And now, for the rest of the story

And now, for the rest of the story …


I have a dear friend, husband of a former colleague, who has spent a significant portion of his life working for a highly regarded, multi-national, faith-based organization fighting poverty, disease and injustice throughout the most tangled and torn corners of this earth.

For most of his tenure, he travelled extensively and spent long stretches of time in one impoverished part of the world or another, spearheading the “justice and mercy” arm of this international ministry. Son of a diplomat, he spent much of his time overseas interacting with and trying to influence the leaders and decision-makers of the world’s hot spots.

He is a man of substance and discernment … and boots-on-the-ground experience.

He sent me an email this morning, in response to The Insomnia Special I sent out last night. His words are worth considering:


“As you know I have a great passion and professional investment in
international affairs. Coverage of Iran in Foreign Policy, Foreign
Affairs, the Economist, International Crisis Group among others may
fill out the gaps in the caricatured picture that Rosenberg draws.

“It's irresponsible to say 'Iran's the enemy'. Lest we forget, millions
of young, reform-minded Iranians poured into the streets a few weeks
ago, risking life and limb to protest against Ahmadinejad and his
thugs. There is an opposition worth supporting (and praying for) in
Iran. We would commit the same error as the extremists if we declared
war on the Iranian people.

“The actual situation is exponentially more complicated and nuanced
than Joel Rosenberg wants us to believe. The solutions are many,
varied, and do not need to involve pre-emptive warfare.

“As Christians we have a responsibility to arm ourselves with the
truth. Jesus warns us to "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

It didn’t take long for me to take a step back … and send a response, part of which is below:

I really appreciate your thoughtful answer and gentle admonishment. Too often I think like a novel writer. You are right in bringing me back to a more balanced view of the world. Thanks again. I deeply appreciate your wisdom, clarity and friendship.

And then it wasn’t long before he responded in kind.

“Anytime brother. "Like iron sharpens iron, so one brother sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17 Let us seek the Lord to sharpen us together.

“I am by no means an expert on Middle East issues, but I have been a student of international conflict for the last 15 years and by God's grace I've had a front-row seat on many conflicts around the world. I literally did sit in the front row of the UN Security Council audience when Colin Powell briefed the Council on Iraq. Things are rarely as simple as the media or entertainment worlds have the capacity to convey.”

It’s a bit bracing when your ignorance is revealed. Perhaps there are others who, like me, have only a surface understanding of a critically important issue for the future of our world – the Islamic Revolution and its impact on Western culture.

Perhaps it’s time we learned more. This is not an age for the simple.

How To Lose Sleep

If you want to bring on a sever case of insomnia, read the first two pages of Joel Rosenber's new book, Inside the Revolution.

How about a little excerpt:

"Iran's senior leaders have taught in recent years that the (Islamic) Revolution is now reacing its climax ... that the end of the world is "imminent" ... (they) have vowed to annihilate the United States and Israel, and have urged Muslims to envision a world without America and Zionism. They have come to believe that Allah has chosen them to create chaos and carnage on the planet.

"The key leaders in Iran seem hell-bent on accomplishing their apocalyptic, genocidal mission. They are feverishly trying to build, buy or steal nuclear weapons. Iran is actively testing advanced ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. Tehran is building alliances with Russia, China and North Korea - all nuclear-armed powers ...

"Iran's leaders are building a network of thousands of suicide bombers ready to strike American targets ... are harboring scores of al Qaeda terrorists ... are digging hundreds of thousands of new graves in Iran itself to bury the enemies of Islam. They are calling for the unification of the Islamic world.

"Put simply, the leaders of Iran believe that Allah is on their side, the wind is at their back, and the end of the Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it is near.

"If, in (God's) sovereignty, He chooses not to remove the Radicals from Iran peacefully, then I believe a major, cataclysmic war, or series of wars, is coming soon ... The question we all must be asking is not if there will be war with Iran, but when it will begin and who will strike first."

Okay, I've been keeping a weather eye (old nautical term) on Iran and the nut balls pulling the strings over there. I believe they are after nukes, want to smear the Israelis off the face of the earth and have the good old USofA in their crosshairs.

Iran is the enemy - whether we like it or not. They've picked us. We haven't picked them.

But war ... the possibility of nuclear war ... seems so absurd that my rational mind immediately dismisses the possibility.

Until you understand one point. In radical Islam, the individual is not important. The Revolution is important. Individuals are expendable. So one million people died - gassed with biological weapons or slaughtered in massive human assault waves - in the last, eight-year-long, Iran-Iraq war.

How much more damage could a radicalized Iran do with a nuclear-tipped ballistic missle - or dozens of them? If you believe Rosenberg, we will either soon find out ... or soon take them out.

So Close to Home

So, now I won't wonder so much about fantastic fiction plots and whether they are 'plausible'.

Last night, around 11, my daughter walked into our living room.

"Dude ... did you see the news? These guys tried to blow up a synagogue in Riverdale!"

Seeing as how we live in Riverdale, she got my attention.

Seeing as how we had lunch a few blocks from where the bomb was planted, it really got my attention.

Four men from Newburgh, NY ... a couple of hours upstate ... were arrested last night for attempting domestic terrorism, attempting to detonate car bombs in front of a synagogue and a Jewish center here in the sleepy, suburbs-like far northwest corner of the Bronx - a green oasis of large homes and quiet streets called Riverdale.

The men, reportedly four Black Muslims who were determined to wage jihad on America, had been under surveillance for months after contacting an FBI/NYPD informant. The informant recorded their conversations, even videotaped the men making their plans. Then the informant set up transactions where the men purchased inert C-4 plastic explosive from Federal agents and also purchased inoperable surface-to-air Stinger missles. Their plan included trying to shoot down military aircraft during takeoff and landing at Stewart Air Base in Newburgh.

The suspects were arrested Wednesday night, shortly after planting a mock explosive device in the trunk of a car outside the Riverdale Temple and two mock bombs in the backseat of a car outside the Jewish Center, authorities said.

The Riverdale Temple is at 237th Street and Independence in Riverdale. My daughter and I enjoyed a lunch 'date' at the Blue Cafe, 235th Street and Johnson, on Wednesday afternoon, less than four blocks away.

The plot of my new novel, The Sacred Cipher, which will be released on July 31, involves a 'normal' guy who inadvertently falls into a series of events that make him the target of terrorists, endanger his family and lead him into an international firestorm that could trigger nuclear war in the Mideast. Sounds like a good story, right? But stretches the limits of plausibility, right?

Well, how whacked is it to think there may be guys who are planting plastic explosives in a car to blow up the church around the corner from your house?

This is one crazy world ... seems to be a world often devoid of peace.

Thank God, there is a God, whose name is love ... and peace.