God Bless The Souls Of the Lebanese Army And Civilian Innocent Martyrs

By: Elias Bejjani
My Almighty God bless the Souls of our beloved Lebanese Army martyrs, soldiers and officers who were killed yesterday and today in the Southern Sidon City while bravely fighting terrorists, radical Salafists, fanatics and enemies of Lebanon and its peace loving people.

We ask Almighty God, our loving Father, to abundantly grant their bereaved families all graces of patience, hope, faith and endurance.

We also offer our sincere and heartily felt condolences to all of those innocent civilians who lost a family member, a relative or a friend in the ongoing Sidon military confrontation.

We strongly support the country's army legitimate role, and sturdily believe that the honoring of the martyrdom of all the heroic army and civilian innocent martyrs should lie in the Lebanese peoples' solid national, patriotic, and ethical obligations towards safeguarding Lebanon's freedom, independence, sovereignty, peace, co-existence, common living and democracy.

Meanwhile, All sovereign Lebanese people, in both Lebanon and Diaspora are patriotically and ethically required to stand tall as their Lebanon's holy cedars in the face of the terrorist Hezbollah and all the Axis of Evil groups, countries and individuals who are occupying Lebanon and by force and terrorism trying to topple its democracy, common living, civilization, peace and freedoms.

We call on the UN, Arab League and all the Free world countries to help Lebanon and its sovereign people in a bid to free their country from the bloody expansionism schemes, terrorism, oppression and occupation of the Iranian-Syrian, Hezbollah Axis Of Evil

Elias Bejjani
Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/home.php?sk=group_128479277182033&ap=1



BACKGROUND
Army moves to crush Assir, secure Sidon
June 24, 2013/By Mohammed Zaatari, Thomas El Basha/The Daily Star
BRA, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army pushed for a decisive conclusion to the threat posed by the radical Salafist preacher Ahmad al-Assir, after at least 10 soldiers and two gunmen loyal to the anti-Hezbollah sheikh were killed Sunday in clashes in a suburb of the southern city of Sidon, security sources said. Security sources said Assir refused to depart from his security perimeter in Abra without his supporters and the Army was wary of civilian casualties as the suburb is a residential area. However, the sources said the Army would not succumb until two key demands are met. “The Army is very clear it wants all those who attacked the military post [earlier Sunday] arrested and demands that Assir’s Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in Abra be transferred to the Directorate of Islamic Endowments,” one source said. “If these two demands are not met the Army will not put an end to its operation against Assir and his forces.”Thirty-eight soldiers were wounded in the fighting that erupted after 2 p.m. and continued throughout the night, while two Assir supporters were killed in the clashes and at least 13 were reported wounded in the fiercest fighting yet between the military and the Salafist preacher. The Army also came under fire from the Taamir area of Ain al-Hilweh. Residents of Abra and Taamir appealed to the Army to evacuate them from the areas of conflict.

A group of preachers headed by Salafist Sheikh Salem al-Rafei headed to Sidon to mediate a deal that would put an end to the clashes. The preachers visited the Army barracks in the city to discuss sending an envoy to Assir to broker an exit deal for him and his fighters. The sources said the fighting started when a military post, located on the road to Abra – not far from the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque where Assir preaches – was attacked after the relative of a supporter of the preacher was arrested. The initial attack claimed the lives of three soldiers. The Army retaliated against Assir’s supporters, who had taken refuge within the sheikh’s security perimeter around the mosque and the nearby residential buildings, as well as behind barricades that had been set up days before the attack.

The sources said Assir’s fighters relied heavily on RPGs in the clashes that ensued. One armored personnel carrier was set ablaze after receiving a direct RPG hit, they said. A soldier was seen emerging in flames from the Army car. Medical personnel were able to eventually evacuate the Army soldiers under a hail of bullets. Smoke billowed over the neighborhood and at least one building caught fire. The National News Agency reported that residents of Abra fled the violence into Sidon and eastern villages in the vicinity. Several Hezbollah fighters – approximately 100 – were seen on rooftops overlooking Abra and in the vicinity of the Hariri family’s residence in Majdalyoun.

