Sherlock Holmes...action hero?

It's like reading a menu at a New Jersey diner. So much to choose from, so little time (129 minutes). A little CSI and NCIS. A little The Wrestler. Throw in characters from the original Arthur Conan Doyle. A little Butch Cassidy and Sundance. Mix in Da Vinci Code and Columbo, and you might have the movie Guy Ritchie made of Sherlock Holmes, this time around. And we shouldn't forget Indiana Jones.

Kenneth Turan and Michael Phillips didn't rave, in fact Phillips gave it 1.5 stars. Ouch. The queue at Sydney's Fox Studios yesterday went out the door; those folks don't read Chicago or Los Angeles reviews.

My head was in it, but the real thrill was the action. It was cleverly re-hashed before the hashing. In the opening sequence, Holmes is being chased and has to deduce his escape. "First point of attack, right ear," Downey whispers in voiceover. "Two, throat. Three, cracked ribs. In summary, neutralized." Clever indeed!

Ritchie is not the first to do that, but this one really works.

What doesn't work is the demon-possessed Lord Blackwood who wants to usher in a new world order a la The Illuminati and dark brotherhood. The story is contrived, oh wait, all stories are. But this one seems a little too neat and puerile. The guns go blazing, although Holmes insists that guns won't work on him. Even so, Holmes trusts his own fists to do battle in due course with the 'resurrected' villain. Not consistent.

Did I get it wrong or did the casting folks? Mark Strong looked more like Sherlock Holmes in the Conan Doyle version than did Downey, but that's a small point.


I liked the imagery of the Tower Bridge. It was in construction at the fixed time of the movie. The current website of the Bridge carries the history. It took 8 years, 5 major contractors and the relentless labour of 432 construction workers to build Tower Bridge. When it was built, Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever completed ("bascule" comes from the French for "see-saw"). These bascules were operated by hydraulics, using steam to power the enormous pumping engines.

Bridges are designed to take someone from one side of a river to the other. But this movie left us all on the same side. I wanted to get to the plot, that is, the single plot, but it was so busy with subplots and subthemes and the diner menu. Still it was an entertaining side of the river to remain on, to be sure.

What works for me is the Beowulf story of evil pitted against the good, and a hero who saves the day. I doubt I'm giving away anything to those people who have yet to see the movie, by saying that there is at least one sequel waiting in the wings.

No matter what else Hollywood dispenses for us in 2010 and beyond, the drama is made good by the hope that we all have, in the theatre and beyond, for a saviour. A hero. A person or group or organization or company or ...someone to knock back the evil and bring in an era of peace and good will. Even an antihero is acceptable as long as the good comes to be and thrive in the new world order. Or so Hollywood says.

And we want a hero to believe in. We want good to come. None of us is as smart as Holmes or Watson. His powers to deduce were so google-speed that it made him a bit too much. I like the speed of Columbo which I think was more 1890 and Conan Doyle, but I'll adjust. After all this is Holmes 2.0 and I can't look backwards anymore. They even upgraded Irene Adler from her mental (only) powers over Holmes to an easy-on-the-eyes seductress.

So we can all use an upgrade. We can all use a bridge to help us cross to the other side. We can all use a hero to save us. Ritchie and Hollywood have that right.

Is Sherlock Holmes an action hero? That's a bit much for me. I'll take Rocky as Rocky. And Falk as Columbo.

But if you want a real action hero who really can help you cross a bridge and get to the other side; if you want a saviour who can overcome the dark brotherhood of Satan, the enemy of all things godly, then trust in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, the real Saviour of the planet. He needed no bullets, but by his actions demonstrated God's powerful love for all people. He taught and healed and walked on water. He embodied all God wanted for humanity and had wisdom beyond Holmes 2.0. And yet, and here's the rub, he died for us. Willingly. Without sophistication. Without trickery. With one purpose in mind... to redeem us to God and get us back into relationship with Him. Awesome.

No Hollywood trickery in that. Simple. Robust. Real. And it really works. All we have to do is believe.

The sequel is in your life. What will you do with Jesus?

Two views

Looking back, looking forward

It can be confusing and downright dangerous to have your eyes looking in different directions. We are designed to be almost unidirectional. Our feet and our eyes and arms and ears all face the same way. If someone contorts into a different position we think they belong in the circus.

And yet at this time of the year we review. We look back. We want to know who died in 2009. We want to know what were the best moments on TV or the funniest interviews. We look backwards.

