Whew! we’ve dodged a bullet. At least for now. The news over the weekend, and through much of this week, has been full of reports about the killing of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian Major General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for military and clandestine operations in other countries, and Trump ordered a drone strike that killed the general on January 3, 2020.
Iran retaliated by sending rockets to two U.S. Military bases in Iraq, and luckily, there were no fatalities. Over the weekend threats went back and forth on Twitter between Trump and the Iranian government. But at this point it appears that everybody’s ready to take a step back and perhaps not put us in a full-fledged war.
Somebody on Twitter suggested that Trump’s action was intended to bring on the rapture that many evangelical Christians believe in. I was shocked. I don’t know a lot about the rapture, not having paid much attention to that in the Bible as I never thought it possible in my lifetime. And I don’t believe in taking the Bible literally.
According to Wikipedia, “The rapture is an eschatological concept within Christianity, particularly within branches of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise ‘in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.'”
This is closely tied to the apocalypse – the end of the world. This end is supposed to be preceded by natural disasters, which we are seeing now, as well as a a number of biblical prophesies about unrest in the Middle East and the return of all Jews to Israel.
Some people see the end coming sooner than later.
An article in the New York Times, interviewed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shortly after Trump moved the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and announced that he supported that city as the capital of Israel. That article included this:
“Studies show that white evangelicals are much more likely than other Americans to believe that Israel fulfills a biblical prophecy. Known as Christian Zionists, they believe God promised the land to the Jews, and that the gathering of Jews in Israel is foretold in the prophecy of the rapture — the ascent of Christians into the kingdom of God.”
While Pompeo didn’t talk about this prophesy specifically, he didn’t hesitate to say that the Bible informs everything he does. And there were numerous references to the rapture in the article.
I find it a bit unnerving to know that so many in the current administration believe in literal messages from the Bible and bring that belief to governmental decisions. What happened to separation of church and state?
I guess that only applies until it’s your church.
LET’S HAVE A LITTLE FRIDAY FUN! These jokes come from The Laugh Factory
I went down the street to a 24-hour grocery store. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, “Hey! The sign says you’re open 24 hours.” He Said, “Yes, but not in a row!”
Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House. One is from Chicago, another is from Tennessee, and the third is from Minnesota. All three go with a White House official to examine the fence.
The Minnesota contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. “Well,” he says, “I figure the job will run about $900. $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit for me.”
The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, “I can do this job for $700. $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and $100 profit for me.”
The Chicago contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$2,700.”
The official, incredulous, says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?”
The Chicago contractor whispers back, “$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence.” “Done!” replies the government official. And that, my friends, is how the new stimulus plan will work.
A man went to his lawyer and told him, “My neighbor owes me $500 and he won’t pay up. What should I do?” “Do you have any proof he owes you the money?” asked the lawyer. “Nope,” replied the man. “OK, then write him a letter asking him for the $5,000 he owed you,” said the lawyer. “But it’s only $500,” replied the man. “Precisely. That’s what he will reply and then you’ll have your proof!”
That’s it for me folks. I have a rather quiet weekend ahead. Which is good because I am so close to finishing the third book in the Seasons Mystery Series. I really hope to get a lot of writing done over the weekend and maybe wrap it up. What do you have planned? Whatever it is I hope it entails some good times with some good people. Be safe. Be happy.