March 19, 2011
Madness
The faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men – Micah 7:2
I hardly recognize my country anymore. Driving to the grocery store I passed a tattoo parlor, palm reading shop, and drive-thru espresso operated by bikini-clad baristas. In the store parking lot I looked next door to the Regal Cinema, aglow in red and purple neon. Now playing: Season of the Witch and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Our society glorifies the occult.
Everywhere you look, people are agitated and angry. Socialists, communists and Islamists are calling for revolution. In Wisconsin 18 Senate Republicans receive death threats after passing a controversial anti-union bill. Rioters clog the state capitol, screaming and pounding drums. Before the vote a mob of protesters bang on the windows of senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald's home at 6 a.m., demanding he come out. More madness: a brawl erupts inside a Massachusetts Denny's when a woman won't share her maple syrup with another table. Middle-schoolers in East Oakland incite another Denny's riot, hurling chairs, food and plates at one another. In a tirade against God and the Bible, MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell tells viewers the book of Revelation is a work of fiction.
My spirit groans. Judgment is coming. Messiah is returning. It feels close. Am I ready? Is my heart right? I hear Yeshua (Jesus) calling, "Draw near to Me. Trust no one but Me." It's like Moses catching the Israelites worshipping the golden calf, and pleading with his brethren before judgment and death sweep through the camp: "Whoever is on the LORD's side – come to me!"
Posted by Jeff King at March 19, 2011 11:10 AMAddendum – Maybe the faithful person hasn't perished after all. Twelve-year-old Tamar Fogel (pictured right), whose Jewish father and mother and three younger siblings were stabbed to death when suspected Palestinians broke into their West Bank home, has promised relatives she will care for her two surviving brothers, ages 8 and 2. "I will be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings," says Fogel, who discovered the slain bodies after returning from a friend's house late Friday night. Well done, Tamar. You are a remarkable young woman. Your parents, Udi and Ruth Fogel, raised you well.
Addendum – Two Palestinian teens have been arrested for the brutal slaying of five members of the Fogel family in their Itamar home, the Jerusalem Post reports. The suspects, who are affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, confessed to the stabbings. They did not express remorse for their crimes, according to Army Radio. Several suspected accomplices are also under arrest.