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The world is on edge this morning---how far will Russia go in their war on Ukraine?
A small group of Ukrainians kneeling on the frozen ground are asking God for guidance as to what to do next, as Russia invades their country.
China is nodding approval to Russia, while it's rumored that China is preparing to invade Taiwan.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that "Beijing and Moscow now hold a stronger hand in confronting the West than during the Cold War."
This, while the world sees a weak and often confused leadership in America.
Be informed, not misled.
I rarely quote anything from CNN, but CNN's Clarissa Ward said something yesterday that caught my attention---and she got a picture for all of us to see: A small group of Ukrainians kneeling and praying as Russia began their widespread bombing of their country.
She said, "This really speaks to the desperation of this moment, we just see a small group of people...and they are kneeling and praying because right now there is truly a sense of having no idea what is coming down the pipeline, what is in store for the people of Ukraine in the coming hours, coming days."
"It's freezing cold here," she said, "So to see these people kneeling on the cold stone in prayer honestly, it's very moving. I think it speaks to the state of ordinary Ukrainians here who have done absolutely nothing to deserve this, who have no quarrel with Russia, who have no desire for war or conflict...but who will ultimately be the ones to bear the brunt."
CNN witnesses a small group of Ukrainians in Kharkiv gathering and kneeling in prayer.
— Nicholas Fondacaro 🇺🇦 (@NickFondacaro) February 24, 2022
"So, to see these people kneeling on the cold stone in prayer is
honestly -- it's very moving," Clarissa Ward.#PrayForUkraine pic.twitter.com/47NgqwbXxA
Some well-informed are declaring that the "brunt" of this may be felt way beyond the region.
Yesterday China once again invaded Taiwan's air space by flying their fighter jets over the country in defiance of Taiwan's sovereignty. Are they next?
Wall Street Journal: "Beijing and Moscow now hold a stronger hand in confronting the West."
In fact, the WSJ says the "Ukraine crisis has kicked off a new superpower struggle among US, Russia, and China."
The WSJ said this yesterday:
Russia’s audacious military assault on Ukraine is the first major clash marking a new order in international politics, with three major powers jostling for position in ways that threaten America’s primacy.
The challenges are different than those the U.S. and its network of alliances faced in the Cold War. Russia and China have built a thriving partnership based in part on a shared interest in diminishing U.S. power. Unlike the Sino-Soviet bloc of the 1950s, Russia is a critical gas supplier to Europe, while China isn’t an impoverished, war-ravaged partner but the world’s manufacturing powerhouse with an expanding military.
In deploying a huge force and on Thursday ordering what he called a “special military operation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding that the West rewrite the post-Cold War security arrangements for Europe and demonstrated that Russia has the military capability to impose its will despite Western objections and economic sanctions.
To do this, Mr. Putin shifted military units from Russia’s border with China, showing confidence in his relations with Beijing. The two powers, in effect, are coordinating to reshape the global order to their advantage, though their ties stop short of a formal alliance.
The Wall Street Journal concludes with this: "The era of nuclear reductions may come to an end as the US military establishment argues for a large enough nuclear arsenal to deter both Russia's formidable nuclear weaponry and China's rapidly growing nuclear forces which aren't limited by any arms-control agreement"
The WSJ and others also reported yesterday that "China has given a nod of approval to Russia's interests in attacking Ukraine."
Far-left environmental policies have consequences. They have empowered Putin.
It is the West’s wacko environmentalists who handed Russian President Vladimir Putin the leverage and money to invade Crimea in 2014 and Ukraine this week.
Without these wackos, Putin would be just another gangster in charge of a crumbling country, and maybe one on the verge of a revolution to depose him.
But the facts are the facts are the facts, and the facts are these… Thanks to the West’s environmentalists, those smug greenies who are more concerned with carbon output than world peace, this gangster controls much of the energy going to the European Union (E.U.).
Per Statista, here are the countries most dependent on Russia for natural gas. The percentages tell us just how dependent:
- North Macedonia (100 percent)
- Finland (94 percent)
- Bulgaria (74 percent)
- Slovakia (70 percent)
- Germany (49 percent)
- Italy (46 percent)
- Poland (40 percent)
- France (24 percent).
It gets worse. As of 2019, a full 27 percent of the European Union’s crude oil, 41 percent of its natural gas, and 47 percent of its solid fuel (mostly coal) come from Russia
Why? Well, it’s very simple. Russia is not stupid. Putin is not stupid. He drills and digs and fracks while Western countries pat themselves on the back for closing coal mines, refusing oil leases, and shuttering nuclear power plants. And in doing so, even at the expense of giving the gangster Putin leverage over them, these Western countries pat themselves on the back for decreasing their carbon footprints and going green…Thanks, Greta.
A biblical takeaway.
While the world has reached the boiling point giving rise to fear, confusion, and questioning, we've got to keep all this in perspective. A biblical perspective.
President Biden's remarks and threats hardly help or calm anyone. Nor are they concerning Russia or China.
For the most part, the president's words are hollow, without form and void. He can't help it. We understand that. And we know how he got his office. Millions of evangelicals voted for Biden because they hated Trump. In doing so they set aside the values and principles they claim to be their fundamental core beliefs---the sanctity of life, biblical marriage, biblical teaching on human sexuality---we know the issues.
In Ukraine, there is a similar division within Christianity.
Daniel Johnson, an evangelical, operates a Christian radio network that covers much of Russia and Ukraine. In talking about his ministry with the Christian Post yesterday, he explained that some of the division in the region is attributed to "the schism between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."
Putin has exploited that division while advancing his godless, atheistic agenda.
Johnson says, "Tanks are rolling down from Russia. Russian Orthodox priests are blessing the tanks. The Ukrainian Orthodox priests are blessing the Ukrainian soldiers to fight against Russia" creating a situation where Christians are divided over national politics and are being used by a dictator.
It's not difficult to see some similarities in our own country. We are deeply divided politically with several millions of Christians supporting a candidate out of hate toward the other candidate. While the one who claims to be a "devout man of faith" advances war on the most fundamental, biblical core beliefs of Christianity---the sanctity of life, biblical marriage, and human sexuality.
First and foremost we must, as Christians, seek God's guidance in the selection of our leaders, lest we too be used to advance something that stands in contradiction to the Bible we read and the God we serve.
Secondly, it was Jesus who was calming the fears of his followers when he said (Matthew 24:6), "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."
No question in my mind, the world is being conditioned for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy concerning the end of time as we know it. Scripture tells us a globalist culture will emerge with the Anti-Christ deceiving many into believing he and he alone has the answers to all the problems that man has created.
Yesterday, Dr. David Jeremiah included this in his daily devotion magazine: "Our God Forever. For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end (Psalm 48:14 NIV).
God is in control.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.