Sidon’s coastal highway, which links Beirut to the rest of the south, was also closed, stranding thousands of motorists, but was later reopened by the Army.

By late afternoon, rockets were falling in the vicinity of the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque, the scene of a deadly clash last week between Assir’s supporters and members of the Resistance Brigades, a pro-Hezbollah group. The Army had deployed heavily to end that round of fighting, setting up outposts around Abra. The sources said that around 5:30 p.m. the Army managed to secure the vicinity around the mosque.

The Army called the attack a “betrayal” perpetrated “not with the bullets of the enemy but the bullets of a Lebanese group from the heart of the city of Sidon, which is dear to the Army.”

In a powerful condemnation of the “premeditated, cold-blooded” attack, the Army statement likened the murder of the soldiers to the outbreak of violence in Sidon in 1975, in the early days of the Lebanese Civil War.

The military said Sidon’s political leadership faced the choice of either standing by the Army or with “promoters of strife and soldier killers.” “The leadership of the Army will not stay silent ... it will continue its mission to break the strife in Sidon and other regions, and will strike with an iron fist all who dare to shed the blood of the Army,” the statement said. In a video posted on YouTube Sunday, the fiery preacher Assir urged members of the military to desert. “To all our partisans, we are being attacked by the Lebanese Army, which is Iranian and Shiite,” Assir said in the video. He said the Army belonged to the “shabbiha [thugs]” of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and his ally, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Amal Movement.

“I call on all partisans to block roads and all honorable Sunni and non-Sunni [soldiers] to quit the Army,” added Assir, who appeared in black pants and a black T-shirt with an assault rifle at his side.

In a statement later in the day, Assir blamed the Lebanese Army for instigating the violence. He said the Army, which had set up a barricade in a “provocative manner” in his mosque’s vicinity, beat up and insulted two of his supporters. When other supporters sought clarification, the Army opened fire on them, he said. The statement said the attack coincided with fire from what it alleged were Hezbollah-controlled apartments around the mosque that were stocked with weapons, “a step that proves coordination” between the Army and Hezbollah.

The gunfire was followed by attacks with RPGs against the mosque and the surrounding residential buildings, which caused numerous injuries among women, children and civilians, the Assir statement said, adding that rockets were being fired from the Mar Elias district in Sidon, which is controlled by Hezbollah. Speaking by telephone with The Daily Star, Tarek al-Sousi, a resident living at the heart of the battle, called on the president, prime minister and Army to “put an end to this tragedy because our building is burning and there are armed men firing at the Army.” Hajja Heyam, who was fleeing the violence, said she had seen a number of Assir supporters bleeding next to burning cars. “I survived by a miracle,” she said.Area residents were unable to use mobile phones as lines became overloaded. The fighting hit the Zahrani-Aramoun power plant, disrupting the electricity network and plunging the entire country into darkness. President Michel Sleiman called for a meeting including ministers and security officials to address the violence. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri issued a statement warning “against any attempt to lure Sidon into a confrontation with the Lebanese Army.”Hariri blamed Hezbollah for provoking Sidon’s citizens and for maintaining security outposts in the city, but said that such actions “should not be a pretext to break the law or to use weapons against the posts of the Lebanese Army or any other legitimate security forces.” Rival road closures in support of the Army and Assir took place in Baalbek, Sidon and Tripoli, with the Army working to reopen the roads.

Father's Day: Gratitude Vs Ingratitude

By: Elias Bejjani*

"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!" (Lydia M. Child, U.S. Author)
Hopefully, all men will have the blessed grace of being fathers. Being a father is a heavenly endowment, a great satisfaction, and a fulfilling Godly obligation as the Holy Bible teaches us: "Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it."
Almighty God has blessed both parents, fathers and mothers and recommended that they be honored, respected, cared for, and obeyed by their children. God's fifth commandment delineates this heavenly obligation and duty: ""Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which The Lord your God gives you." (Exodus 20:12 )
God is our Holy Father, and we all, men and women, are His beloved children. Fathers on Earth are God's servants who are entrusted by Him to safeguard, raise, embrace, support, provide and teach their children. Meanwhile fathers are required to carry their holy duties in raising their children in the fear of God, with the best of their knowledge, all their resource and means, full devotion and with all required sacrifices.

