ISIS Helpfully Provides a Christian Military Illustration

No, I am not kidding about the headline.  No, I am not off my rocker . . . at least I do not think I am.  But, anyway, I read the following about ISIS, and a light bulb turned on inside my head.

ISIS leaders select foreign jihadists for suicide missions because they usually arrive in Syria with little or no battlefield experience and so have no military value.

According to one ISIS insider who fled the group, special training camps have been set up inside Syria which filter out foreigners with no military experience and prepare them for suicide operations. 

A security source who works with British Muslim communities on combating extremism told MailOnline that he had been made aware of a number of British fighters who had been unprepared for the reality of Syria: 

'The problem is that young British Muslims who go over to Syria thinking they will be treated like equal brothers by IS find out very quickly that they are being told to strap on suicide vets and prepare for Jannah [heaven]....it's hardly surprising that they have cold feet about these missions.'

One can imagine.  And indeed defections among those appointed to die are something of a problem for ISIS.

A source from inside Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State in Syria, told Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently [an anti-ISIS group] that ISIS has set up road blocks and imposed strict security checks to stop suicide bombers abandoning their missions.

Summary execution awaits those who are caught.

I read this and almost immediately thought – is this not like joining Satan’s brigades?

Satan promises worldly glory.  Indeed, that is exactly what that fraud offered to Jesus as he fasted in the wilderness.  (Matthew 4: 8, 9)  He still offers worldly glamour as ISIS promises the glamour of fighting for a revolutionary cause . . . or is that a devolutionary cause?

And both Satan and ISIS promise rewards after this life as well. Satan fools people into thinking Hell is just a big party with the fun crowd. ISIS fools people into thinking suicide bombing results in 70 virgins.

Speaking of false advertising, both Satan and ISIS fool recruits into thinking they will be treated well, like “brothers.”  But once the recruits are in and enrolled, they are not treated well as all.  Their treatment is instead, well, Hellish.  That is how Evil operates.

And neither Satan nor ISIS like defectors either and will stop them and kill them if they can.

The armies of evil attract the foolish with marked success.  But the end results for the fools are not so attractive.

There is a way that seems right to a man,

                  but its end is the way to death.

                  Proverbs 14:12 ESV

Thanks be to God there is a better army to join.  But that will have to wait for another post.

Report: Brian Williams Will Not Be Punished (I don’t believe it.)

Yes, there is a report out that Brian Williams will not be punished for his serial lies on his helicopter ride in Iraq.  But I do not believe it.  With even Tom Brokaw appalled and wanting Williams’ “head on a platter,” it is difficult for me to see how Williams can keep his job.  And surely NBC values its undeserved credibility more than that.

But one conservative devoutly hopes he does indeed keep his job, and it is hard for me to disagree.

If the network continues to keep a serial fabricator on board, it will convince many of those who still buy what the press is selling that something is fundamentally wrong. That would be a fantastic development, because something is fundamentally wrong. The self-described watchdogs have instead become the left’s gatekeepers. The sooner everyone appreciates that, the better it will be for all.

Perhaps the 15-point head start Evan Thomas once boasted that press bias often gives Democratic Party political candidates in contested elections might begin to disappear. Legislative proposals might once again be discussed on their merits instead of being pre-judged favorably or unfavorably based on who is presenting them. The whole truth about the nation’s dire financial and economic circumstances, its outrageous cronyism and corruption, and the two-party, one-mindset elitists who run it, might finally penetrate the minds of everyday, non-news junky Americans.

We can always dream. Keep that dream alive, NBC. Keep Brian Williams right where he is.

BOOZE – It’s What’s for Dinner!

Ah yes, what would a pre-consecration dinner in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland be without BOOZE – and lots of it!

The timeline, which the Diocese of Maryland said Monday it had added to its Web site, says the head of the national Episcopal Church was made aware that Cook may have been drunk during her installation celebration. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was the leader of the Sept. 6 service that consecrated Cook, or made her a bishop [or something].

Bishop Eugene Sutton — who oversees Episcopalians in much of Maryland aside from the D.C. suburbs — suspected Cook was “inebriated during pre-consecration dinner,” the timeline says, “and conveys concern to Presiding Bishop. Presiding Bishop indicates she will discuss with Cook. Cook consecrated.”

You’re darn right she was consshhecrated!  You can’t separate an Anglican from her BOOZE, and that goesth double for Heather Cook!