The Melbourne Age reported today the top 10 technology stories of the year. Safeguarding the internet from the scourge of illegal pornography, gambling and criminal activity was top of the national agenda this year as Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy continued to push his proposed mandatory internet filtering scheme.

Considered a misguided policy by many, the debate took a dramatic turn in March when a list of blacklisted websites was published online. The Government forged ahead regardless of the controversy and spent much of the year trialing the filtering scheme.

Zealous policing of the internet was not confined to blacklisted websites, and child abuse charges against Chris Illingworth were finally dropped in September by Queensland Police. Illingworth was charged last year for republishing a MA15+ rated video of a man swinging a baby by its arms, but the case ran out of steam following a review by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Another Australian who was forced to defend himself in court this year was rewarded with a $445 million windfall from Microsoft when a jury found the company had breached a patent for security software he created in the 1990s. Although Ric Richardson’s victory has since been overturned by a judge, he hopes to appeal.

Microsoft made headlines again in October for ridding the world of its universally unpopular Vista operating system, and replacing it with Windows 7. It also attempted to trump Google in the search engine wars with the release of Bing, but its internet foe fought back with a public preview of the Chrome operating system and a limited beta release of an Outlook email competitor called Wave.

Our love affair with gadgets reached dizzy new heights in 2009 with the release of the iPhone 3G S, rumours of a new tablet PC, and rise of the netbook phenomenon. This was also the year that the iPhone apps market went into overdrive, bringing us delights such as the Zippo lighter app and the CityRail timetable. Our state and federal governments cashed in on the craze after releasing a flood of new data to the public.

Google also made steady progress in its mission to dominate the smartphone sector as a number of handset makers joined the Android movement, and in October the Kindle e-book reader from Amazon finally reached our shores.

There was no shortage of action for music lovers in 2009 with video games such as Rock band and Guitar Hero sealing their place at the top of gaming charts and inspiring a new generation of spin-offs. Music piracy also made headlines with the high profile case against Pirate Bay dismaying BitTorrenters worldwide. The fight against piracy continued on our own doorstep with seven major movie studios and the Seven Network suing internet service provider iiNet for allegedly permitting customers to download movies illegally.

The social networking movement kept us very well informed this year about what our friends and colleagues were up to as Twitter reached a $1bn valuation and became the latest fad for wayward celebrities wanting to chit chat directly with fans.

A new generation of web sensations were also spawned via YouTube creating instant celebrity for the likes of the Chk Chk Boom girl and Susan Boyle, while an entire Greek wedding party became the unwitting subject of a viral email campaign. Other unfortunate social networkers also landed on the wrong side of the privacy debate when they discovered there was a downside to their newfound ability to publish all their thoughts and activities to world when taking sick leave from work.

Not to be left out of the technology race, a New Zealand toddler stumbled upon a new way to acquire excellent toys in May when he won an auction for a $15,600 digger listed on the TradeMe site.

Thanks Melbourne Age.

But what about you. What were your top stories for 2009? New job? Disappointment with mates in the neighbourhood? Your relatives giving you expected presents at Hanukkah? Or none at all?

Then if you really ponder what I'm saying, you cannot only look backwards and continue to go forward. You have to draw a line, look one last time behind you, then make some plans and move into 'forward' drive.

Draw inspiration from the past. Learn lessons from the past. And push on into what is next.

But we'll look at this phenomenon in the next couple blogs, I think.

For now, make a list of what you would like to fix, in your flat or in your life. Consider what disappointments you experienced and which ones you caused in 2009. And let's learn from them all.

Christmas... looking like this

IMG_3029
Originally uploaded by Odessea

Some say that Christmas should be met with barbecues and prawns, with beach side esky parties and shorts and thongs. That's the way we do it in Australia. But for many up north, this scene is more like they imagine. It's Christmas if it's snowing and cold. Culture is a funny thing. Irving Berlin, a Jew, wrote "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" no doubt with such a scene in mind. Tree tops glisten. No sleigh bells in this MOMA shot, though.

Others make Christmas into some shopping extravaganza with ribbons and boxes and all-night wrappings to make little ones happy when they awaken, way too early on this morning. The snow is designed to calm people, but little ones with trees and hopes for reward for being nice, not naughty, well it's too much for young ones.

Presents and trinkets, tinsel on the tree and merchandising. So much goes into making the holidays, the yuletide bright.