Fathers are the cornerstone of their families upon which children depend, learn, nurture, hold fast and shape their lives. Caring, devoted and righteous fathers are always given a hand by God and blessed for their rearing and erection of boundaries.
Today we are celebrating "Fathers' Day", with all those who cherish fathers, appreciate their sacrifices and honor their Godly role. Best wishes to all fathers hoping they will be shown today all the due gratitude from their sons and daughters. On this very special day our deceased fathers' and mothers' spirits are roaming around sharing with us our joy and happiness, God bless their souls.
Attitudes of gratitude or ingratitude towards fathers on Fathers' Day, are very sensitive issues that affect and touch the hearts and minds of many people. These two contradicting attitudes exhibit how much a person is either appreciative or ungrateful.
The majority of people hold on dear to their fathers and do all that they can to always show them their great and deeply felt gratitude, while sadly there are those odd ones out who show no gratitude, abandon them and even at times endeavour to ruin their lives and inflict harm and pain on them.
By doing so and negating God's commandments that stress an utmost respect for parents, these people make themselves enemies of Christ Himself. Definitely God will be angry about such condemned conduct. This deviation from all human norms occur because of ignorance, selfishness, lack of faith and hope. These people fall into temptation, become proud of what they should be ashamed of, worship things that belong to this world and forget all about "Judgment Day".

Colossians 3/20: "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord".

Leviticus 20:9: "For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him"

Fathers no matter what must be loved, honored, dignified and respected. God Himself is a Father and He will not bless those who deny their fathers' heavenly right of fatherhood and respect. In this context, Billy Graham says: "A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." The Holy Bible in tens of its verses warns and puts on notice all those with callous hearts and numbed conscience who show no gratitude to their fathers and break their hearts.
Isaiah 46:4: "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save."
Even when fathers are abandoned by their children and denied their heavenly rights, they never ever hold any grudges, feelings of hatred or hostility against them. No matter what, fathers always wish their children health, prosperity and success. One of our Lebanese deeply rooted sayings portray how fathers constantly feel towards their ungrateful children: " My heart beats for my son no matter what, while my son's heart is callous like a rock"
Many verses in the Holy Bible overtly call on the children to treat their parents with love, endurance, affection and utmost care. At the same time the Bible instructs parents to value the Godly delegation to them to raise their children with all means of righteous, protection and provision.
Proverbs 23/22: "Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old".

Ephesians 06/01-02: "Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. Respect your father and mother is the first commandment that has a promise added: so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land".

Many grown-up men and women do not appreciate their parents' sacrifices unless they themselves have become parents. Back home in Lebanon where the family has always been sacred, we have a saying that shows how important it is in the eyes of the God that parents are always to be respected, honored and loved. "God will not bless or facilitate the life of those who mistreat their parents and He will reply to the parents' wrath when they ask for punishment for their ungrateful children".

Good, loving , faithful and God-fearing fathers know no hatred, grudges or despair. They remain, always, hopeful and keep on praying to Almighty God that their children, (grateful or ungrateful ) are constantly healthy, prosperous, happy, and successful .

Philippians 04/04-07: "May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice! Show a gentle attitude toward everyone. The Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.".

Happy Fathers' Day to all Fathers.



Elias Bejjani
Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/home.php?sk=group_128479277182033&ap=1

God is with us all the time

By: Elias Bejjani*

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life". John 6.68/Only God knows what is in store for us, especially when our future seems bleak, or when we become prey for misery, despair, depression, hopelessness, helplessness, anger, conflicts, hostilities, grudges, hatred and fall into the Satan's temptation. At all times in sadness or happiness, bad or good, we definitely should trust that God's word is true and that He is with us in every part of our lives. God never ever abandons those righteous who trust in Him and call for His help. Do you need help with the heavy burdens that you are carrying? Do you need conciliation, support and rest? Be fully aware of the promises made by Jesus when we surrender our lives to him and take on His new life—we will find a refreshing rest for our souls. The Lord offers us a trade. As we take on his yoke, which is easy and light, Jesus lifts our burden by carrying upon himself the burdens of our sins.

"Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28–30

We have to be sure that God is working out a plan for each and every one of us because we are His beloved children and He is our caring and loving Father. His plan includes a bright hope for our future in all domains and on all levels and at the time. Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope".

God wishes us all that is good and wants us to be good so we can be qualified to return back to Him where He has prepared a dimension (dwelling) for every one of us. But He expects us to assume our ethical-moral-spiritual roles in being actually righteous and to apply His virtues and acts of mercy, forgiveness, love, humbleness, honesty, faith and hope in all that we say, do and think.

All what we have to do when in trouble or in need for any thing is to ask Him and He always is responsive, generous, forgiving and attentive: "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened".

Is your heart broken today?
Is your spirit crushed?
Are you sad and in deep sorrow?
Have you lost a beloved person?
Do you feel that you are abandoned?
Are you lonely and persecuted?
Are you in pain?

Be sure that you are not alone, no not at all. Have faith and hope, open your heart, mind and spirit. Have trust in Almighty God and ask Jesus to shower on you his graces, perseverance and the strength to face courageously and with no fear or hesitation all kinds of hardships. "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit". Psalm 34:18

The Lord is very near to you when facing overwhelming troubles. In fact, the Lord is right there, present with you in the sorrow, in the heartache. He is walking right through it with you. And you can lean on him for comfort, because he too knows what it feels like to be crushed and broken.

God expects us to utilize and invest wisely the talents that were granted to each one of us. He wants us to deal with each other as a one family and help those are in need physically, emotionally, spiritually and materialistically.

We are expected to not only do what is righteous, but also to stand strongly against anything that is not righteous and to take clear and cut stances in evil and Godly matters. We can be neutral, we can be lukewarm, but either hot or cold. "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Rev. 3:15-16

Our hope is to be welcomed in heaven on the Judgment Day and not to be thrown out like the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We must work hard in investing our Godly talents so on Judgment Day we hear the Lord saying us: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." Matthew 25:23

And most importantly God cautions us not under any given circumstances to assume His role in judging others no matter what their wrongdoings might be: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5

In conclusion our soul and life are a grant from God and He is the one who decides when to take them back, therefore we are ought to be ready all the time for that moment like the wise virgins who took oil in their vessels with their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. "Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" Matthew 25:13

*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com/ & http://www.clhrf.com/
*Face Book/ https://www.facebook.com/elias.y.bejjani?ref=tn_tnmn

Hezbollah's bogus Liberation & Resistance Day

By: Elias Bejjani*

Believe it or not, on May 25 each year since 2000 Lebanon has been celebrating a so-called "Liberation & Resistance Day." Sadly, this celebration commemorates a bogus event, and a phony heroism that did not actually take place.
On May 22, 2000 the Israeli Army unilaterally and for solely Israeli domestic reasons withdrew from the security zone of South Lebanon in accordance with UN Resolution 425. The withdrawal was a fatal Israeli decision that has inspired the Hamas terrorism acts and the on-going havoc in the Palestinian Gaza strip.
During the last 11 years many Israeli officials and politicians form all parties openly and harshly criticized Barak's Government (Barak was PM at that time) hasty and unwise decision through which Israel' abandoned its ally the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and gave Hezbollah all south Lebanon on a plate of sliver.
The unilateral Israeli withdrawal created a security vacuum in south Lebanon. The Syrians who were occupying Lebanon at that time and fully controlling its government, did not allow the Lebanese Army to deploy in the south and fill this vacuum after the Israeli withdrawal. Instead Syria helped the Hezbollah militia to militarily control the whole southern region, and even patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border.

