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Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a long-awaited counter-terrorism white paper on Tuesday warning that the threat of home grown terrorists in Australia has increased. The US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano made even stronger statements Sunday when she said that in 2009 the terrorist threat shifted from international terrorists to those from within the United States. Whether committed by foreign or domestic terrorists, neither Americans nor Australians want violent attacks carried out on their soil. At the same time, there is concern that efforts to thwart future domestic terrorists will lead to greater infringement on basic freedoms.

After the November, 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, the Rudd Government of Australia commissioned a white paper to explore the different successes and concerns in fighting the war against global jihadism. The paper released Tuesday defined the country's primary terrorist concern as "a global violent jihadist movement," but also made clear that Australians influenced by ''violent jihadist messages'' were a growing threat.

The paper offered some successes in the war on terror, but also noted new threats since the last white paper put out by the Howard Government in 2004. For example, Al Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan had been subdued significantly, and there had been success in applying pressure to terrorists in Southeast Asia. New sources of tension had popped up in Yemen and Somalia, however, as groups in these countries embraced Al Qaida's message.

In order to fight the arrival of terrorists from abroad, the Rudd Government plans to put $67 million over the next four years into biometric checks on all visas for applicants from 10 high risk countries. The specific countries in concern have not yet been disclosed. Applicants would need to be fingerprinted and photographed during the application process in their own countries before visas could be issued.

As for those under the jihad influence at home? "Since 2001, we have had 20 convictions and we have had about 40 people whose passports have been refused or confiscated for terrorism reasons," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio on Tuesday. The white paper did not include extra funding for any programs to target home grown threats, but the government expects terrorism to be a "persistent and permanent" security problem in Australia.

In the meanwhile, in United States, the Department of Homeland Security has turned its attention toward terrorists at home. If attacks like the Christmas Bomber and Fort Hood shooting are the type of concern to Homeland Security, then Napolitano may not just be talking about stopping terrorist sleeper cells in America. Apparently, there is now more fear about Johnny Walker Lindhs running off to Yemen to join terrorist groups, or future Nidal Malki Hasans "going postal" on Army bases, than about foreign terrorists being trained to slaughter Americans.

While we need to take seriously the jihadist threat, we should be wary of any government action that treats every American as a potential terrorist. Most Americans, including Muslim Americans, want to live their lives and raise their families and have no aspirations to blow anybody up. We should not deal with the threat of domestic terrorists in a way that would shave away any more of our liberty in an effort to root out the violent few among us.

So far, John Brennan, President Barack Obama's homeland security adviser, has nailed "community engagement" as a big first step toward thwarting domestic terrorism. On Sunday Brennan brought up a case in which five young Pakistani men from Virginia sought training from Al Qaida in Pakistan. It was the families of these young men that took the initiative to get help and eventually contact the FBI.

"It's that engagement with those local communities that's going to be the critically important mechanism to detect that radicalization even before they depart," Brennan said. In Iraq during the past many years, US Special Forces have gotten a great deal of their intelligence from the local people. The local Iraqis were very willing to tell about the trouble-makers in their neighborhoods. "The people two doors down are building bombs." The Christmas Bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father warned authorities about his son before the bombing attempt.  We do not need to spy on our neighbors.  People who know would-be terrorists often already know when something is up.

There is also a place for profiling, despite the political incorrectness of the idea. The fact is, the chances of Grandma hiding explosives in her shoes are pretty remote. As Charles Moore wrote in The Daily Telegraph at the end of January, the point of profiling is not to stop every Middle Eastern-looking person in the airport line – that would not only be a massive waste of time and unnecessary, but obnoxious. The point of profiling is to watch out for people with a lot of high risk behavior, like Umar Abdulmutallab, who bought a one-way trans-Atlantic ticket with cash while carrying little luggage. These are the people who are known to have sympathies for suicide bombers, like Major Nidal Hasan, the US Army psychiatrist who perpetrated the Fort Hood shootings. His known philosophical positions and his extensive email correspondence with Al Qaida imam Anwar al Awlaki should have raised warning flags with Hasan's colleagues, but they did little about their concerns for fear of being accused of Islamophobia.

We do not need to scrutinize every neighbor, and we do not want the federal government scrutinizing each one of us. We certainly do not want people targeted just because they disagree with the government. However, there are certain behaviors that should warn officials about potential terrorist attacks. And while we keep an eye out for shoe bombers and work to keep our teens from running off to join Al-Qaida, we need to remember that international jihadists are still out there, and they have not given up on their desire to take down the West for Islam.

Ultimately, this battle - like so many – is truly a spiritual battle; the weapons of our warfare are spiritual. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies, and that includes those among us who seek our destruction.