Or does it?

What about those millions of Christians all around the globe for whom a one-time shopping experience at our mall would be unbearable. They have never seen such arenas of salesmanship. They have never had that much money in their life, which we might drop in a single spree. Those who live in sub-Saharan Africa or in country China or India, who are surviving, and barely that. They however, are very happy this time of year.

Seems they know that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Seems they have their priorities straight.

So is Christmas about the prawns or the poor? Is it about the presents or the perspective? Don't get me wrong. I love what my wife and kids got me today. Thanks everyone! And all the while, I know, and so do they, that life is more than presents and more than tinsel. It's about family and love and the greatest gift of all.... God's gift of life in Jesus.

That's what Christmas should look like. And hey, if it helps, enjoy the snow. All of it in NYC last weekend, or in London or in Kansas.... all good.

But even then, don't miss it. It's more than weather. Life is about whether or not you have found the Eternal One.

Merry Messiah-mas.

End of an era....still singing

Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plain.

I like the chorus of "Gloria" in that Christmas carol. And I like the songs of the season. Maybe you do too.

But somebody sent me this link today and it reminded me of my old days, back in the early 1970s, singing at Full Faith Church of Love in Kansas City Kansas, with Brothers Ernie, Catron, and Tom Blasco and so many others, letting loose and thanking God. I imagined then that we were singing with angels. It was early charismatic days, the choruses abounded. The clapping was thunderous in the old building on South 42nd Street.

Were angels heard on high then? Were they singing sweetly o'er the plains of Kansas? Maybe, but the chorus lent itself to merriment and I liked things that way. Sung in the key of G, you know, high enough to make us sing louder.

Now Brother Ernie is doing so. He's singing with angels in heaven. This year, Nick Willems, Oral Roberts, Frances Hunter and Billy Joe Dougherty...and so many others joined him. And hundreds, no thousands of unnamed (to us) saints arose in glory and are singing with angels.

We'll be there in due course.

For now, keep singing!
Enjoy these clips from You Tube, if you can, imagine yourself, singing along with angels, and saints from all places, in God's choir in the sky.

Click on this link God's choir


or try this sample one on too, from London Welsh Male Voice Choir in 2008

sample only

Best wishes to all for a Merry Messiah-mas, celebrating quietly or thunderously, with ancient carols or cutesy country-licked choruses, the joy of the season. Shalom.

Hanukkah 2009

BLESSINGS OF HANUKKAH
Originally uploaded by fantartsy JJ * Busy off and on*

The lights will be lit, the dreidels spinning, the latkes frying... what a great time to be had by those who celebrate this holiday. The date roams around the December calendar, since the Jewish calendar is lunar. Each year, the holiday falls out on the 25th of Kislev, this year, that's 11 December. My family and so many others will gather worldwide to remember the holiday.

What is it we remember? The victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks, under King Antiochus Epiphanes in about 165 BCE. And the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. And the finding of special oil, enough to last one day, but it lasted 8 days, according to the story.

Jews for Jesus will be celebrating this holiday together on 18 December, the last night, when all 9 candles are lit in Sydney. Specifically in Five Dock. For the info, check here...
http://awesomechurch.com/messages_various_36.htm

Latkes, dreidels, singing, a Bible message...what else could you want?

You are most invited if you live nearby.
Celebrate with us; learn about God and his love for all people, and the desire he has for us to shine his light to the world.

Hey, hey, is it comedy?

Controversy, worldwide controversy, was sparked last week in Australia. A group of medical doctors performed a skit on a television show on Channel 9. The show, “Hey, hey it’s Saturday!” was a hit for 27 years and many middle-aged folks remember the good old days of their youth. The fun features sketch comedy interlaced with cartoons popping up (much like an MTV popup) and interviews and celebrity guests.

Each two-hour show was packed with a kaleidoscope of guests both new and old plus the fabulous Hey Hey ‘live’ Band. And it wouldn’t be Hey Hey without Red Faces, Plucka Duck, Celebrity Head and many other classic bits.



[Pictured: Ozzie Ostrich and Daryl Somers in 1971]

So what’s the controversy?

Wednesday night on a reunion show, the doctors who performed the same skit 20 years ago, revived the Jackson Jive. (pictured)

Problem is the world is not the same as it was 20 years ago. We have grown and seen our world shrink in a new way. Isolation is not an option in the 21st Century. Good behaviour and bad behaviour are both more universal in scope and recognition.



