"Public Enemy #1: Christians?"

Jesus said, "When the world hates you, remember it hated Me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? 'A servant is not greater than the master'. Since they persecute Me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to Me, they would listen to you! The people of the world will hate you because you belong to Me, for they don't know God who sent Me" (John 15: 18-21).

Guess who got the top spot on a military terrorist list?

If evangelical Christianity didn't pop into your head--no cigar for you! Apparently, we're being labelled "religious extremists" these days because we have the nerve to believe Jesus is who He claimed to be and that there is no other way into heaven except through faith in Christ as presented in the Gospel.

The problem is this: if we are right, then others must be wrong. And according to a military training brief: "every religion has some followers that believe that their beliefs, customs and traditions are the only 'right way' and that all others practice their faith the 'wrong way'.

Yeah, so what? The very essence of true Christianity teaches that Christ paid the penalty for our sin through His death in our place. Only those who repent and receive this pardon will enter God's Kingdom. Those are God's rules. We are free to accept His wonderful gift or reject it and pay for our own sins in hell. Our simple faith threatens no one, and yet it lands us right smack at the very top of a terrorist watch list! The list includes:

1. Evangelical Christianity
2. Muslim Brotherhood
3. Orthodox Judaism
4. Christian identity (Is this us again?!)
5. al Quaeda
6. Hamas
7. Abu Sayyah (who?)
8. Ku Klux Klan
9. Sri Ram Sene (Hindus)
10. Catholicism

etc., etc., etc....

Jesus was not simply a wise teacher or a prophet. He claimed to be the Son of God. If He wasn't God, then He was a liar. There is no middle ground. Our proof that He was who He claimed to be is His empty tomb. His death without the resurrection would have been meaningless. His resurrected body, witnessed by over 500 people, tells us His sacrifice for us was accepted by God. Because He lives, we will live also.

Get it? We can't all be right.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Either Jesus knew what He was talking about or He didn't. If He didn't, then being #1 on the hit parade of terrorists is the least of our problems.

...Meanwhile, back at the Pentagon, someone is rewriting the list. Army spokesman George Wright told Fox News that this was an "isolated incident not condoned by the Department of the Army. This list was not produced by the Army and certainly does not reflect our policy or doctrine. It was produced by an individual without anyone in the chain of command's knowledge or permission."

So, who's responsible?

Apparently, a U.S. Army training instructor acted on his own--a rogue with no authority. (Maybe he should be on the list!) Wright said after the complaint was lodged, the presenter deleted the list, and apologized. "We consider the matter closed," he said.

In our opinion, he got off easy. Some on this list might have called for his head.

But wait...there's more...

Tuesday, we received an urgent email from the Family Research Council warning of more of the same:

"The Department of Defense is meeting with and heeding the advice of Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation."

Why? Weinstein demanded that the military develop new policies on religious tolerance, including a policy for court-martialing military chaplains who share the Gospel during spiritual counselling of our troops.

In a recent article Mikey Weinstein called conservative Christians "human monsters" and "evil, fundamentalist Christian creatures". What did Weinstein say motivates us? "Horrific hatred and blinding bigotry." (Look who's calling the kettle black!)

Why on earth would the military give this guy the time of day? The fact that they have should alarm every freedom-loving citizen in the country--Christian or not.

A wise man once said: "Every absurdity has a champion to defend it, for error is always talkative." -- Oliver Goldsmith

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake...but he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:9,13).

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