Lord's Day Meditation

Spurgeon's writings are imbued with scripture, he writes as one who is taught by the Holy Spirit.

Last evening's (Saturday) devotion speaks to the very heart of the Gospel, and to the true desires of a Christian.

These words speak of my conversion from unbeliever some 12 years ago:

How gently did he gather me to himself, to his truth, to his blood, to his love, to his church! With what effectual grace did he compel me to come to himself!

Since my first conversion, how frequently has he restored me from my wanderings, and once again folded me within the circle of his everlasting arm!

... and I believe they speak to every true follower, and I hope they shed some light to those who are genuinely trying to know more about Jesus and His true Church.

A true believer's prayer:

Great Shepherd, add to thy mercies this one other, a heart to love thee more truly as I ought.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Evening Devotional for October 17, from Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

"He shall gather the lambs with his arm." - Isaiah 40:11

Our good Shepherd has in his flock a variety of experiences, some are strong in the Lord, and others are weak in faith, but he is impartial in his care for all his sheep, and the weakest lamb is as dear to him as the most advanced of the flock. Lambs are wont to lag behind, prone to wander, and apt to grow weary, but from all the danger of these infirmities the Shepherd protects them with his arm of power. He finds new-born souls, like young lambs, ready to perish-he nourishes them till life becomes vigorous; he finds weak minds ready to faint and die-he consoles them and renews their strength. All the little ones he gathers, for it is not the will of our heavenly Father that one of them should perish. What a quick eye he must have to see them all! What a tender heart to care for them all! What a far- reaching and potent arm, to gather them all! In his lifetime on earth he was a great gatherer of the weaker sort, and now that he dwells in heaven, his loving heart yearns towards the meek and contrite, the timid and feeble, the fearful and fainting here below. How gently did he gather me to himself, to his truth, to his blood, to his love, to his church! With what effectual grace did he compel me to come to himself! Since my first conversion, how frequently has he restored me from my wanderings, and once again folded me within the circle of his everlasting arm! The best of all is, that he does it all himself personally, not delegating the task of love, but condescending himself to rescue and preserve his most unworthy servant. How shall I love him enough or serve him worthily? I would fain make his name great unto the ends of the earth, but what can my feebleness do for him? Great Shepherd, add to thy mercies this one other, a heart to love thee more truly as I ought.

A Black Day for Human Rights (2)

How they voted.

According to the Guardian UK the voting at the UN Human Rights Council  in Geneva today was as follows:

In favour (25): 

Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djbouti, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia.

Against (6):

Holland, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Ukraine, US.

Abstentions (11):

Belgium, Bosnia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, Slovenia, Uruguay.

Did not vote (4)

Angola, Britain, France, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan.

I am not sure what the difference is between "abstaining" and "did not vote" (let me know if you understand it); this further information from the Guardian UK sheds some light on it, but it seems an overly subtle difference to me.

Gordon Brown reportedly had a heated telephone call on Wednesday with Netanyahu, who pressed him to vote against the resolution.

Brown spoke again with Netanyahu this morning, hours before the vote, and Britain then decided not to take part at all. A Downing Street spokesman said:

"We did not participate in the vote. We were involved in discussions with Israel and the Palestinians about potentially substantive improvements in the situation on the ground and therefore asked for a delay to the vote."

The Jerusalem Post has more on the reasons for UK and France not to participate in the vote:

An unnamed British diplomat told Israel Radio that in the hours prior to the vote, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy had tried to get clarifications from Israel that would enable the countries to vote against the resolution.

France and Britain reportedly decided to refrain from voting after the contacts with Israel failed to produce the results they were seeking. 

Well perhaps I was too hasty with my comments of quisling for Gordon Brown; I suppose I can't blame him for the state of the UN Human Rights Council. 


Gurth Whitaker
Calgary AB

ADDENDUM, apparently they are confused over at the BBC about the difference between "abstaining" and "did not vote." I found this gem on their website:

"No, we didn't abstain - we didn't vote."

