it continues. My God has taught me I belong to Him, and I own the ground I stand on. Real men love Jesus Christ, or they don't know how to be real men.

Unscriptural Preaching

At the invitation of a Facebook friend, I have just gone to an unnamed Preacher's blog, and read his "Lies Told to the Church," which asserts that the Holy Spirit does not convict us of sin. Okay, so what do we do with John 16:8, which speaks of the Holy Spirit, saying, "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;"?
That great saint, Oswald Chambers, who never preached anything not based in scripture, said of this subject, "Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses the conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God."
We would do well to remember the advice of Ephesians 5:11 ... "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." Misunderstanding scripture through ignorance or lack of training is one thing, but deliberately preaching against what scripture says is deadly. Stay away from it.
I suggest you get hold of two books: The Interlinear Bible, and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
The first shows verses in Hebrew, Greek and English, and each word is numbered. You can look those words up in the Strong's and see what the word meant at the time it was written. There is no confusion in the Bible, and we don't need the minds of men to re-interpret it for us. Let the Holy Spirit guide you; prayer will accomplish that.

We need to recognize that in this age, as in those before us, there is a battle underway about the validity of the inspired Word of God. This is about the validity of scripture. John 16:8 is clear, not confusing. So rather than a lot of personal testaments to what a decent person this or that Preacher is, and I have no doubt they are decent individuals, what about John 16:8, and the fact that someone says this verse in scripture, the inspired word of God, is wrong? Just for example. So let's not talk about these preachers by name, or their great education, or how large their following is, let's talk about the word of God as described in Hebrews 4:12. Is the law of the Lord perfect, as it says in Psalms 19:7? Yes, it is, since the One who made it is perfect. He is perfect, His words are perfect, and you can go to the original language in the Interlinear Bible, supplemented by Strong's Concordance, and check it for yourself. These are the words of Jesus we're talking about. I'll stand with the idea that He meant what He said. If someone wants to say that what He said is not true, their problem, and the problem of all those who buy into that, is not with me, but with the One who said those words. It's not about me, it's not about any one person, it is about the validity, the truth, of the inspired word of God.

The Relevance of Judaism

Responding to a Facebook thread concerning whether or not Judaism was a "dead" religion, since they reject their own Messiah, Jesus Christ, I pointed out that the Book of Revelation says only 144,000 Jews will survive, and that is because they believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of Almighty God. Jesus is the fulfillment of everything the Jews believed in in what we call the Old Testament, and they call the Talmud. If you take several generations to build a spaceship to Mars, and then leave it sitting on the launching pad, waiting for another one to miraculously appear, that doesn't make any sense by anyone's standards. The Old Testament is about Jesus, and without Him, there is no Judaism.

As I have noted elsewhere about a similar issue, we live in an age when every man seems to be his own advisor and counselor, and personal opinion wears the mantle of fact. But it isn't. 2nd Peter 1:20 says that nothing came into holy scriptures by personal interpretation. It is the inspired word of God. If Jesus were not the culmination of the Old Testament, if He were not our salvation through His shed blood, God is perfectly capable of doing it differently.
I am personally very sad as I look about and knowing God is going to take some of us home over the next few years, His people who live and speak the truth of holy scripture, am sad to see so many gathering great audiences to them by tickling their ears with twisted scripture and out and out falsehoods. These are great men of God who apparently for the sake of hero worship and funding have taken this verse and that and run off out into "Jones County" with it, teaching things such verses do not say. More and more I appreciate my brothers and sisters who hold to the inspired word of God. May God bless you, each one.

Public Support of Labor Unions

Across America states and cities are attempting to bring their budgets under control, and for many that means cutting of public financial support of labor unions. There is great social media input from members of labor unions justifying the existence of those unions. But that is a false flag. The issue is whether I, as a non-union member, should have my tax money go to support public employee -- state and municipal employees, teachers, fire fighters, police, first responders -- labor unions.

Where legal action did not exist, we needed the input of organized labor unions. Employees now have legal protection, and unions have grown into something akin to bullies in society. If unions are to survive, those who wish to belong and organize must metamorphose them into something meaningful for employees without being harmful to those who don't belong. Right now I belong to no union, but the unions want public monies -- read my money -- to support them. That entitlement mentality is the death knell of unions.