What brought this to light?



Harry Connick, Jr is no stranger to Aussie television. The New Orleans-born singer has visited Australia many times over the years and even appeared back in the day on “Hey, Hey!” (It went off the air in 1999.) But Harry condemned the skit [, a parody of the Jackson Five in a ''red faces'' segment. The performers' faces were blacked up, apart from that of the comedian playing Michael Jackson] as racist saying the performers make blacks look like buffoons.

Some of the bloggers who defended the Jive said, "There is nothing racist about this ... it is a parody only of the Jackson Five, not black people in general.

Another said, "Michael Jackson hasn't been black in a long time ... race and skin colour are simply not of any significance to us here."

If only! Kudos to Connick. Kudos to Daryl Somers for apologizing on air within minutes of the embarrassing moments. Kudos to those countless bloggers who are in the majority and say “shame” on our country. We are behind the 8-ball and we need to come clean.

Just because ‘we’ve always done that’ or ‘we take the mickey out of everyone’ doesn’t mean it was ever right.

Name calling whether blackfellas or kikes or niggers…it’s just wrong!

Besides that, I thought the doctors/Jive were terrible. Their choreography lacked good timing, the steps were simple enough and they still couldn’t perform in unison. Their singing was flat and tired. I would have gonged them myself, long before the racist trouble; it was a bad routine.

So what about the comedy card? When can comedy parody an existing act? When can Sasha Baron Cohen perform Borat or John Safran play a black man?

The ABC television in Australia is set to air another episode of Safran’s show in a couple weeks. "Episode two will go to air as planned," says an ABC representative. "In this episode John makes a genuine attempt to see what it is like to walk in the shoes of others." Seems John for his new TV show has blackened his whole body.

I remember the book Black Like Me in the 1960s (book 1961, movie 1964) and am proud of Safran, whom I consider a friend, Safran has not just reached for the black shoe polish and a bad wig. His transformation was effected by Brian Sipe and Alexei O'Brien, Hollywood professionals whose credits include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

From Wikipedia: Black Like Me is a non-fiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Griffin was a white native of Mansfield, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia passing as a black man. Sepia Magazine financed the project in exchange for the right to print the account first as a series of articles.

Griffin kept a journal of his experiences; the 188-page diary was the genesis of the book.

What Safran is doing is so different, it’s not even worth discussing in this context. But is it comedy? And is comedy fair game for out-of-bounds, bad-taste frivolity as we saw on Hey, Hey last Wednesday?

The Boston Globe (Ty Burr) said of Cohen’s Borat, “A comic put-on of awe-inspiring crudity and death-defying satire and by a long shot the funniest film of the year. It is "Jackass" with a brain and Mark Twain with full frontal male nudity.”
While Chicago Reader’s J.R. Jones said, “As clever as he is crude, Cohen alchemizes bad-taste comedy into Strangelovean satire.”

I guess the line is thin, and maybe that’s why so many are arguing and blogging about the crossing of the line with Jackson Jive. Bad is bad, because it is, not because a sociological subset says it is. We don’t have to wait for the black population of New Orleans to vote about the doctors-come-dancers and their bad routine. It was making fun and that’s that. And that’s out of bounds. Nothing redemptive about it; no hope of people learning about another culture.

So maybe that’s part of it. When I watched “Inglorious Basterds“(why is it misspelled?) the other night I thought Tarantino was in his element again. Violent, bloody, harsh, intemperate, and fun, captivating and not-a-lick-of-truth. It all started with “Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France…” and it was a fairy tale. I certainly ‘enjoyed’ Princess Bride as a fairy tale much better, but as a Jew, I found Tarantino a fairy tale we could have wished for.

But did the buffoon watch note anything about Germans? Or about Americans? Or about filmgoers? Or drinking Englishmen?

That’s when comedy or satire makes us think less of people of a certain colour or size or religion.

The world has changed; we have to keep changing.

So, I’m proud of Harry Connick , Jr. And I’m proud of Daryl Somers for quickly apologizing. And we can all learn, and need to learn, and learn to live together in honesty and fairness. No more jokes involving kikes or niggers, ok? Let’s even go beyond that and say good things about each other. Wow, what a wonderful world that will be!