It is worth mentioning that the Israeli army's withdrawal was executed without any military battles, or even minor skirmishes with Hezbollah, or the Lebanese and Syrian armies. The Syrian regime, in a bid to justify both its on going occupation of Lebanon and the avoidance of disarming Hezbollah, came up with the "Shabaa Farms occupation big lie" and declared Hezbollah a Liberator, alleging it had forced Israel to withdrawal from South Lebanon.

Syria, in the same camouflaging and devious context, dictated to both the Lebanese parliament and government to declare May 25th a National Day under the tag of "Liberation & Resistance Day".

In reality Hezbollah did not force the Israeli withdrawal, and did not play any role in the Liberation of the southern Lebanese region. In fact both Hezbollah and Syria deliberately hindered and delayed the Israeli withdrawal for more than 14 years.

Every time the Israelis called on the Lebanese government to engage in a joint, serious effort under the United Nations umbrella to ensure a safe and mutually organized withdrawal of its army from South Lebanon, the Lebanese government refused to cooperate, did not agree to deploy its army in the south, and accused the Israelis of plotting to divide and split the Syrian-Lebanese joint track. This approach to the Israeli calls was an official Syrian decision dictated to all the Lebanese puppet governments during the Syrian occupation era.
Since then, Hezbollah has been hijacking Lebanon and its people, refusing to disarm and advocating for the annihilation of Israel. This Iranian mullahs' terrorist army stationed in Lebanon, is viciously hiding behind labels of resistance, liberation and religion. Hezbollah has recklessly jeopardized the Lebanese peoples' lives, safety, security and livelihood. It has been growing bolder and bolder in the last four years and mercilessly taking the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people hostage through terrorism, force and organized crime.
Sadly, Hezbollah is systematically devouring Lebanon day after day, and piece by piece, while at the same time marginalizing all its governmental institutions in a bid to topple the Lebanese state and erect in its place a Shiite Muslim regime, a replica of the Iranian Shiite mullahs' fundamentalist republic. Meanwhile the free world and Arabic countries are totally silent, indifferent, and idly watching from far away the horrible crime unfolding without taking any practical or tangible measures to put an end to this anti-Lebanese Syria-Iranian scheme that is executed through their spearhead, the Hezbollah armed militia.
Who is to be blamed for Hezbollah's current odd and bizarre status? Definitely the Syrians who have occupied Lebanon for more than 28 years (1976-2005). During their bloody and criminal occupation, Syria helped the Iranian Hezbollah militia build a state within Lebanon and fully control the Lebanese Shiite community.

But also the majority of the Lebanese politicians, leaders, officials and clergymen share the responsibility because they were subservient and acted in a dire Dhimmitude, selfish and cowardly manner. If these so-called Lebanese leaders had been courageous and patriotic and had not appeased Hezbollah and turned a blind eye to all its vicious and human rights atrocities, intimidation tactics, crimes and expansionism schemes, this Iranian Shiite fundamentalist militia would not have been able to erect its own mini-state in the southern suburb of Beirut, and its numerous mini-cantons in the Bekaa Valley and the South; nor would Hezbollah have been able to build its mighty military power, with 70 thousand militiamen, or stockpile more than 50 thousand missiles and force the Iranian "Wilayat Al-Faqih" religious doctrine on the Lebanese Shiite community and confiscate its decision making process and freedoms.

Since Hezbollah's emergence in 1982, these politicians have been serving their own selfish interests and not the interests of the Lebanese people and the nation. They went along with Hezbollah's schemes, deluding themselves that its militia and weaponry would remain in South Lebanon and would not turn against them.

This failure to serve the people of Lebanon allowed Hezbollah to make many Lebanese and most of the Arab-Muslim countries through its terrorism propaganda to blindly swallow its big lie of theatrical, faked resistance and Liberation.

Hezbollah would not have been able refuse to disarm in 1991, like all the other Lebanese militias in accordance to the "Taef Accord," which called for the disarmament of all militias. Hezbollah would not have become a state inside the Lebanese state, and a world-wide terrorism Iranian-Syrian tool which turned against them all after its war with Israel in year 2006 and after the UN troops were deployed on the Lebanese - Israeli borders in accordance with the UN Resolution 1701.

