Arab Winter

After making numerous phone calls and speaking to many Christian leaders in Egypt this week, I have learned that what is really happening on the ground is far removed from the television reporters’ happy endorsement of democracy seekers. To describe what is really going on around the country as “barbaric” would be an understatement. While some of the protestors may be true democracy lovers, the widespread terrorism on display defies all human decency.

The truth about recent events in Egypt reveals that the country has disintegrated into a total anarchy and barbarianism that would make the Vikings blush.

Peaceful Christians are being beheaded in their own homes. Their possessions are being carried off as police either stand helplessly by or, for a portion of the booty, turn a blind eye. And surprise, surprise! Nearly all the victims of beheadings were Christians killed by Muslim fundamentalists.

Not only are the Egyptian Islamists poised to take over the country next Monday if the election is held as scheduled, but these acts of terrorism are serving as propaganda tools to “prove” that they and they alone can bring order to the country with their Sharia law. So, for now at least, these terrorist acts reinforce their cause and agenda.

So much for President Obama’s “Arab Spring.” When history books are written truthfully, they will reveal that the President’s speech in Cairo, one he insisted the Islamists attend, set this barbarism in motion. Another misstep by President Obama was his demand that his ambassador in Cairo negotiate with what, at the time, was an outlawed entity known as the “Muslim Brotherhood.” This gave the Islamist group a huge comfort level in their push to take over.

While I cannot enter into the man’s heart or know his motive, I do wonder how Mr. Obama can sleep at night knowing that his misguided foreign policy emboldened pro-Islamists and caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people.

It gives me no comfort to say, “I told you so.” But back in January of this year, I warned of such mayhem taking root in Egypt.

Indecisive leadership kills innocent people and causes disasters. Take President Jimmy Carter’s vacillating support for the Shah of Iran. In one breath, Carter would support the beleaguered leader, and in the next, he would praise the Iranian Revolution. That indecisiveness led to 52 Americans being taken hostage for 444 days inside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

It is precisely the same kind of vacillation and accommodation on the part of Mr. Obama that has emboldened the Islamists around the world. As a result, we have seen jihadist-led bloodbaths from Yemen to Syria and from Libya to Egypt.

On a positive note, it is not too late for Mr. Obama to admit he was wrong and change his policy. In fact, it would be very courageous for him to say, “I was wrong about the Islamists.” Then he could reverse his policy of accommodation, fire his Islamist advisers in the White House and the State Department and start anew — with a clean slate of truthfulness and honesty. Until then, we can only wait, hope and pray.

Comments

[Jan]

I believe President Obama is totally responsible for what happened not only in Egypt but the other countries in the middle east. I firmly believe the policies this President has instituted have resulted in the "Arab Spring" and was deliberate and calculated effort to set the stage for the not to distant gang-up against Israel. There was never any doubt in my mind, that Barack Hussein Obama always despised Israel in spite of his weak attempts to try to hide that fact.

[Concerned]

Why are most Christians so ignorant? What is happening in this region and in other parts of the world has nothing to do with President Obama or any other world leader, this is purely prophecy being revealed. It is the time for these things to begin to happen and it is only the beginning. What we should be doing, is praying for the safety of our brethren and for repentance of others. Let us desist from this finger pointing. It helps nothing. Let us pray that we be found worthy to escape this tribulation and be found worthy to stand before the Son of Man when He arrives. Let us also pray for our Lord to return soon. Enough of this finger pointing.

[abey]

The sad fact is that Christianity in the western world has become Political Christianity instead of being Spiritual Christianity thus going hand in Glove with the "Desires" of the governments(Biblical beast). With its Prophecy preachers interpreting revelations in terms of the Physical & Political , instead of Spiritual & Moral, either unknowingly or as cover in keeping with the Governments Agendas, disregarding that God is Spirit & spirit is the basis of life. For eg. the little horn with an eye & mouth speaking great words, quiet clearly represent America(the new Roman system, that which was before Constantine ) & further more can be seen today & clearer by the day in ushering in gay Agendas & deceptive Abortions, very clearly contradicting the Bible & its Christians absolutely complacent about it. For its god is no more the GOD of the Bible but strange Pagan/ Hindu(false trinity) as can be derived from Daniel . This shows how far off the prophecy preachers are.

[B_Doyle]

Thank you. Our media does not provide this information. It is sad to say the least we are more focus on the circus events that is happening than on the real events that really will affect us in the long term. My prayer is with those who are persecuted, we are next. May our God have mercy!

[Moe]

Biblical prophecy continues to be fulfilled -- daily unfolding according to God's timing. Throughout successive generations, certain people are placed into position by God to work for His Kingdom while certain others are placed into position by God's arch-enemy for working the other side. It appears that President Obama, whether conscious of it or not, is an agent of Satan, his conscience likely seared with a hot iron, although he is far from being the only player Satan controls and is using in this ancient spiritual battle, the wicked one having many such people in place. Believing as they do, Obama and other Satanic operatives are fully cooperating with their master's evil agenda, the only explanation that makes sense. The Bible warns that all who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, Egyptian Christians now suffering in the extreme for their Christian faith. According to scripture, persecution of this nature will eventually engulf the entire world, sincerely hoping America will be spared, although why should it be? Maintaining spiritual vigilance and continuing to fight the good fight of faith while drawing ever closer to Jesus is my best suggestion for the perilous times that lie ahead.

[Jan]

Concerned: I agree with your point on prophecy with regard to my first comment. My comments however were in response to Dr. Youssef's last paragraph in his article specifically referring to Obama's policies.

