Greetings from Tyler,
We hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and remain in the mood of humble contemplation of all the many fabulous blessings God has bestowed upon us. Some don’t view this holiday in the spirit it was originally intended. You’ve probably seen or heard some of the reports where retailers deeply discount limited supplies of popular items, and some people are willing to wrestle with strangers in a retail store to get what they want. Obviously, that was not the intent of the proclamation that brought about this uniquely American holiday. Not that other countries haven’t mimicked the traditions, but it looks as though commercialism has all but obscured the reason that the tradition was implemented in the first place.
The original Thanksgiving proclamation was issued by George Washington in 1789 at the behest of both houses of Congress, which is clearly stated in the first paragraph. Though the entire proclamation is a full page in length, the third and final paragraph seems particularly applicable for the purpose of this Update and for this time in our national history.
“And also that we may then united in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us, and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.” George Washington.
We’ve come a long way, baby! Have we not? How does that beautiful expression of God’s Hand in our personal existence and national behavior match up with all that we’ve seen and endured from current national leadership, from Congress, to the Supreme Court or the President, or for that matter, the behavior of their constituents? It is doubtful that the protest crowds making “their voices heard” while abusing the freedom and safety of others have ever taken a single one of those sentiments to heart.
There’s been a rash of ambush murders of policemen, under an administration that has branded police as racist and ruthless in their dealings with minorities, and rewarded and encouraged “protest” organizations with visits to the White House. We’ve seen the Supreme Court elevate queer matrimony to the level of “holy matrimony,” along with the implicit threat of legal jeopardy to any who would dare to “discriminate” in any way. We’ve watched in wonder as top officials of judicial agencies substitute their opinions and attitudes for Constitutional law in one situation after another, none of which have any connection to the sentiments expressed in the paragraph above.
This world is in the middle of an unholy mess. The EU looks to be a failing experiment, with Britain pulling out and now Italy expected to follow. An unnerving report shows that the EU is attempting to rush ahead with the formulation of a European Army before Britain can legally pull the plug on EU membership (which is not due to begin until the end of March 2017) and thereby force the UK to fund the project to the tune of nearly a billion dollars. But it’s not the last of the punishments intended to be heaped upon the British for being so “bigoted and hateful” as to reject Europe’s socialist Utopia in a sea of Muslim immigrants. No, Europe’s leaders intend to make sure that Britain pays dearly in a myriad of ways for rejecting the great wisdom of Angela Merkel and the entire EU bureaucracy.
The Middle East is the focal point of the world’s concern, and the story is the same as it has always been, only worse. The Muslim world, with the possible exceptions of Jordan and Egypt, still wants Israel wiped off the face of the earth. Palestinian terrorists have tried everything; car bombs, rockets, running through crowds with cars, knife attacks, and now arson. Surely you know that fires have been set all over the State of Israel in recent days, displacing thousands from their homes in some cases, and are still burning at this writing.
We’ve got some five thousand Americans on the ground in Iraq, not in combat, but in an advisory role to Iraqi forces trying to reclaim cities conquered by ISIS. Another of our servicemen is being reported killed by an I E D just today. Terrorist bombs against civilian targets are going off daily, it just never seems to stop.
Russia is now militarily entrenched in Syria, which is a recent phenomenon allowed to transpire under the expert application of foreign policy by our disgraced Department of State. Much of the entire region is in a state of bombed out anarchy, with no hope of repair.
The Middle East has been treated as crucial to western interests for primarily two reasons, Israel and oil. In recent years Israel has suffered a virtual abandonment from its most historically generous benefactor, the United States. That may be about to change under the incoming U. S. administration, but the situation, particularly regarding Iran may be substantially more dangerous than before.
On the subject of oil, the Middle East may be a much less critical a factor where the United States is concerned. If not for the advent of fracking technology, and huge output from North and South Dakota, we might well be in much worse economic condition. But maybe you’ve heard, vast oil reserves have just been discovered in west Texas that are more plentiful by far than anything ever seen before in the United States. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth among crestfallen “save the planet” activists. It looks like there might not be so much bowing and scraping at the feet of the Saudi royal family going forward.
That’s one more fabulous blessing for which we can be very thankful. In a way, it’s a shame that Thanksgiving only comes around once a year. We could wish our society could take it to heart for even just one day, but that might mean they’d miss out on the one-time-only discounts! But those sentiments will remain in the forefront of our thoughts, not only for the remainder of the weekend, but for the rest of our lives.
Mark Armstrong
Bible prophecy is mostly for the “end time”. Daniel was told “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:8-9) But most end time prophecy concerns “Israel”. Does that not mean the little Jewish nation of modern Israel, many assume? Most certainly not, though other prophecies do most certainly relate to Judah. Who then is the latter day Israel to whom a great many end time prophecies are directed? The Garner Ted Armstrong authored book “Europe and America in Prophecy” spells it out from the Bible with full references plus an extensive bibliography of profane sources. A FREE copy awaits you by calling (903) 561 7070 in the USA, 1300 885 066 in Australia or by emailing your request with return address details to gta.info@ozemail.com.au.