On May 7, 2008 Hezbollah invaded Sunni Western Beirut killing and injuring in cold blood hundreds of its civilian citizens, and attempted to take over by force Mount Lebanon.

Hezbollah's General Secretary Sheik Hassan Nasrallah called that day (May 7, 2008) a great and glorious victory for his resistance, and keeps on threatening the Lebanese that a replicate of that day will take place if they do not succumb and obey his Iranian orders.

Hezbollah is a deadly dragon that the Lebanese politicians have been allowing him to feed on sacrifices from the southern Lebanese citizens, especially on those who were living in the "Security Zone" and who fled to Israel in May 2000 after the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon. This dragon who enjoyed devouring his southern sacrifices has now turned on all the Lebanese and if they do not stand for their rights and dignity, he will keep on devouring them all one after the other.
We call on the Lebanese government, the Lebanese Parliament and on all the free and patriotic Lebanese politicians and leaders to cancel the May 25 National Day, because it is not national at all, and also to stop calling Hezbollah a resistance, put an end for its mini-state, cantons and weaponry, and secure a dignified, honorable and safe return for all the Lebanese citizens who have been taking refuge in Israel since May 2000.
Click Here to read the updated Arabic version of the above editorialhttp://www.10452lccc.com/elias.arabic09/elias.thrier25.5.11.htm

Click Here to listen to the updated version of the above editorial (Media player)http://www.eliasbejjani.com/elias%20audio11/elias.tahrier24.5.11.wma

*Elias BejjaniCanadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator Email phoenicia@hotmail.comWeb sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.comMailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/home.php?sk=group_128479277182033&ap=1



N.B: This editorial was first published on 25/05/2009. I an republishing it today with minor changes because the same problems that it addressed remain unsolved.

Righteous Mothers: Remain The Foundation Of your Families

By: Elias Bejjani

In Christianity Virgin Merry is envisaged by many believers and numerous cultures as the number one role model for the righteous, devote, loving , caring, giving, and humble mothers. Today while in Canada we are happily and joyfully celebrating the Mothers' Day, let us all pray that Almighty God will keep granting all mothers all over the world the needed graces of wisdom, meekness and faith to highly remain under all circumstances honoring this holy role model and to stay as Virgin Merry fully devoted to their families.

In all religions and cultures all over the world, honoring, respecting and obeying parents is not a favor that people either chose to practice or not. No not at all, honoring, respecting and obeying parents is a holy obligation that each and every faithful individual who believes in God MUST fulfill, no matter what.

Almighty God in His10 Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 ) made the honoring of both parents (commandment number five) a holy obligation, and not a choice or a favor.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you". (Exodus 20:12)

Reading the Bible, both the Old and New Testament shows with no doubt that honoring parents is a cornerstone and a pillar in faith and righteousness for all believers. All other religions and cultures share with Christians this holy concept and obligation.

“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 5:16)

"You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:3).

Back home in Lebanon we have a popular proverb that says: "If you do not have an elderly figure in your family to bless you, go and search for one"

How true is this proverb, because there will be no value, or meaning for our lives if not blessed and flavored by the wisdom, love and blessings of our parents and of other elder members. He who does not honor the elderly, sympathize and empathize with them, especially his own parents is a person with a hardened heart, and a numbed conscience, who does not know the meaning of gratitude.
History teaches us that the easiest route for destroying a nation is to destroy, its cornerstone, the family. Once the family code of respect is belittled and not honored, the family is divided and loses all its Godly blessings. "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls" (Luke 11-17"
One very important concept and an extremely wise approach MUST apply and prevail when reading the Holy Bible in a bid to understand its contents and observe the Godly instructions and life guidelines that are enlisted. The concept needs to be a faith one with an open frame of mind free from doubts, questions and challenges.
Meanwhile the approach and interpretation MUST both be kept within the abstract manner, thinking and mentality frame, and not in the concrete way of interpretation.

We read in (Matthew 15/04: "For God said, Respect your father and your mother, and If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death).
Do we have to read this verse concretely and take it merely in its verbatim content?

