Saturday, December 30, 2006

Steve Camp on Saddam's Execution


I would be doing a disservice to anyone who reads this blog if I didn't post a link to Steve Camp's excellent post on Saddam's execution. I am always blessed by his posts, and as usual, was very pleased to read his thoughts on the death of Hussein. Here's an exerpt from the post:


But God “takes no delight” in Saddam’s death… Because at the moment of his last breath he entered everlasting perdition and now has knowledge of his torment; of the Lordship of Jesus Christ; the eternal plight of his sin; the futility of the Islamic faith; and has but tasted of God’s holy wrath—for one day, he will receive a physical body in which he will suffer and be tortured night and day forever and ever without relief or reprise by the wrath of a holy God. It is a punishment the weight of which no man can fathom in this life. Saddam has been under the wrath of God all of his life (John 3:36); but he now knows the realty of such divine anger. He is conscience; he is suffering; and he is eternally damned. All who reject Jesus Christ and His gospel are under God’s wrath—and there are no exceptions (John 14:6).

To tell you the truth, I am still mulling over the following words from Camp’s blog:

Beloved, our lives are a vapor (James 4:11); we live once, we die once, and then the judgment (Heb. 9:27). So may I entreat those who do not know Christ to flee… flee to Him; and "flee from the wrath to come" (Matt. 3:7). Do not harden your heart while “today is called today” (Heb. 3:-4) and it be too late for you as it is for Saddam. Do not be contented by thinking you have already fled to Christ. Make certain! Beg the Lord to search your heart and show you yourself. Test yourself to see if you are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). And if not, repent of your sin, trust in Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone for the hope of the salvation of your souls (Roms. 3:21-26). Flee all other means to salvation whereby you may find some glory in your own works, deeds or religious practice. Come to the end of yourself--"deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him" (Matt. 16:24). "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Roms. 10:9-10).

Thanks, Steve, for this very biblical perspective on our world’s current events and a very personal exhortation to each and every reader, both saved and unsaved!


Related News Article:
New York Times

Friday, December 29, 2006

DING, DONG, SADDAM IS DEAD!

"Criminal Saddam was hanged to death," an al-Iraqiya announcer said. The station played patriotic music and showed images of national monuments and other landmarks. [Source: BBC News]
According to reports, Barzan al-Tikriti--Saddam's half-brother--and former Iraqi chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar were also hung alongside Saddam today, Saturday December 29, around 6:00AM (10:00PM EST) in Bahgdad.

My initial thoughts when hearing the news:

Justice is served!...(and I hope it hurt!!)

(...Now let the popular news media pundits begin their tongue-wagging!)

The looming question in my mind is this: How will the capture, conviction, and execution of Saddam Hussein impact the Presidency of George W. Bush in the scope of history? Or more presently: How will other nations view the United States in the shadow of Saddam's recent death?

My prediction is this: To answer my latter question, I think that many countries will praise the death of the murderer as a just punishment and the ultimate will of the People of Iraq. However, I doubt that much, if any credit will be given to the U.S., especially not to Bush.

To answer my prior question, however, contrary to all popular opinion, I still truly believe that George W. Bush will be remembered, hopefully even in my future grandchildren's history books, as one of the greatest and most courageous leaders of the 21st century, among the likes of other strong, modern Presidents such as FDR, JFK, and Reagan. Additionally, I think that the political and physical downfall of Saddam Hussein, the genocidal dictator, will only enhance the legacy of our nation's 43rd President.

In the eternal scheme of things, however, the end of the matter is as such: the One and only God of the Bible is a holy and just God! No matter how Saddam died, in order for us to understand his eternal fate, it is important for us to know how he lived. With this in mind, I rest assure knowing that Saddam Hussein is, at this very moment, facing God's righteous judgment and will pay for his sins against God in the fires of hell. As the author of Hebrews notes, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (10:31)

This understanding of God causes me to both reverentially fear Him and take comfort in Him.

Soli Deo Gloria!


Related News Articles:
USA Today (1)
USA Today (2)
FOX News
BBC News
Yahoo News (1)
Yahoo News (2)
Reuters
New York Daily News
Zee News Imam Husham Al-Husainy of Dearborn, Mich., second from left, celebrates with other Iraqi-Americans after hearing of Saddam Hussein's execution on Friday. By Gary Malerba, AP


Nota Bene: I plan to post more on this topic as further information comes to light. Additionally, I fully intend to post or link to the video and/or photographs of Saddam's hanging when either become available on the web.

Christians & Culture: Love, Death, & Weinerdogs

I read this blog a few days ago and was really struck by its truth. Here's a snippet of what he says:
As a people, we Christians have adopted one of the worst attributes of the anabaptist tradition, and that is a rather sincere disdain for things which are true and beautiful. Here's what I mean by that: we have set up a false dichotomy between "true" and "beautiful" so that anything which is "true" must be plain or otherwise homely, and everything which is "beautiful" must be the work of the devil because it appeals to our eyes and ears. And we have also let the world dictate to us what is "beautiful" so that we don't even know it when we see it anymore.

Read the rest of what Frank Turk of TeamPyro has to say about Christians and the Culture at the Pyromaniacs blog.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Three Letter Word

Here's another good post by Tim Challies. The funniest thing is that Paige and I were just recently discussing the same problem on which Tim sheds light here at Challies Dot Com.

As it has been said before, "How can you present the cure without first diagnosing the problem.

C'mon! It's time for churches to come back to calling it by name: sin.
"...Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."