April book -- David Jeremiah

What in the World Is Going On? by Dr. David Jeremiah (DJ) - I have more notes from this book which I filed in my Gmail "Islam" folder.

Here are notes from one chapter.

Chapter 2 -- The Crude Awakening -- explains our dependence on oil and how the quest and need for oil has made the Middle East of such importance; America uses about 25% of the oil produced; when the dollar was no longer backed by gold, Truman issued an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the dollar to be backed by oil; however, when Iran opened its own trading in February 2008 using euros, the stability of the dollar was threatened (pg. 29); because of the large demand for oil, people are looking for alternative fuel sources, however, studies have shown the "law of unintended consequences" at work -- "Rather than saving the planet from oil dependence and global warming, biofuels are raising food prices, endangering the hungry, and only slightly reducing the need for oil" (pg. 32). The book claims even if all soybeans and corn crops in the US were used for biofuel, it'd only be enough for about 20% of the demand for fuel.

The talk of how the Arab nations used oil as a bargaining chip in the early 70s was interesting (pg. 33). Essentially they punished nations who favored Israel with an embargo. Some leaders have called for the oil nations to stop selling fuel to America for just a month in order to make a huge statement about our involvement with Israel.

I found the discussion of the Carter Doctrine (pg. 34) to be very interesting because essentially this doctrine showed "the determination to protect the Persian Gulf even at the expense of our own troops." The author admits the first Gulf War was about protecting our oil supply. In fact, "experts agree that the Gulf War in 1990-91 was the first in world history fought almost entirely over oil. And make no mistake: while the war in Iraq is about terrorism, it is also about oil -- oil that is sold to finance the Muslim terrorist regime and oil that is necessary for the West to function economically."

DJ reminds us to keep watching, working and waiting for the Lord. It's a great time to be alive and the time God placed us in so we should lift up our heads in "delight."