I posted this verse in both English and Arabic on my Face Book page last year and the kind of comments that it generated shocked me. Below are three of these comments:
1-"I pray that this does not apply to teenagers?"
2-"Who else would it apply to? From teenagers to adults to parents...Until their own parents die; then they weep and wail"
3- "Thank goodness because I think we would all be dead if it applied to teenagers at some point, just learning about the "teenage years" with my oldest"

This verse simply dwells on The Fifth Biblical Commandment: "Honor your Father and Mother". To grasp its meaning rightfully and put it in its right faith content one should understand that death in the Bible is not the death of the body as we experience and see on earth. DEATH in the Bible means the SIN that leads to eternal anguish in Hell.

The Bible teaches us that through His crucifixion, death and resurrection Jesus defeated death in its ancient human, earthly concept. He broke the death thorn and since than, the actual death became the sin. Those who commit the sin die and on the judgment day are outcast to the eternal fire. Death for the believers is a temporary sleep on the hope of resurrection.

Accordingly the verse "If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death", means that those who do not honor their parents, help, support and respect them commit a deadly sin and God on the Judgment Day will make them accountable if they do not repent and honor their parents.

God is a Father, a loving, passionate and caring One, and in this context He made the honoring of parents one of the Ten Commandments.

In conclusion: The abstract and faith interpretation of Matthew 15/04 verse must not be related to children or teenagers who because of an age and maturity factors might temporarily repel against their parents and disobey them.
Hopefully, each and every one of us, no matter what religion or denomination he/she is affiliated to will never ever ignore his parents and commit the deadly SIN of not honoring them through every way and mean especially when they are old and unable to take care of themselves.

For all those of us whose mothers have passed away, let us mention them in our daily prayers and ask Almighty God to endow their souls the eternal rest in His heavenly dwellings.


Happy Mothers' Day to all mothers

*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/.
*Face Book address http://www.facebook.com/elias.y.bejjani

Your Body Is God's Temple, Do Not Mess With It

By: Elias Bejjan

Yes, with no fear, with no compromise, and with no shame, we declare loudly that all those who believe in Jesus Christ and follow His Holy Bible do not have the right to mess with their bodies in any way, any form or style. We do not own our bodies, but God does. Our bodies are holy and yes they are because we were created in God's image, and because the Bible tells us so clearly that these bodies are God's temples.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (Genesis 01/27)

In the Old Testament the we learn that Al Mighty God had a temple for His people; however, in the New Testament He has His people for a temple because we have been redeemed by the death of Jesus Christ. And Because of redemption, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in the redeemed.

When we do not fully respect the sanctity of our bodies we detach ourselves from God and fall into Satan's temptations and become a prey for his evilness.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship". (Romans 12/01)

Saint Peter in his first letter to the (01 Corinthians 06/12-20) focuses very well on this matter. " Someone will say, “I am allowed to do anything.” Yes; but not everything is good for you. I could say that I am allowed to do anything, but I am not going to let anything make me its slave. Someone else will say, “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.” Yes; but God will put an end to both. The body is not to be used for sexual immorality, but to serve the Lord; and the Lord provides for the body. God raised the Lord from death, and he will also raise us by his power. You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ's body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible! Or perhaps you don't know that the man who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? The scripture says quite plainly, “The two will become one body.” But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him. Avoid immorality. Any other sin a man commits does not affect his body; but the man who is guilty of sexual immorality sins against his own body. Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory."

Realities of life, experience, history and actuality tell us so plainly and without any shed of doubt that mankind are mere mortal creatures, very weak, extremely vulnerable and so fragile. With our mortal bodies no matter what riches we acquire, and no matter how powerful we become with any sort of earthly authority possessed, we will die and one can escape this ultimate fate. Once death prevails our bodies shall return to the ashes that it was created from. No one of us can carry with him any thing that is earthly. We only carry with our deeds according to which we shall be judged on the Judgment Day.