Katharine Schori and Heather Cook and ALL (hic) good Episcopalians agree!  BOOZE – It’s what’s for dinner!

Pre-Lent Thoughts … and Confessions

Yesterday, Septuagesima Sunday, began the Pre-Lenten season.  This season has grown on me in recent years.  I’ve found that if I prepare for Lent for only very few days, if even that, beforehand, it is difficult for me to get a handle on what my Lenten focus should be.  So I appreciate having two or so weeks to nudge me to reflect and get ready (and to remind me to finally take down all my Advent/Christmas/Epiphany lights.)

Since I think my Lenten focus this year should involve an area relevant to my public conduct, I think I should be less private than usual about it.

I am convinced that I should be significantly more careful to avoid giving needless offense.

Yes, that does seem in opposition to my New Year’s post bravely proclaiming my intent to offend and offend well in 2015.  But actually my Lenten intent now forming goes very well with that earlier stated intent.  For if we are so bold to proclaim truth and to tear down lies that it offends, it is all the more important that we avoid needless offense - the truth offends enough as it is!  Therefore, we should otherwise be gentle and winsome to add credibility to our message lest it be thought, with some justification, that we are just being offensive, period.  And I confess I have not been nearly careful enough in that regard, neither on this blog nor in my personal life.

And that includes my life-long struggle with unrighteous anger, particularly being quicker to anger than to forgiveness.  Another life-long tendency has been to be so much an individualist that I often pay not enough heed to “take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men.” (Rom. 12:17)

And that’s for starters.  So, yes, if you wish to pray for me as I prepare for and then enter Lent, there is much for which to pray!  Gentle readers, please feel free so to do.

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NOTE: Yes, I am aware today is Candlemas.  That I do not have any particularly edifying thoughts on this glorious feast should not at all be taken as a knock on it.  I should educate myself more on this day for sure.

Obama’s Federal War on Red States Continues

Oh.  You weren’t aware of Obama’s war on red states? You weren’t aware of his regime punishing states that DARE not vote for him?  Then wake up and smell the coffee.  Better yet, smell the pork.

Between the 2009 and 2013 fiscal years, funding for a wide swath of discretionary grant programs, from Head Start preschool education to anti drug initiatives, fell by an average of 40 percent in Republican-leaning states like Texas and Mississippi.

By contrast, funding to Democratic-leaning states such as California and politically competitive swing states like Ohio dropped by 25 percent.

And this is only one way in which Obama punishes red states.  Remember all those illegal aliens he practically invited to the U. S. last year?  I do.  He dumped them - and their diseases - on red states.

What is the Obama Regime doing? Is it deporting these illegal aliens? The Regime isn’t even deporting criminal illegal aliens. No, the Regime is dumping them. The Obama Regime, instead of calling the Embassies of the nations these children come from and arranging for their repatriation, is instead trying to find their family members in the United States for “reunification.”

The Regime is sending these children to Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma.

What do those three states have in common?

They are red states.

Obama was supposed to be this Great Uniter, a president of all Americans.  Instead, he is dividing us any number of ways . . . including red from blue.  And he is hardly a president working for those who oppose him.  Heck, he sends the IRS and any number of agencies after those who oppose him.

But there is a bigger picture here.  The Federal government is more and more becoming an instrument of blue states to put red states under their thumb.  Arbitrarily overturning red state laws and referendums on marriage is part of that as well.

And how long should red states put up with that?

An Update

This morning, a good-humored young woman at Goodreads graciously responded to my letter and notified me that I am no longer the author of Big Boobs but only of Pilot Point and God Knows What It’s Like to be a Teenager.

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

A Letter

I’ve just sent the following letter via e-mail.  I think readers will find it self-explanatory.

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Dear sirs/madams,

Good day.

I’ve just visited my Goodreads profile only to discover I am the author not only of Pilot Point and of God Knows What It’s Like to be a Teenager, but also of Big Boobs.  

Although the concept is indeed very interesting and one I myself have thought on frequently, I cannot in all honesty claim credit for this work of literature.

Far be it from me to claim credit for the talented, voluminous and well-rounded efforts of another.  Therefore, I must be honest and ask, albeit with some reluctance, how do I remove my supposed association from this book?

By the way, I have searched your help and other pages and have found no way to do this.  I have been tempted therefore to let this pass, but my conscience and integrity as an author will not allow me.

Thanks for your assistance.

Very warm regards,

mark marshall

author of Pilot Point, not of Big Boobs