"We will control what you see and hear."

"Big Brother is watching you."
(quote from George Orwell's novel, 1984)

 I can remember as a young kid sitting in front of my TV set anxiously waiting for the next episode of the sci-fi classic, "The Outer limits" to begin.
 Suddenly, the ominous voice of the announcer would come on the screen and explain to the audience, "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission..For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control what you see and hear."
Recently Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei created The Supreme Council of Cyberspace, which includes heads of intelligence, militia, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps. Their specific task is to supervise and monitor all internet activity.
A few months ago, Canadian blogger, Saeed Malekpour, was arrested and found guilty of creating and maintaining pornographic websites. He was sentenced to death by the Iranian Supreme Court. Although he "supposedly" admitted on Iranian tv to developing the porn sites, his sister Maryam claims that it was a forced confession after much coercion and physical torture in Iran's notorious Evin Prison.
Almost 70 years ago, British novelist, George Orwell, authored a novel entitled, 1984, which since then has become a cult classic in literature.
The basic plot of 1984 is about Oceania, a society that is ruled by a dictatorial government that treats individuality and reason as thought crimes. The society is constantly subjected to fear, oppression, surveillance and mind control. The fearful theme and reminder of the novel to its citizens is, " Big Brother is watching you."

 The 1984 Orwellian novel is hauntingly similar to the situation in Iran. The government has suppressed individuality and the God-given right of every human being to think for themselves. Iran is now embarking on a National Internet which would restrict and shut down freedom of expression.
The Government claims that it's doing this for morality and security reasons.
Everyday I spend hours chatting with my Iranian friends on line, encouraging and praying for them and just listening to whats going on in their lives. I'm praying that this will soon not come to an end. When I watched the Outer Limits every week as a young boy, I was terrified when the announcer informed me that "they" were taking control of what I was seeing and hearing. Unfortunately this has become a sad reality for my Iranian friends. I don't want my friends living in an oppressive society like the novel 1984. Join me in speaking out and praying for their freedom.

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The Longing

"I feel so dry and empty inside. There is no rest from the tears I cry.
 I'm broken and bruised and I feel I've died.
  But I have a real thirst that won't be denied. It's the longing."
          (From the song, "The longing," Randy L. Noble)

The great apologist and Oxford teacher, C.S. Lewis, describes in his books, that inward thirst that all human beings have for something better in life. He calls it a longing. In His classic book, "Till we have faces," Lewis writes, "The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing, to reach the mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from."
Human beings are on a spiritual quest to find satisfaction, an inward longing to discover "that something" that will bring fulfillment and meaning to their lives. Lewis proclaims that, "If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
 In my newest book, "Driven by the wind: The calling of Tara," I explore in depth the quest for spiritual reality, the longing and desire for meaning in life. Tara is on a quest for answers. Her brother Nathan mysteriously disappears in the Indian Ocean during his solo circumnavigation of the world. Tara is devastated. Her Father then dies as a result of mourning. Unable to cope with the twin tragedies, Tara sets out in her sailboat, "The Mistral wind," determined to find the answers to the pain and brokenness in her life.
We can all relate to Tara's situation. We wants answers, we cry out for explanations to the sufferings and tragedies of our lives. There is a scene in my book where Tara is awestruck at the beauty of the sunset as she nears the equator. She gazes into the sky fascinated by the orange and purple colors dancing on the clouds as the sun disappears below the horizon. The beauty of God is staring Tara in her face but she closes her eyes to the truth.

 Do you have a longing, a tugging at your heart? Are you driven to find the answers like Tara? What will your response be? Tara got into her sailboat to answer the longing and the God of Irresistible love pursued her all over the world. You can run from God but He will pursue you because in the end only Jesus can satisfy the longing of your heart. He is the bread of life that satisfies our spiritual hunger. Jesus is the treasure that your heart is longing for. What will your response be?

Driven by the wind: an intense journey of self-discovery

"If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
C.S. Lewis

Does this quote describe you? What is the passion and the call of your heart?
I am busily researching my new book, "Driven by the wind: The Call of Tara." This new book is unlike anything I have ever written before. It is an incredible adventure of self discovery which all of us have embarked on at one time or another in our life.
Tara is a free spirited, independent 25 year-old woman raised in a family of sailors. She loves the ocean and feels drawn and called by it every day. One day her world is crushed when her father, her hero sailor, dies of terminal cancer. Then, just a year later, her brother mysteriously disappears on a solo circumnavigation of the world in his sailboat. Tara is devastated. She quits her job one day and decides she has to have answers and for Tara, the only answers that will satisfy her is out there on the high seas! She must deal with the pain and brokenness in her life so she sets out all alone in her sailboat, "The Mistral Wind" to find herself and the answers she needs!
I want to take my readers on the adventure of their lives across the vast oceans and continents with Tara. Tara has a longing in her heart. She has set sail on a mission to satisfy that longing, but what will she discover?
My new book will be both gripping and breathtaking, unlike anything you have ever read before. Like Tara, we have all at one time embarked on this kind of journey in some form or another. In my personal Journey, Jesus was the treasure I discovered in my search for the answers to life. Jesus became my anchor of hope. He rescued me from the treacherous deep waters of my sins and set me safely on dry land once again. He set a new course and direction for my life.

Like Tara, are you driven by the winds of self discovery? I invite you to take a journey with me in reading my book when its published this fall. I hope that it will satisfy your longing.

The Cross In The Desert: The holocaust: " a picture is worth a thousand wor...

