Christians are looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately the scriptures tells us that a world leader is going to come on the scene first and establish One World Government, economy, and religion. The scriptures indicate that he will be a pseudo messiah and will be supported by some kind of false prophet.

Muslims are also looking forward to the coming of their own Messiah referred to as The Mahdi. Along with the Mahdi they believe that Jesus- called Isa will return as his prophet and support him in establishing Muslim rule over the entire world and economy, and the establishment of Islam as the only legal world religion.

Joel Richardson compares these two end time views and shows how closely compatible they truly are. It is his conclusion that the Muslim Mahdi could end up being one and the same historical figure that Christians refer to as Antichrist and the Muslim Jesus –Isa could end up being the figure known as the False Prophet foretold in the Christian scriptures.

It is a valuable book whether or not you accept his conclusions or not. Richardson goes into detail quoting the Quran and other authoritative Muslim writings concerning their view of the end times. I found it helpful in understanding what is happening on the world scene today with the rise of radical Islam as a threat to Western civilization and the entire world.

A non-stop action/adventure stand alone novel. The third and final book in the ‘Assassin’ series-previous: “Prayers For The Assassin” and “Sins of The Assassin”

The year is 2045. The former United States is split in two major nations including The Islamic Republic based in Seattle and the Bible Belt in the south with a capitol in Atlanta. The Aztlan Empire (Formerly Mexico) is ready to gobble up the entire Southwest and there doesn’t appear to be any way to stop it.

Time is running out for the ‘Old One’ to establish his international caliphate. He is 150 years old and is finally degenerating. The hero of the ‘assassin series’ Rakkim is off to the contaminated Washington DC zone along with techno nerd Leo to find a sacred relic that could bring the two warring factions of the old USA back together again and counter the Aztlan encroachment. Sarah does prevail in her plans for using the ‘relic’ but in a way even she doesn’t expect.

The story starts off with Carbon–skinned super warrior Gavenholtz vowing to get Rakkim and kill his entire family. The fake preacher Malcolm Crews actually has a few real healings and seems to be somewhat changed by it all. The cruel Grand Mullah of New Fallujah- Ibn-Azziz finally has his confrontation with Rakkim after he tries to condemn survivors of a girls school fire. After all the girls were not fully clothed in their burkas since the fire was in the middle of the night.

In the end it can be said that ‘divine providence’ saves the day.

Most of the ‘organized’ religion in the series is something that most of us would rather avoid, particularly the Islamic fundamentalists and the fake Christian preachers. There are no really ‘good’ religious leaders anywhere in this series even though religion is front and center throughout. Nevertheless the story does turn out right with the ‘good’ winning out and ‘evil’ basically losing along with far better prospects for the former USA on the horizon.

This leaves us to speculate that the author may not care for organized religion all that much but does hope against hope for some kind of order and divine providence in the universe anyway. At least that is what this series seems to represent.

I highly recommend all three books. The author gives an uncanny picture of what the country might be like if the Muslims ultimately prevail and turn at least a portion of the United States into an Islamic Republic—a very scary prospect.               *Top

A Novel by the author of The Kite Runner.

The story of two women, Mariam and Laila. Mariam is 5 years of age in Afghanistan, 1964. She looked forward to the visits by her father Jahil until she is old enough to understand that her mother Nana and her were not part of his regular family.

After her mother dies, Jahil finally takes her in but quickly marries her off to a businessman from Kabul–Rasheed who is least 30 years older than the 15 year old girl.

Laila grows up in Kabul, the daughter of a teacher. Life is pretty good till the Russians come and with them the beginning of continuous war. Her brothers are killed in the war against the Russians and her mother is never the same. Laila closest friend is Tariq who moves with his family to Pakistan to escape the war that has finally come to Kabul. Soon Laila’s life is changed when she is injured and her family is killed as they too are trying to leave the war zone.

Rasheed and Mariam take her in and nurse her back to health. Laila plans on going to Pakistan to find Tariq but Rasheed tricks her into staying on and becoming his second wife. At first the two women do not get along but later with the coming of a child they become closest of friends and rely upon each other to make life with Rasheed tolerable.

The story is one of hope in the midst of war and dispair–family and love in the face of incredible injustice and cruelty. It gives one some insight into family life and particularly the plight of Muslim women in Afghanistan over the last 40 years under the Russians, the Mudjahadeen, and the Taliban. An incredible story.              *Top 

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• Book Review | A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The story starts with a phone call taken by a young man with an old family friend on the other end telling him that he needs to come back to the Middle East and care of some family business. Then the story line flashes back 20 years and in the process the author gives us an interesting taste and view of old Afghanistan before the Russians, the Taliban, and nearly 20 years of war.

It is the story of two boys, Amir and Hassan, that are friends until a tragic event changes their relationship forever. The boys had just won a kite tournament in Kabul and in the midst of their celebration, one boy, Hassan, is cruelly attacked while the other, Amir, shrinks from helping his friend.

