A View from the Bunker

PRESIDENT OBAMA is not responsible for ISIS. Neither is George W. Bush. As much as it may rankle political commentators and the politically correct, the seeds of the Islamic State were planted in the 7th century. Dr. Timothy Furnish, a scholar of Islamic history, expert on political Islam and Mahdism, and the author of the new books Ten Years' Captivation with the Mahdi's Camps and Sects, Lies, and the Caliphate, explains why the roots of the Islamic State reach back much farther than America's recent military adventures in Iraq. Links to articles by Dr. Furnish. Note that he predicted the rise of a group like ISIS almost ten years before it declared its caliphate: * Beheading in the Name of Islam (Spring 2005) * What's Worse than Violent Jihadists? (July 25, 2005) Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

EUROPE HAD its paradigm violently shifted November 13th when Islamic radicals killed at least 130 people in Paris. Where does the world go from here? Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (US Army, Ret.), author of the new book Never Submit: Will the Extermination of Christians Get Worse Before it Gets Better?, discusses the military and geopolitical situation in the Middle East, and offers some thoughts about what happens next. Also: All points on the political spectrum spinning the Paris attacks; Laughing Jack, the new Slenderman; and Pepsi's soft disclosure short film Black Knight Decoded. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

THE APOSTLE Paul warned that our contest is not with human opponents. It is the principalities, powers, and the “cosmic powers over this present darkness” who are our true enemies, and who seek nothing less than our destruction. And yet the modern church too often behaves as though evil is simply the consequence of bad choices. Jared Chrestman and Tom Dunn join us to discuss their new project, Detestable, a forthcoming documentary that explores Satanic Ritual Abuse. They share their reasons for working in deliverance ministry, what led them to take on this project, and why most Christians ignore SRA—if they even believe it exists. Click here for the Detestable page on Facebook. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

THEY CAN'T possibly all be right, but they could all be wrong. As we move ever closer to the end of history, we see forces—political, economic, and spiritual—pushing us toward one-ness: Global government and a one-world religion. It sounds impossible. How can faiths with mutually exclusive claims coexist? Carl Teichrib, editor of Forcing Change, spent five days at the recent Parliament of World Religions and reports on what he found. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

THE BIBLE is unique among holy books in that its historical claims are supported by the archaeological record. Our guests, archaeologists Aaron Judkins and Bruce Hall, were part of a team that climbed Mount Ararat in 2013 to search for Noah's ark. Their expedition is the subject of Finding Noah, a new documentary film narrated by Academy Award nominee Gary Sinise. Aaron and Bruce describe their experiences, what motivated them to climb three-plus miles above sea level looking for chunks of wood, and the feeling you get when a heavily-armed terrorist group is between you and getting back to the bottom of the mountain. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

IT'S DIFFICULT for parents to fight the flood of images that surround us at this time of year—witches, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are everywhere, and thanks to popular books and movies aimed at teens and young adults, trying to explain why dressing as, say, a creature that consumes human blood might not be appropriate. Our friendly neighborhood Ph.D., anthropologist Dr. Judd Burton, author of Interview With the Giant: Ethnohistorical Notes on the Nephilim, joins us for a discussion of Halloween and why the celebration of the supernatural is so popular in a nominally Christian culture. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

RUSSIA'S INTERVENTION in Syria has complicated things for the United States and its allies, especially Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It appears that Vladimir Putin, in one move, has boxed out the nations trying to overthrow Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and, strangely enough, positioned Russia as the champion of Christendom against radical Islam. Doug Woodward, author of Uncommon Sense and Is Russia Destined To Nuke The U.S.?, joins us to discuss his new essay, "Pick Your Poison: The U.S. Can't Win in Syria". Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

PHYSICISTS AT CERN attempted to find evidence for "parallel universes" this week, but what they really mean are dimensions beyond the four (three spatial, one chronological) we perceive. They hoped to create microscopic black holes, which might prove that gravity "leaks" from our dimensions into those occupied by...what? Josh Peck, host of The Sharpening (now on video) and author of Quantum Creation, tries to speak slowly and use small words so Derek can grasp the implications of the atom-smashing at the Large Hadron Collider, and he explains why the work has him concerned. See his article "Is CERN Closer to the Abyss?" Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

THE ISLAMIC STATE has made no secret of its plan to take over the world. But it’s not the only group with that goal in mind. Cris Putnam, co-author of Petrous Romans, Exo-Vaticana, and most recently, On the Path of the Immortals, discusses the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and the possible goals of IS, Russia, and the Vatican in the how the map of that part of the world is ultimately redrawn. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

THE U.S. took a big step toward a global government last week and most of us didn’t even notice. Patrick Wood, author of Technocracy Rising: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation, explains why the Trans-Pacific Partnership is something you should be concerned about. Click here for Patrick’s new website, Technocracy News. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

SINCE ITS creation in 1958, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has grown to become the Defense Department’s most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science research and development agency. Investigative journalist and New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen discusses her new book The Pentagon’s Brain, the first-ever history of DARPA. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

WAR IN the Middle East threatens to drag the United States and Russia into direct conflict, yet another “lone wolf” attack against a soft target in America, and a steady stream of reports of unidentified craft in the sky all intensify the sense that something is about to break loose. Author, speaker, and broadcaster L.A. Marzulli joins us to discuss the topics he covers in his new book Days of Chaos and the new DVD co-produced with Richard Shaw, Watchers 9: Days of Chaos. Click here for L.A.’s blog, and here for his weekly program, Acceleration Radio. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

THE SUPERNATURAL realm is real but it’s probably very different than anything you ever heard about in church. American Christians tend to claim belief in a supernatural God but live as though all the questions of life have natural answers. What’s strange is that the information is all right there in the Bible. Dr. Michael S. Heiser, Scholar-in-Residence at Logos Bible Software, joins us to discuss his new book The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Mike explains why Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 are key to understanding this fundamental truth: “The God of the Old Testament was part of an assembly—a pantheon—of other gods.” Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

WITH 60 million children sacrificed on the altar of convenience, America is nothing if not the land of Moloch. Doug Overmyer of Seers See Ministries discusses the challenges of parenting in a nation where 1 in 5 children will be killed before they’re born. Here is the link to Doug’s article for SkyWatch Magazine, “Parenting in the Land of Moloch”. Also: Sundown tonight begins Sukkot and the fourth “blood moon” lunar eclipse of this tetrad. Click here for a map of where and when you can see it. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.

TROUBLESOME TIMES mean that those who prepare are best able to help others in need. And sometimes that means being prepared to mount a defense of those you hold dear. Mark Goodwin, host of the Prepper Recon podcast, joins us to discuss preparedness and the latest in his “prepper fiction” series, The Days of Noah - Book Three: Perdition. Please join Derek and Sharon Gilbert each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page and check out the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.