Confused? We were. Apparently, there is a key difference between the UK government abstaining and not voting when the UN Human Rights Council backed a report into the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

A Black Day for Human Rights

A Black Day for justice and truth!

A Black Day for the peace of the Middle East!

A Black Day for the whole world!

The UN Human Rights Council  in Geneva today, passed a resolution endorsing the Goldstone Commission Report by 25 votes to 6, with eleven countries abstaining.

Five states, including France and the UK, declined to vote. I hand my head in shame at the coutnry of my birthday. The spirit of Winston Churchill is not alive in this administration, but the spirit of Nevill Chamberlain is in control.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

Brown the despised Prime Minister of the UK must wear the shame, must bear the epithet 

Quisling! Traitor! Betrayer! Collaborator! Judas! Turncoat! Fifth columnist! - you Benedict Arnold!

England you did not vote;

you didn't register your vote on this sham, this farce.

You failed to vote against this collection of human-rights abusers and didn't stand firm with the only democracy in the Middle East; Israel this tiny country in the Middle East surrounded by hate-spewing, blood thirsty war-mongers who have cynically sponsored terrorism, and suicide bombers. 

"It's all about the oil stupid!"

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israel Foreign Ministry said in a statement today:

"The council's decision undermines efforts to safeguard human rights in accordance with international law, as well as the efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East,"

"The decision encourages terror groups in the whole world and undermines world peace. The decision also ignores the fact that the IDF took unprecedented measures to avoid harming civilians, and [ignores] the terrorists' use of civilians as human shields."

the Post went on to say:

Although the Goldstone report also accuses Hamas of war crimes, the five-page resolution adopted in Geneva explicitly mentions only Israeli violations of international law.

Ealier today, I posted the video, of the address by British hero, Colonel Richard Kemp, addressing the UN Human Rights Council, on behalf of UN Watch.

Watch the video of Colonel Kemp's address here: Self-Defense is not a Crime of War.

Concerning the actions of the IDF (Israel Defence Force) in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, Colonel Kemp told the U.N. Council that:

'the IDF is the Most Moral Army in History of Warfare'

Read the article in Jerusalem Post here: Israel slams UNHRC over its 'one-sided, unjust decision'


Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, AB

Self-Defense is not a Crime of War

UN Watch

British Hero Tells U.N. Council: 'IDF Most Moral Army in History of Warfare'

Today's emergency UN Human Rights Council debate on the Goldstone Report predictably saw a line-up of the world's worst abusers condemn democratic Israel for human rights violations.

In a heated lynch mob atmosphere, Kuwait slammed Israel for “intentional killing, intentional destruction of civilian objects, intentional scorched-earth policy,” saying Israel “embodied the Agatha Christie novel, 'Escaped with Murder'.” Pakistan said the “horrors of Israeli occupation continue to haunt the international community’s conscience.”

The Arab League said, “We must condemn Israel and force Israel to accept international legitimacy." Ahmadinejad’s Iran said “the atrocities committed against Palestinians during the aggressions on Gaza should be taken seriously” and followed up by the international community “to put an end to absolute impunity and defiance of the law.”

What the world's assembled representatives did not expect, however, was the speech that followed (see video and text below), organized by UN Watch.

We invited as our speaker a man who repeatedly put his life on the line to defend the democratic world from the murderous Saddam Hussein, Al Qaeda, and the Taleban.

The moment he began his first sentence, the room simply fell silent. Judge Goldstone, author of the biased report that prompted today's one-sided condemnation, had refused to hear Col. Kemp's testimony during his "fact-finding" hearings. But UN Watch made sure today that this hero's voice would be heard -- at the U.N., and around the world.

