August 1, 2016
This means war.
ISIS is a technologically-savvy iteration of a movement that is anything but clandestine. They publish an online magazine – Dabiq – that targets the world with an insider view of their ultimate objectives and current strategies. They’re reaching a worldwide audience of disenfranchised people with a compelling call to ideological warfare.
The 15th Issue of Dabiq has just been posted. The cover declares their agenda: Break the Cross.
In the fiery sermonette that flows from that headline, they declare, about the “West” (their chosen enemy): “… How do they claim to be monotheistic and claim to know Him (Allah) as being the One and Only, the Merciful, the Just and Wise God yet they attribute to Him a mother, a son, a partner and the Trinity, believe He is unable to forgive mankind for their ‘original sin’ except by having one of His most beloved men (Jesus) unjustly bear their burdens and be crucified on their behalf, and declare that the laws He legislates (sharia) are cruel, barbaric and unfit for modern times? Where is your servitude to Him (Allah)? Where is your respect of what He loves? Where is the residue of sound intellect, which would immediately reject the superstitious beliefs of Trinity and atonement through the crucifixion of Jesus? … We call you to reflect on these questions as the bloodthirsty knights of the Caliphate continue to wage their war of just terror against you…”
Call them what you choose – in government, they say “ISIS;” in conservative political speak, they’re “Islamic Terrorists;” – but be clear what they call themselves: “bloodthirsty knights of the Caliphate.” In a war, clearly declaring the identity of your enemy is the first step in developing a strategy for victory. They – the “other side” – have made their opponent clear: it’s Jesus, and His cross is the symbol of all they are committed to destroy.
No politician in America has the capacity to really understand the war that has been declared against us. While they debate the differences between ISIS and Al Qaeda, they miss the underlying common denominator: their attack is against the Christian faith, and the Cross that is its foundation.
Their confusion is daunting: they assume that all in the “West” are Christian, though most of the population of the West has no personal connection to the Cross. The followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are their real target, and every place they find them, they are marked for martyrdom.
What is it about the Cross? Listen to Peter, addressing Jews at Pentecost: “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:22-24)
Paul knew that the Cross draws the line in the sands of Eternity: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’” (1 Corinthians 1:17-19)
A military solution for Islamic Terrorism? Good luck with that: the Cross is the nuclear weapon in this war, and we need to deploy it to utterly defeat the Evil that will not rest while it stands…
Bob Shank
Amen. And well said.
Thank you for a very clear analysis. Best I’ve read. Your insight is well received and appreciated. I continue to enjoy your uplifting and encouraging words.
Excellent Bob!
Well put Bob! What a pity the supposedly powers to be will not get this. How do you get it to them to try and let them understand that the battle is not against flesh and blood?!
Amen! You certainly have brought irrefutable clarity in the motives of ISIS.
Bob,
Thanks for writing about this! What I think most people don’t understand is that ISIS in their view is not “radical Islam.” As you probably know they are just doing what their book says to do. In that regard they believe they are the antithesis of radical; they are orthodox! (AT least to their own faith.)
Thanks Bob or another insightful and powerful post… I love the phrase, the cross is our nuclear weapon.