Muslim leader wants Temple rebuilt

With apologies, this is a bit dated...
Posted: August 06, 2009

Originally found at
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106055

By Joel Richardson

In a historically unprecedented development, a famous Turkish Muslim leader and a prominent group of Israeli rabbis have joined together on one of their declared goals, to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Adnan Oktar, who uses the pen name of Harun Yahya, is a controversial but highly influential Muslim intellectual and author with over 65 million of his books in circulation worldwide. Oktar recently met with three representatives from the re-established Jewish Sanhedrin, a group of 71 Orthodox rabbis and scholars from Israel, to discuss how religious Muslims, Jews and Christians can work together.

The objectives of the alliance include waging a joint intellectual and spiritual battle against the worldwide growing tide of irreligiousness, unbelief and immorality. But even more unusual is their agreement with regard to the need to rebuild the Jewish Temple, a structure Oktar refers to as the "Masjid (Mosque)" or the "Palace of Solomon." An official statement about the meeting has been published on the Sanhedrin's website. Concluding the statement is the following call:

Out of a sense of collective responsibility for world peace and for all humanity, we have found it timely to call to the world and exclaim that there is a way out for all peoples. It is etched in a call to all humanity: We are all the sons of one father, the descendants of Adam, and all humanity is but a single family. Peace among nations will be achieved through building the House of G-d, where all peoples will serve as foreseen by King Solomon in his prayers at the dedication of the First Holy Temple. Come let us love and respect one another, and love and honor and hold our heavenly Father in awe. Let us establish a house of prayer in His name in order to worship and serve Him together, for the sake of His great compassion. He surely does not want the blood of His creations spilled, but prefers love and peace among all mankind. We pray to the Almighty Creator, that you harken to our Call. Together – each according to his or her ability – we shall work towards the building of the House of Prayer for All Nations on the Temple Mount in peace and mutual understanding.

Understand the significance of the Muslim's Mahdi 'messiah' in Joel Richardson's new book, "The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast." Note: The book is also available in electronic form at reduced price through Scribd.

I was also able to meet recently with Mr. Oktar in Istanbul where he described to me his vision for the rebuilding of Solomon's Temple:

The Palace of Solomon is a historically important palace, and rebuilding it would be a very wonderful thing. It is something that any Jew, a Christian or a Muslim should welcome with enthusiasm. Every Muslim, every believer will want to return to those days, to experience those days again and, albeit partially, to bring the beauty of those days back to life.

Oktar has also stated that the Temple of Solomon "will be rebuilt and all believers will worship there in tranquility." During his meeting with the Sanhedrin rabbis, Oktar expressed his belief that the Temple could be rebuilt in one year:

It could be done in a year at most. It could be built to the same perfection and beauty. The Torah says it was built in 13 years, if I remember correctly. It could be rebuilt in a year in its perfect form.

Since the meeting took place, I have also had the privilege to discuss these things in some detail with Rabbi Abrahamson and Rabbi Hollander, two of the rabbis who met with Mr. Oktar. Regarding the rebuilding of the Temple, Rabbi Hollander explained, "The building of the Temple is one of the stages in the Messianic process." But another possibility that has been presented is that the Dome of the Rock that sits so prominently on the Temple Mount be used as "a place of prayer for all nations." This title is found in the book of the Prophet Isaiah.

"This should be fairly simple," explained Rabbi Hollander. "It is said that the structure of the Dome in Haram E-Sharrif (the Temple Mount) was originally meant by (Caliph) Omar to be a House of Prayer for Jews, and the Al-Aqsa for Muslims." However, he also explained that religious Jews would not be able to enter the Dome of the Rock unless they had first been ritually cleansed according to Jewish halakhic regulations.

While the prominence of the figures involved in this joint call to rebuild the Jewish Temple is highly noteworthy, other groups have also recently made news with unique vision for the Temple Mount. Yoav Frankel, an Orthodox Jew who has been deeply involved in interfaith dialogue with Muslims, also envisions a shared Temple Mount. This project is called "God's Holy Mountain" and is an effort of the Interfaith Encounter Association, a group dedicated to promoting peace in the Middle East. What is unique about the God's Holy Mountain project is that it envisions the day when the Jewish Temple will exist side by side with the Dome of the Rock.

"This vision of religious shrines in peaceful proximity can transform the Temple Mount from a place of contention to its original sacred role as a place of worship shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians," said Frankel in a Jerusalem Post interview. A colorful painting of this vision features prominently on Frankel's website.


