What does God think about disaster preparedness?
People of faith challenged to take lead
By Thomas Horn
Today, a strange paradox exits. What looks like the fulfillment of prophecy is everywhere; unrest in the Middle East, the rise of a European Superstate, the alignment of Gog and Magog, forming of a national ID and gateways through biotechnology that could unleash upon earth pestilence of biblical proportions. People from all three of the world’s great religions see these developments as potential omens of an ‘End Times’ scenario leading to the Apocalypse.
Yet many believers in God, especially in America, are indifferent to the need to prepare for the unexpected.
An article by Mimi Hall in USA TODAY this week said, "Most Americans haven't taken steps to prepare for a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other emergency, according to a new study on preparedness, and only about a third have made plans with family members about how they would communicate with each other during a crisis."
Part of the reason for this may be that we are well off in the United States, and we trust in our bank accounts to sustain us. Unfortunately, money sitting in savings and investments are useless ...   more »

A chaplain who was dismissed from the U.S. Navy when he refused to following orders to make his prayers "nonsectarian" and remove the name of Jesus from them now has been commissioned by the governor of Kentucky as an honorary "Kentucky Colonel."
Just one week after his dismissal from the Navy was completed, Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt also prayed "in Jesus' name" on the floor of the Kentucky Legislature, where the state house then passed a unanimous resolution to honor Navy chaplains who pray in Jesus' name.
He prayed:
Our Father in heaven, I come to you through my Lord Jesus Christ, and I ask that you be our only God today.
Test the reins of our hearts, to see if there is any sin, any idol, or anything we'll not give up for you.
Remove from us every false thing we delight in, and everything we rely upon, so we may delight in and rely upon you alone as our only God.
Show us all our hidden faults, so we can immediately forsake them. Fill us with your spirit of holiness instead.
Show us the way of the Cross, and the path of suffering, that we may embrace selfless ...   more »

LITTLE ROCK --As state legislators line up against the U.S. government's attempt to standardize driver's licenses nationwide, some believe it is a beastly plot that will draw the world closer to the apocalypse.
Their inspiration: a magazine dedicated to biblical prophecy. Their fear: national ID numbers given to residents are the mark of the beast, the 666 from the Book of Revelation.
"The ramifications are horrendous," said Sen. Ruth Whitaker, whose resolution opposing the Real ID Act of 2005 has passed the Arkansas Senate. "If there is anything akin to Nazi Germany, it is this act."
Congress hopes to reduce identity theft and boost national security by requiring people to use Real IDs to board airplanes, enter federal buildings and open some bank accounts. Those who dabble in biblical prophecy say the new government-issued numbers mark the beginning of the end.
"People are very concerned if the federal government gives you a number, it will be the mark of the beast," said Missouri Rep. Jim Guest, the sponsor of a resolution similar to Whitaker's. "There are everyday people who get the connection to 666."
Legislators in Georgia, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington state and Wyoming have also balked at ...   more »

College Republicans at San Francisco State University desecrated the name of Allah by stepping on makeshift Hezbollah and Hamas flags, charged school officials who brought the students before a hearing yesterday.
The trouble began at an Oct. 17 anti-terrorism rally in which the students stepped on butcher paper painted to resemble the flags of the Middle East terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah. The College Republicans say they simply copied the script from an image on the Internet and didn't know it bore the name of Allah in Arabic script.
University spokeswoman Ellen Griffin, however, told San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra J. Saunders the university "stands behind this process" of investigating the students for possible punishment.
"I don't believe the complaint is about the desecration of the flag," Griffin said. "I believe that the complaint is the desecration of Allah."
The university has 10 days from the time of the hearing to decide whether to sanction the students.
Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE, which represents the students, insisted the school has no basis for punishing them.
"The College Republicans engaged in unequivocally protected political expression, and it strains all credibility to think the ...   more »