The Cross In The Desert: The holocaust: " a picture is worth a thousand wor...: "The holocaust is a myth," proclaims Iranian President Ahmadinejad." This is a bold statement to make in a world saturated with hatred and ...

The holocaust: " a picture is worth a thousand words."

"The holocaust is a myth," proclaims Iranian President Ahmadinejad."
This is a bold statement to make in a world saturated with hatred and racism. The question is, is that an accurate statement? Does the claim correspond to the facts of history? First of all, what does the word "myth" mean anyway? The dictionary defines the word myth as, quote, "a fictitious story, person or thing."
So the question becomes, is the holocaust really a myth that is denied by the facts of history?
When the allied and Russian troops marched into the death camps of Auschwitz and Treblinka, was it a myth when they discovered thousands of dead and deformed bodies lying on top of each other in gruesome piles? Are you seeing a myth when you take a tour of the holocaust museum in Washington d.c. and are confronted with the thousands of pictures and documents graphically revealing what life was like in the death camps?
Can you honestly proclaim that the holocaust was a myth when you hear the heart-wrenching testimonies of the survivors whose lives have been scarred forever?
The holocaust is anything but a myth! It was a devastating reality of evil, hatred and intolerance that brutally claimed the lives of more than six million Jews.

In my new book, "The Promise: We will meet again," I take the reader on a journey with Hannah and Rachel, two young Jewish girls whose incredible friendship was put to the test by the darkness and the horrors of the holocaust. In the end, The Love of God triumphed over the hatred and cruelty of the Third Reich.
The Old cliche, "a picture is worth a thousand words," I think will demonstrate that the statement, "The holocaust is a myth," has no basis in reality or history. Please take a few minutes to watch this short video and I think you will agree that a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

A campaign of Hatred

"I Will bless them that bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
(Genesis 12:3)

""Israel must be wiped off the map!"  "The holocaust is a myth. They invented the myth of the massacre of the Jews and placed it above Allah, religions and the prophets"
Iranian President Ahmadinejad is busy conducting a campaign of hatred toward Israel. These and many other declarations of hate have been made by him in speeches since he was elected President in 2005. According to Ahmadinejad, the goal of their recent nuclear buildup is to "pave the way for the reappearance of the twelfth Imam, The Mahdi " who will make Islam the dominating force and religion in the entire world.
Thousands of years ago, God speaking through the Prophet Zechariah, prophesied that, "Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling  unto all the people round about, and in that day, I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people." (Zechariah Chapter 12, verse 3)
This prophecy has certainly come true. The focus of the world is upon the nation of Israel as she fights for her very existence against terrorists who are determined to wipe her off the face of the earth. In Genesis 12:3 God  outlines His response to the treatment of other nations against His chosen people. I will Bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you." Its that simple!
In the violent climate of intolerance and anti-semitism, I recently published my new book, "The Promise: We will meet again."  The Promise is the story of Hannah and Rachel, two young young Jewish girls whose friendship endures the darkness and horror of the holocaust. Its a story of the triumph of love and faith in spite of the cruelty and hatred of the Germans. The Germans tried to wipe out the Jewish race and failed. God preserved them to prove that any nation whose foundation is built on cruelty and hatred will crumble. His promise to curse them that curse Israel became a living reality to Germany.
The amazing irony in all of this is that my Iranian friends are reading my new book, "The Promise." Unlike their President, they are tolerant and open-minded and desire to understand the horrors of the holocaust that Ahmadinejad dismisses as a myth!
God will certainly bless my Iranian friends for their kindness and sympathy towards the Jewish people. They are not like their President whose goal and ambition is to wipe Israel off of the map.

I encourage you to read my new book, "The Promise: We will meet again." I believe that you will conclude that the holocaust was anything but a myth. It was the darkest hour of Israel's existence but God triumphed in the end and brought beauty out of the ashes of their suffering.

"Iran's crimes against children"

"The world should not be silent in the face of these executions.."
  Hadi Ghaemi/dir,Int'l campaign for human rights in Iran

On Auguts 15, 2004, Atefah Sahaaleh was publicly hanged on on a boom crane in her hometown in Neka, Iran. The judge, Haji Rezai, who carried out the execution himself, was quoted as saying, "This will teach you to disobey!" Atefah was only 16 years old.
Iran is a signatory state to the International covenant on civil and political rights. Article 6.5 states that, "sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by person below 18 years of age."
Aricle 37 of the CRC (Covenant of the rights of a child) explicitly states, "Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release, shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below 18 years of age."

Yet in defiance to the international law and covenants, Iran continues to execute minors below the age of 18 for drug related crimes and crimes against chastity. The United Nations special rapporteurs on Iran have condemned the public executions of juveniles as a violation of their international obligations and is calling for a moratorium against this practice. Although the total number of child executions is unknown, as least three have been accounted for in 2011.
Iran continues to shock the world with its increasing number of human rights violations. Hundreds of journalists, political prisoners, filmmakers and accused spies fill their prison system. Most of them are denied access to lawyers and fair trials.
Hadi Ghaemi, Director of International campaign for human rights in Iran,summarizes the plight of Iranian children in a powerful proclamation:
"The world should not be silent in the face of these executions. Children are the most vulnerable members of society, the majority of these child offenders were either framed or suffer psychological illnesses and have no access to fair trials."
We must not remain silent, but speak out against the gross injustices and crimes against Iran's children. Atefah Sahaaleh was only 16 years old when she was publicly hanged. Will there be others? It's up to you and me!