The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has campus worship areas for Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists. It is now adding a worship area for Wiccans, Druids, and other Earth-worshiping religions on a hill above the campus. In the meanwhile, the Kentucky state senate prepares to vote on a bill to put Bible education in high school classrooms. These developments possess politically correct aspects, but they are also part of a greater spiritual battle for the souls of human beings.

Colorado:
Religious liberty is one of the great and vital freedoms protected by the US Constitution. People of all faiths can come to America and practice their religions, as long as they do not sacrifice animals or break other laws. "All faiths" these days include Wiccans, Druids, and other pagans - in large enough numbers, apparently, for the Air Force Academy to permit space to be set aside for their rites and rituals. Inner and outer rings of stones will be formed on a hill overlooking the campus.

Do Druids and Wiccans have a right to worship openly in America? Yes, they do. Does that mean that all religions are equal? No. The Bible is full of warnings against pagan religions and the worship of the created thing rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:23-25, Deut. 4:14-24) and clearly forbids engagement in any kind of witchcraft (Deut. 18:9-12). While they are promoted as gentle and nature-loving, the "gods" and "goddesses" of paganism can be very dangerous, deceptive spiritual entities.

Yet, the American government does not tell people which gods to serve, and the US Air Force Academy is providing a place for Wiccans to worship. We'll get back to that.

Kentucky:
In Kentucky, the tide is washing in the other direction as the state senate considers how Kentucky's public high schools might legally teach courses on the Bible as literature. The purpose of bill SB142 is to establish guidelines for classes that would teach students about the Bible's literary structure and its influence on "literature, art, music, mores, oratory and public policy."

If taught legally, these classes will not be Christian Bible studies, but will have the secular purpose of educating young people about the literature and history of the Bible with no judgment about the truth of any of it. According to David Boswell (D- Owensboro), the primary sponsor of the bill, "Simply put, the Bible is the most influential book ever written." He says the class would "teach students knowledge of biblical content, characters, poetry and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture."

All faith-based issues aside, a knowledge of the Bible is vital for a well-rounded education. Allusions to the Bible fill Western literature from Shakespeare to Steinbeck, not to mention music, history and politics. Ignorance of the Bible equals ignorance of a great deal of Western culture.

Those in opposition to the bill have sprouted up anyway, concerned that a Bible as literature class in conservative Kentucky is really just a back door for religious indoctrination at the taxpayers' expense.  F. Kagin, national legal director of American Atheists, is worried about this and other similar legislation that has "been popping up all over the country."

"Why are they doing this?" he asked. "Why not teach courses about the history of the Babylonians and other peoples and civilizations of the time? It is an attempt to teach the entire Bible as truth."

From a Christian perspective, there should be concern the other way, that the classes will be watered down and dried up, that the Bible will be presented as simply a book of Christian and Jewish myths. The specific curriculum chosen can make a major difference in how the Bible is treated in classroom study.  Boswell is right - the Bible is the most influential ever written, and all sides should favor getting young people exposed to it in-depth. If it is truly the Word of God as we believe, then it is quick and powerful and able to touch the hearts of its readers, even in a simple literature class. Atheists who do not believe the Word of God is alive should welcome a class in which students' education is broadened to include the biggest best seller of all time.

Against The Gates of Hell:
These relatively small developments in two different states present a bigger picture than just rock circles and literature classes. There are real spiritual battles going on that reach far beyond state legislatures or school boards. The real battle, the one that affects all the ones in the public sphere, is fought in our prayer closets, on our knees, where we wrestle for the life of this nation – for our families and neighborhoods – one prayer at a time. God is the One who can change the hearts of human beings, even avowed atheists like Edwin F. Kagin or the Druids and pagans planning their rituals above the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

We are not going to stop the spread of Earth-worshiping religions by outlawing them. The very religious freedom that allows pagans to worship openly is also that which allows us to spread Christianity freely. Jesus himself never forced anybody to follow him; his disciples were always free to come and go as they wished. Yet, when crowds of people left him and Jesus said to the 12 disciples, "Will ye also go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life," (John 6:67-68).

For those of us who know and love Jesus Christ, there is nowhere else we can go. We cannot force other people to follow Jesus, but, we can pray that the Holy Spirit shines in their hearts to give them the light of the knowledge of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). May He do so in our homes and in our churches, in our public school literature classes, and even on top of rocky hills despite the efforts of Satan to deceive. May God reign in America through the hearts and lives of His people.

There are many Christians who do not take the record of the Flood in Genesis seriously. They consign the account to a moral lesson without regarding the narrative as actual fact.