Soon events overtake them all and separate the friends forever, as Russian tanks come rolling into Kabul and Amir and his father run for their lives and escape to America.

20 years pass, and we now find Amir in America as a grown man within the Afghan expatriate community. Amir finds a young lady that he is interested in, however her father was a former general who does not seem to favor Amir. Amir’s father is now dying of cancer but gets out of bed and goes to the general and somehow arranges for the marriage Afghani style.

Soon the father passes on, but we now see that Amir and his wife have established a happy home. Then the phone rings.

We follow Amir back to Afghanistan and experience the dark cruelty of the Taliban regime. Amir discovers that Hassan has been killed by the authorities but has a son. His fathers old friend informs Amir of a surprising family secret and he sets out to find Hassan’s son.

This ends up being a tale of redemption as Amir makes up for his earlier treatment of Hassan by risking his own life and health in rescuing Hassan’s son and finally bringing him back to America and a new home. There are a number of twists and turns in the story with some sad consequences. The story seems to want to be ‘a happy ever after tale’ but it has a dose of reality that only leaves the reader with a little hope for the future. Nevertheless, an incredible tale with all sorts of lessons for real living.             *Top

The main stream Western press has bent over backwards to present Islam in the best ‘politically correct’ light possible as the: ‘Religion of Peace’.  Even President Bush refers to Islam with this label. In recent books, documentaries, and movies, the media and the left continue to present serious Christians in an unfavorable light while the threat to Western civilization coming from radical Islam is discounted.

Even in the midst of overwhelming evidence that a large portion of Islam is at least sympathetic to Islamic terrorists, many in the Western world look upon Christianity as being at least as dangerous to World peace as the Jihadists.

Even more incredible, the thousands of Islamic terrorists and their sympathizers, which run into the hundreds of millions including thousands of clerics, are presented as not really representing ‘true’ Islam; while a few individuals acting on their own, like Timothy McVeigh and one or two abortion clinic bombers, are said to represent Christianity, even though they never claimed to be and have no support in the Christian community for their actions.

Robert Spencer has written a book which documents the threat that normative Islam poses for the world. He also debunks the myth of equivalence between Islam and Christianity. He presents evidence from the teachings and leaders of both religions which demonstrates that the real ‘Religion of Peace’ is Christianity rather than Islam.

Spencer documents a number of historical events, including the crusades, where history has been rewritten in the last few years in order to cast modern Islam in a better light. He asks quite poignantly- where are all the Christian terrorists and name the Christian leaders who support violence? The answer of coarse is none. One by one he presents historical facts and current events which lead to only one conclusion: Christianity is the real religion of peace.           *Top

 

This book is essential and just a bit scary.  The First section is well worth the price of the book.  Pastor Hagee is a friend of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is privy to a lot of Israeli intelligence information.

Pastor Hagee ends Section1 with a chapter on “Unveiling Islam”.  Here, he talks about the theological and sociological characteristics of Islam that support radical terrorism and lead to the threat that we are facing.  Section 2 contains a short history of Jerusalem and the Jewish people.  In section 3, John Hagee gives us his perspectives on the place of Israel and possibly the USA in the end-times, an eschatological view from prophetic scriptures yet to be fulfilled.

In the final section, Pastor Hagee gives us his interpretation of Romans 9-11, another valuable and interesting teaching.  Though some Calvinists might cringe a bit here.  Then the book ends with a chapter listing five Biblical reasons why Christians should support Israel and the Jewish people.  Here, I generally agree with Pastor Hagee.

However, I believe that Christians should also be concerned about Palestinians and Arabs in general.  The Gospel must go to every nation, and we really do need to show our love and concern for these folk also, and pray for their salvation, even those who are our enemies.

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What would America be like if it became an Islamic Republic in the future? The setting for the book is Seattle, 2040.  ‘Black Robe’ religious police are roaming the city arresting those who violate the dress and language codes.  Most Christians have fled to the old South, which is a separate country called "The Bible Belt".  The Catholic Christians, who were persuaded to remain, have definitely become second-rate citizens. Mormons have there own territory in Utah & southern Idaho, and Nevada is an unaligned "Free State".  San Francisco has become a fundamentalist conclave, where homosexuals are hung from bridges & Jews are executed immediately.  In the process, science & education is severely restricted, and America has become a third-world country.  This is the future that many in the middle east are seeking for America and for the whole world.

The story is a non-stop chase through Seattle, the underground, California & Nevada.  The heroes have information which could change history & probably the country.  An assassin is dogging their every move.   It is a ‘can’t put it down’ novel filled with all sorts of ‘what ifs’.  In the end, you are convinced of one thing–you really never want to live in an ‘Islamic Republic’.  The ‘war on terror’ really does become a little more real and important in the process.

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