In conclusion all those of us who allege that they are free to mess with their bodies the way they wish and the way they like are actually committing a sin, challenging God's will and breaching on His commandments. Our bodies were made from ash and to ash they return once God decides to take back His gift of life. This reality is very important and Must not be forgotten by any one individual. Messing with our bodies include among many evil means, torture, rape, abortion, sexual immoralities, sexual deviations, enslavement, oppression, enforced starvation, inflicting of disease, mutilation, suicide, homicide, denial of therapies etc.

Let us all fear God in all that we do, say and think.

Let us all remember that our life on earth is temporary and that Almighty God may take back his gift of life at any moment.

Let us be always prepared and ready to face God happily, surely and with righteousness on the Judgment Day.

*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/.
*Face Book address http://www.facebook.com/elias.y.bejjani

Beloved Adel, Rest In Peace

By: Elias Bejjani

“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised". Job 01: 21)


In Christianity there is no death, but a transformation from death to life. Dear cousin Adel today you have been transformed from death on earth to life in heaven. May your Soul, rest in peace beside the saints, angels and the righteous where there is no pain, no anguish or any kind of suffering, BUT only happiness and eternal peace.
May God give your bereaved parents, Jamil and Nouhad and the rest of your family and friends all holy graces of faith, patience, love and perseverance to cope with this great loss.

From Canada, Our family members extend their deeply felt condolences to Adel's dear Jamil and Nouhad and may God be with you in this very difficult time.
In such sorrowful and shocking events words fail to convey feelings of sadness and loss, while the only and only the means that makes sense are genuine prayers and prayers. Let us all pray and pray that Adel's Soul rest in peace, and that his parents with faith shall be able to cope and live with this loss.
How much of an awakening and spiritual realization would it be if each and every one of us attended a funeral at least once every year, and fully utilized this short yet precious and odd period of time to deeply meditate and contemplate the very human reality of this inevitable and irreversible journey?
Does any one of us, rich or poor, weak or powerful, sick or healthy, know when the almighty God will reclaim his soul? Definitely not! So let us live each day of our lives as if it were our last. Let us always be ready to face our Creator on the day of judgment with a set of righteous deeds.
Let us solidify our trust and faith in almighty God, and ask Him to lead our lives and grant us the graces of patience, humbleness, hope, love and forgiveness, so that we can carry with courage our life burdens.

Let us remember in the face of every difficulty and crisis what the Holy Bible teaches us: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." (Matthew 11, 28-30).
Death, this mystery that has worried, perplexed and confused man since his first day on earth, has been defeated by Jesus' resurrection and made conceivable by man's mind. We do not die, but sleep on the hope of resurrection! "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed", (Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 15 / 51-52).
To faithfully understand death it will be helpful and extremely insightful to read thoroughly what Saint Peter wrote in his first letter Corinthians 15/35-58:
"But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies. That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind. But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Background
Lebanese Man Found Dead at His Nigeria Home after Robbery Operation
Naharnet/ 27 April 2013,
Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed the death of a Lebanese citizen in Nigeria on Saturday, the state-run National News agency reported. “Adel Jamil Bejjani was beaten to death by unidentified men during a robbery operation,” he told NNA. Mansour noted: “Based on President Michel Suleiman's recommendation, we have contacted the Lebanese embassy in Nigeria's Abuja and we have been informed that Bejjani's body will be transferred to Lebanon on Monday.”“The embassy will follow-up on the investigation with concerned Nigerian authorities.” LBCI television had said earlier on Saturday that Bejjani was killed at his home in Nigeria during a heist operation. The same source elaborated: “The 29 years old man worked in the domain of hotel management in the African country for less than a year.”“He was planning on leaving Nigeria to reside permanently in Lebanon on May 5.”Attacks on Lebanese citizens in Nigeria have been frequent in recent years.On March 27, the NNA revealed that three Lebanese were kidnapped in Lagos, a rare case of expatriate kidnapping in Nigeria's commercial center. Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said the kidnappers have asked for ransom while the NNA did not report how the kidnapping occurred.



*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/.
*Face Book address http://www.facebook.com/elias.y.bejjani