UN Watch

UN Watch Oral Statement
Delivered by Colonel Richard Kemp, 16 October 2009
UN Human Rights Council: 12th Special Session

Col. Richard Kemp on the Goldstone Report

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, AB

CAIR Article in the Calgary Herald

(A short post; after having flu for a few days it is starting to take over. I will develop this theme in future posts)
 
I was somewhat shocked yesterday (Wednesday Oct 14), to see an article published in the Calgary Herald  by a member of  Canadian CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations). The article was a rebuttal of the announcement by the MCC (Muslim Council of Canada) requesting that the Canadian government should ban the niquab, veils or face-mask. (I posted an article on Lux et Veritas a few days ago and can be seen here: Egypt’s top cleric to ban veils in schools)

I was surprised, but also concerned because I had heard enough about CAIR for "red-flags" to be raised. So I called my good friend Geraint for information concerning CAIR.

He supplied me with considerable evidence (all in the public domain), to confirm my suspicions; but after reading I found out that it is a lot worse than I imagined.

Canadian CAIR is an affiliate of CAIR, the unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF terror funding trial;the Holy Land Foundation For Relief And Development (HLF) was a pro Hamas organisation.

This is a very serious business.

"Prosecutors applied the label of "unindicted co-conspirator" to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development."

Note that CAIR is named as an "unindicted co-conspirator" by the prosecutors in the case.

A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood."

This whole report can be read here: Islamic Groups Named in Hamas Funding Case

It should be understood that Canadian CAIR also engages in "lawfare" (as does its parent organisation CAIR), and brought legal action against the well-respected journalist David Frum and the National Post,

"Lawfare" is used by International actors to shut-up critics of Islam using our western courts. It is often funded by Saudi Arabia or other middle eastern states with deep pockets when it come to spreading militant Islam. 
 
David Frum wrote this rebuttal to CAIR and their legal action in 2004:

The author defends against libel charges from the Council on American Islamic Relations. CAIR has maintained indisputable ties to Islamist terrorism--a fact that must be exposed.

David Frum list evidence against CAIR:

CAIR was founded in 1994 by alumni of an older group, the Islamic Association for Palestine. The IAP, founded by senior Hamas figure Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, calls for the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state under Islamic law in Israel's place. (In 1996, CAIR would condemn the U.S. government's decision to deport Marzook as an "anti-Islamic" act.)

CAIR's first director, publicly declared himself a supporter of Hamas.

CAIR's first executive director, Nihad Awad, publicly declared himself a supporter of Hamas at a 1994 forum at Barry University in Florida.

CAIR board member supports the convicted World Trade bomber Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman:

One of CAIR's original advisory board members, Siraj Wahhaj, served as a character witness for Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. Rahman is the blind Egyptian cleric convicted in 1995 of conspiracy to bomb New York landmarks. CAIR described Rahman's conviction as a hate crime.

 "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."

CAIR's founding chairman, Omar Ahmed, also an IAP alumnus, is said to have declared at a public event in California in July, 1998: "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth." Ahmed has since disputed the accuracy of the quote--five years after it was reported by a California newspaper.

Soliciting Donations to the Holy Land Foundation, banned organisation linked to Hamas:

After the 9/11 attacks on the United States, CAIR's Web site featured a link titled, "Donate to the NY/DC Disaster Relief Fund." The link connected to the Web site of the Holy Land Foundation, a charity closed down by the United States three months later as a Hamas front.

 David Frum's article can be read here: The Question of CAIR

I have not addressed the burqa or niqab issue, I have been focusing on CAIR, and I will return to that debate tomorrow (God willing). I will address the deceptive nature of the article.

The full article can be read here: For Muslim women, veil is power and beauty, by Riad Saloojee, For The Calgary Herald, Published: Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Bio: The author of the piece is Riad Saloojee Is A Canadian Lawyer And Member Of The Canadian Council Of American-Islamic Relations's Advisory Board. He Is A Full-Time Student In Arabic And Islamic Jurisprudence.

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, AB