Furthermore, most people do not fully understand the reason for the Flood because they haven't done their homework on the "days of Noah" that Jesus highlighted prophetically (Matt 24:37). Careful study will reveal that Satan had succeeded in creating a "gene pool" problem in his stratagems to thwart the plan of God.  But this discussion exceeds the space available in this brief review.

Did It Really Happen?
There is no question that tangible evidence indicates there was once a flood over the entire earth. Many competent books have chronicled the numerous fossils of sea animals found at extremely high altitudes all over the world, as well as fossils of land animals in arid areas below sea level.

The evidences of a global, hydraulic catastrophe are ample in the many sources readily available.  Henry M. Morris and John C. Whitcomb's book, The Genesis Record, has become a classic.  There are many serious scientists that suspect that a water vapor canopy enveloped the pre-Flood earth, as this is hinted at in Scripture. There also are technical - and Scriptural - indications that favor a hydroplate theory that certainly justifies diligent inquiry by the serious student.  There are even informed conjectures that the Planet Mars may also have had a role, but these topics also exceed the space available here.

Was The Ark Big Enough?
Many people are skeptical about a literal ark having saved all the animals, etc. They are doubtful that it could have been big enough. (They don't really know how big it was, or how many animals were involved, but still they remain skeptical.)

The ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits abeam, and 30 cubits high. The cubit was a measure intended to represent the distance between the elbow and the tip of the fingers, and is approximated by most scholars at about 18 inches. (Various cubits have been discovered ranging from 17 to 25 inches.)

Assuming an 18-inch cubit, the ark would contain 1.5 million cubic feet, and would displace approximately 24,000 tons. This space approximates over 500 railroad cars and could contain 125,000 sheep or their equivalent. Since it has been estimated that there were about 18,000 species, and most of those would be smaller than a sheep, the space doesn't seem to be a real problem.

(Some scholars suggest that a 25-inch cubit might have been involved, which would almost triple that capacity.)

Where Did It Rest?
There is a "Mount Ararat" in eastern Turkey, right near the Armenian border and this is regarded by many as the Biblical site. There are numerous stories of sightings, but these expeditions have proven problematical at best.

However, there are some textual problems to be considered. When Noah's descendants ultimately came to establish Babel (later Babylon) they came "from the east":

"And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there." -Genesis 11:1,2

From the Biblical text, it would seem that one should look for the ark east of Babylon - somewhere in Iran, not in Turkey which is slightly west of north of Babylon.

It has yet to be actually found. I personally suspect that God still has a purpose for the ark. Perhaps that's why Noah was instructed to "pitch it within and without." You don't need to cover the craft with pitch on both sides of the hull except to preserve it. I suspect that it will be found in God's timing to provide a testimony, once again, to an unbelieving world of a coming judgment.

When Did the New Beginning Start?

"And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat." - Genesis 8:4

Why did the Holy Spirit want us to know that the Flood ended on the 17th day of the 7th month? (If you are a normal, well-adjusted reader, when you come across a verse like this, you simply go on reading. However, if you have listened to my Bible studies, you are no longer a "normal, well-adjusted" reader! You remember that one of my premises is that every detail is here for our learning (Rom. 15:4) and that God always rewards the diligent!)

This one takes a little digging. We know that the seven feasts of Moses are not only commemorative, they are also prophetic (Col. 1:17). Passover is, of course, prophetic of our Passover, Jesus Christ; who, as the Lamb of God, was offered on the 14th of Nisan. The morning after the Sabbath after Passover is the Feast of First Fruits (Lev. 23:11,15). and that particular Sunday morning some women were discovering the empty tomb: His resurrection was, indeed, the ultimate "first fruits." Three days in the tomb would indicate that He rose on the 17th of Nisan.

When we examine the institution of Passover, God also instructed Moses to make that month, Nisan, the "beginning of months," (Exodus 12:2). Therefore, the Jews observe two calendars: the original (Genesis) one which begins at Rosh Hoshana, the 1st of Tishri, in the fall; and the religious one that begins on the 1st of Nisan, in the spring.

So when you examine the "new beginning" of the world under Noah, it was on the very "anniversary-in-advance" of our "new beginning" in Jesus Christ! The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed. One book. One Message. It's all about Him.

This is another of the many inexhaustible evidences of an integrated, deliberate design that highlights that these 66 books we call the Bible, although penned by over 40 guys over almost 2000 years, are a single message - a message that features, on every page, the mission, the achievement, and the astonishing blessings of, by, and through our Lord Jesus Christ!

[This article by Chuck Missler was first published in the February 2004 issue of the K-House Personal Update NewsJournal.]