Excerpt from XXXVIII - 12 (05)
“Watchman,
what of the night?”
"The
hour has come, the hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the
end!" Eze. 7:6
(Moffatt)
P. 0.
It is called by various names. Some,
who receive it call it for what it is, "junk mail." Others jokingly
call it "fan mail." Whatever it is, each day our postal box gets its
share, and then sometimes, more than its share. More than a week ago, we
received an advertising brochure wanting us to join an apparently new book club
called the American Compass. It is being presented as "The
Conservative Alternative." It is cheap to join and easy to retain
membership. Buy five books for $1.00, and the same number of books during the
next two years to retain that membership; -- and these books at 50% off
publisher's edition prices. The new book club also has a connection with the
"religious right," and the History Book Club through which we have
purchased books during past years.
The front cover of the brochure
sparked my interest. There were three pictures of individuals whom they called
"voices you respect." And with each picture there is a quotation from
a current publication of the one pictured. It was the quotation from Ann
Coulter's book, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must), which caused me
to come to immediate attention. It read:
I am often asked if I still think we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. The answer is: Now more than ever (p. 21).
Across my mind a text of prophecy
flashed. It declares:
And he (the false prophet of Rev. 13) had power to give life unto the image of the beast (first beast of Rev. 13), that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed (v. 15).
Today it is Iraq; tomorrow it may
be Iran; but down the road will be "Mordecai" in the gate. We need to
determine now as to where we will be standing. A re-reading of the book of
Esther is advisable with close attention to what it took to stand in those
centuries past. No less will be required tomorrow.
The trying
experiences that came to God's people in the days of Esther were not peculiar
to that age alone. ... The same spirit that in ages past led men to persecute
the true church, will in the future lead to the pursuance of a similar course
toward those who maintain their