Your View

God and war

During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, my unit of reserve Navy Seabees was recalled to active duty. As it turned out, the war was over before we rotated into the Persian Gulf area.

However, when I received the call to go, I did not know that things would turn out so well for America. There was speculation that it could have been another Vietnam. Thank God it wasn't.

When I was called, I began to pray and ask God about the war. The Holy Spirit told me that the war wasn't really about removing Saddam Hussein from power, although President Bush was comparing Saddam to Hitler and leading many to believe this to get public opinion on his side. When we did not remove Hussein from power, millions, including myself, were deflated and disappointed. I remembered that the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, however, and should not have been surprised.

During the time when we were building our forces up in the fall of 1990, I remember meeting many Bible-believing Christians of many denominations who were all saying that Saddam was tied into the prophecies of the Bible concerning the end times. This didn't line up with my theology. I couldn't find Saddam or Iraq anywhere in the Bible so I dismissed them. However, I found it strange that so many of God's people fell this way and I did not entirely ignore what was being said.

Yesterday, ABC News reported that the President has ordered the Pentagon to draw up plans to remove Saddam from power if Iraq does not allow U.N. weapons inspectors back in soon. The military campaign could involve between 200,000 and 500,000 troops and six aircraft carriers. It is scheduled to begin in the late summer or early fall of this year.

A Romanian pastor, Dumitro Duduman, claimed the angel of God told him in August 1991 that (1) war with Saddam would restart; (2) nuclear weapons would be used; (3) Iraq would attack Israel; and (4) America would be right in the middle of it.

A pastor from the Kansas City area, Dan Bohler, came on the radio in 1997, claiming that God showed him America would go to war in the Middle East with Iraq and Iran, and that we would lose thousands of soldiers. When President Bush called Iraq and Iran part of an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union Address, I remembered what Bohler said. He also said that we would suffer a massive earthquake in Southeast Missouri. Because of Jesus' words in Matthew 24 and the fact of the existence of the New Madrid Fault line, I don't have a hard time believing that.

A minister by the name of Henry Gruver, who travels all over the world, received a vision. He saw Britain's Prince Charles dressed in desert attire. Charles' face was swollen and puffy, as if he had been crying for a long time. Charles walked up to an American general and said, "I wish to inform you, your nation is at war and you have a battle to fight. But the sad thing is, God is no longer with you." The American general arrogantly denied that God even gets involved in war.

When we began the war on terrorism, Pat Robertson claimed on the 700 Club that God gave him a scripture for America. "Sampson awoke from his sleep and thought, 'I'll go out as before and shake myself free!' But he did not know the Lord had left him." (Judges 16-20)

Prophecy is being fulfilled at a rate so fast it is making my head spin. Please note the similarities between the treaty signed between Russia and China, and the vision. Mr. Duduman was not told that the Russo-Chinese attack on America would immediately follow the war with Iraq. There could be a period of several years between the two. Nevertheless, the details of the treaty seem to lend credence to the source of Mr. Duduman's revelations, along with yesterday's news report from the Pentagon concerning Iraq.

Before I voted for president in the last election, I prayed for God's guidance. The Holy Spirit, without a doubt, told me to vote for George W. Bush. I know he is God's choice to lead our nation at this time. If America does suffer many casualties, I am certain that President Bush's popularity ratings will plummet. There will be demonstrations on college campuses all across America. The fact that Al Gore won the popular vote, along with claims that George W. Bush is an unelected president chosen by the Supreme Court, will be resurrected (although the latter turned out to be false).

I will not blame President Bush if the war gets tough. Our lack of decisiveness in the past and the wishy-washy policies of past administrations only embolden terrorists and tyrants.

President Bush is finally calling it like it is and doing what should have already been done. I support him in this endeavor.

God may very well humble America in this coming war. He humbled his people in ancient Israel for their wholesale acceptance of sinful practices in the Bible. Although we now live in the age of grace, God still chastises and disciplines his people (Revelation 3:19).

If the going gets tough in this war, I will pray for President Bush and not call for his removal. If the American people call for the removal at that time, let them call for the removal of Supreme Court justices who uphold Roe vs. Wade. Let them call for the removal of justices who struck down the Louisiana law requiring scientific evidence against evolution to be taught alongside evolution. Let them call for the removal of those senators who voted against Ashcroft's confirmation and called him a "right-wing extremist" solely because he believes and takes the Bible at face value. We do not live in ancient Rome under Caesar.

In America, politicians can be replaced through elections. Supreme Court justices can be impeached and be replaced by a Godly president, if the senators who are Godless liberals would stop being reelected time after time. Many of the people who vote for Godless liberals are quick to identify themselves as Christians. But God knows the truth.

If the prophets are right, everyone on the Earth is about to be tested and shown to be who they really are. Only those who are really true will be kept from the hour of trial, whatever exactly that means (Revelation 3:10). Most people in America today, even in some churches, do not believe the prophecies of the Bible can be taken at all literally. Many who do believe them place them in the far distant future. But the word of the Lord for America right now is this: "Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, the vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, thus saith the Lord God; there shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God." (Ezekiel 12:27-28)

God bless you, Mr. Jensen!

Sincerely,

Scott Coatney