Muslims, Jews and Christians share the Temple Mount in harmony.

A paper on the God's Holy Mountain website, written by an unnamed Muslim scholar, asks the following question: "Would a Jewish synagogue erected on the Temple Mount or the Noble Sanctuary make the Blessed Land less blessed? It will certainly add to its blessing because it will invite more voices that exalt and glorify the One God, to whom we all pray."

The vision of God's Holy Mountain may not be all that far off. The Obama administration has also suggested that Jerusalem could become an international city that would be shared by peoples from all three Abrahamic faiths.

Even the Knesset is getting in on the discussion. Members of the Israeli Knesset gathered together last week with several Jewish scholars to discuss the role of the Jewish Temple in Jewish life. Referring to those Muslims who do not acknowledge the Jewish history of the Temple Mount, Dr. Mordechai Keidar stated, "The struggle for Jerusalem is not territorial, it is theological. … Do we give in to the Muslim claim that Judaism is no longer relevant?"

While religious Jews have yearned for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple literally for two millennia, some skeptical left-wing commentators have mocked the notion that this will ever take place. One anti-religion blogger recently claimed that, "most Israelis have no interest in a 'Third Temple' and would resent the way such a thing would symbolize the power of an already overbearing religious establishment." He then mocked the idea as something that only exists "on the outer fringes in the Israel of the real world" while any Christian expectation of a future Temple is mere "Christian fundamentalist fantasy." Yet, according to a recent poll conducted for Ynet News and the Gesher organization, over two-thirds of the Israeli public desires to see the Jewish Temple rebuilt, including almost half of the non-religious. According to Ynet News, 64 percent of those questioned responded favorably to the idea of rebuilding the Temple, while 36 percent were not in favor of such a project:

An analysis of the answers showed that not only the ultra-Orthodox and the religious look forward to the rebuilding of the Temple (100 percent and 97 percent respectively), but also the traditional public (91 percent) and many seculars – 47 percent.

Meanwhile, the work of the Temple Institute, a group that has openly dedicated itself for years to rebuilding the Jewish Temple goes on. They have already created many of the most significant priestly utensils and pieces of furniture necessary for the Temple once it is ready. In a recent video release, entitled "Dare to Dream / Dare to Build," several on-the-street interviews reveal the passion for the Temple that are held by many average Israelis. One young man expressed his belief that the building of the Jewish Temple "will bring harmony, some tranquility in the world, some peace." Another women joyfully states, "The entire purpose of creation is that we build the Holy Temple."

The suggestion of rebuilding the Jewish Temple is deeply significant to Christians, particularly those who are students of Bible prophecy. According to the Bible, an imposter messiah known as the Antichrist will someday invade the land of Israel and "set himself up" in the "God's Temple." The Apostle Paul lays this out quite clearly:

He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's Temple, proclaiming himself to be God. – 2 Thessalonians 2:4

As a result, many Christians who understand the biblical teaching regarding the last days take note of this news with a deep measure of caution and trepidation.

Another serious cause for concern is the fact that, according to Islamic sacred tradition, the Mahdi, Islam's primary messiah figure, will one day invade the land of Israel and establish his seat of authority on the Temple Mount. According to one sacred tradition, an Islamic army will come from Iran and conquer Jerusalem:

(Armies carrying) black flags will come from Khurasan (Iran). No power will be able to stop them and they will finally reach Eela (Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem) where they will erect their flags. – Sunan Al-Tirmidhi

Commenting on this particular tradition, Egyptian authors Muhammad ibn Izzat and Muhammd 'Arif comment:

The Mahdi will be victorious and eradicate those pigs and dogs. … Jerusalem will be the location of the rightly guided caliphate and the center of Islamic rule, which will be headed by Imam al-Mahdi. … That will abolish the leadership of the Jews.

As a Christian theologian who is well-versed in these matters, I expressed the reasons for my caution to the Sanhedrin rabbis. But in the end, while all three Abrahamic religions do share many common beliefs and characteristics, many differences remain. While the prophecies of the Bible and the dark nature of some of the Islamic traditions cause me deep unease, from an Orthodox Jewish perspective, my apprehension is entirely unnecessary.

Says Rabbi Abrahamson, "There is a Jewish teaching, referring to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. that says, 'Had the nations of the world known how much they benefit and are blessed by the Holy Temple they would have surrounded it with legions of armies to protect it from any harm.'"

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106055