There is NO DOUBT the "stage" (prophecy) is being set with regard to the events happening in the mid-east and that was ALSO MY POINT. President Obama is just one of many who may have a part in the prophetic events unfolding......he is not the first and will probably not be the last.

We should be praying goes without saying, of course we should be praying. Please don't take my comments as "ignorance". I, like many readers on this board are well aware of current events and there importance to Biblical prophecy.

[jeffreyh]

For'Concerned' to Seriously believe that Obama is Neutral in this Spiritual Warfare is Insanity,, What else do we call people being Mutilated by cause of their Faith alone... There is No place of Neutrality in Prophecy. Obama like every other Leader is either a pawn for Good or a minion for Evil, and being Naive has no place in being Objective... One Cannot Ignore FACTS that Stare us in the Face, You will Lose every Ounce of Sanity by attempting to do so. We Are ALl eithr driven by GOD or driven by SATAN, and SATAN Loves his minions who proclaim Political Correctness, and neutrality.

[gpsterling]

You are correct in saying that Biblical prophecy is coming to pass, Concerned. However, the devil, very cleverly uses humans to carry out his plans, even when it is according to prophecy.

[Paul R]

Pastor Youssef,
You need to contact the White House and try to get an audience with Mr. Obama. No one could possibly inform him about the truth of what is happening better than you since you know the area and culture. My prayers are in that direction.

[KC]

Thank you Dr. Y, for your ongoing support of suffering and persecuted Christians around the world, and for your stand against Sharia

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[dg]

Any links to info about these beheadings?

[Vance]

Concerned: You seem to think that prophesied events come to pass because they were prophesied--that is, that the occurrences of these events are caused by their having been prophesied. That's not the way it works. God's knowledge of future events is not the cause of those events.

Several factors (including Obama's actions) came together to produce the so-called Arab Spring. When we see leaders doing things that contribute to bad results, we should point them out, whether the bad results were prophesied or not.

[Doctor Who]

I suppose that anytime such an uprising takes place we can tend to overlook the bad things that are happening (things that are not being revealed by the media). As terrible as it is to hear of the Egyptian Christians being persecuted in this manner, it seems that the minority religion (wherever it is) always face some level of persecution in the midst of crisis: 1.) the ethnic-cleansing of Muslims in the fighting following the collapse of Yugoslavia; 2.) the persecution/discrimination of Muslims in the U.S. and parts of Europe after the 9/11 attacks; 3.) the persecution of Christians in the Sudan civil war; 4.) the persecution of both Sunni Muslims and Christians after the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq; and so on and so forth.

I do not think that Pres. Obama had any malicious intent to bring persecution of the Christians in Egypt. In the most general sense, I believe he is supporting Egyptians (overall and regardless of their faith) in living their lives free from oppression by those who govern the nation. Persecution (by nature) of those deemed as being in the minority and/or undesireable seems to be the inevitable 'by-product' of such change because in the power-struggle, groups once oppressed are then emboldened to rise up against what they see as threats to their way of life.

Jesus (Himself) warns us in His word that persecutions will come to those who follow Him. I also agree with several of the previous posts that these things are past prophecies coming to pass. As Christians, we must all be ready for this. My prayer for the Egyptian Christians is to continue holding fast to their faith because their citizenship in not in Egypt but in Heaven. I close witth passages from Matt. 10:16-39.

~The Doctor

[Jimbobbeebob]

@Concerned
You said above to "Let us desist from this finger pointing. It helps nothing."

Desisting in finger pointing sounds more like turning a blind eye. Without accountability how can anything be put to rights? It does help a great deal to bring to light situations such as these as long as they are in truth and not lies. We should be thankful that Dr. Youseff steps out and risks public ridicule to make sure we know what really is going on in Egypt. However, I do agree tremendously that we need to pray for those brethren over there and support them however we can. Seems that evil is at work and showing it's nature more and more. Before long, who knows, it could make its way over to other countries as well.

[David]

Dr. Michael Youseff,
I thank you for your support and prayers for Egypt. I am currently living here in Egypt and thank God for the opportunity to serve the Almighty God here in this land. We have been here during these tumultuous times and have been able to encourage some. We know that the media does not tell the truth and the public has been masked. I know that there is deep oppression against the Christians here, but where the darkness is, the Light of Christ shines brighter. We thank God that we have not experienced or even heard anything about people going into homes and killing Christians. We have not heard any of this while here in Cairo. We like to stay informed of our surroundings. If you can tell us or inform us of these incidents more precisely, this would be a blessing. The blatant killing of people like this is totally unheard of. I appreciate your desire to publish your opinion, but would also love to know the whole truth of our surroundings and then tell the world. Our desire is to see more people come here and serve Christ so the Gospel can be published and then see Christ fully magnified. If you would pray and publish articles that would help in this way, that would be a blessing. Thank You.

[Tim in Asia]

Can you comment on a few issues? Is it true that the Black Stone is an Idol in Islam one billion people bow down to every day? Is it true that Muhammad molested a 6 year old child bribe named Aisha when he was in his 50's and that he then stole away his adopted son's wife and that this is called a "religion" that all men and women in the world are suppose to follow legally by Sharia law?
Oh God have mercy ...
Is it true that America is trying to whitewash Islam to make it sound "just like any other religion?" when in fact, they ignore the moral evils of Islam?

[Betty]

I TOTALLY AGREE with Jan. Yes, we are in perilous times and we need to pray like never before,
but, we also need to place the blame where it belongs and make sure, if at all possible, that this
administration is not put back in office. We need to take the blinders off and be prepared for what is
coming. Our best preparation is having an intimate relationship with God; knowing His Word, and then,
having done all - Stand.. AND. get involved.