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Recent News
and Bible Prophecy
 
US Mideast envoy: 2 years or less for peace talks - YNETnews.com Jan. 6, 2010 - George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, said on Wednesday that Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations should take no longer than two years and could be finished sooner than that...Israel, Egypt and the United States want Abbas to reopen talks, but he refuses as long as Israel refuses to agree to a permanent freeze on construction in Jewish settlements on the West Bank and in east Jerusalem.
Mitchell: Mideast stagnation endangers US aid - YNETNews.com - Jan. 8, 2010 - On the eve of his visit to the Middle East, US special envoy George Mitchell threatened that his country would freeze its aid to Israel  if the Jewish state failed to advance peace talks with the Palestinians and a two-state solution...According to American law, Mitchell said, the US can freeze its support for aid to Israel. He added that all options must remain open and that the sides must be convinced about what their important interests are.
Record Cold in Miami as South Turns Icebox - Associated Press - January 11, 2010 - Freakish cold weather continued to grip the southern United States, with snow flurries spotted around Orlando and a record low set for Miami, and forecasters said Sunday that more of the same was expected...The National Weather Service issued a hard freeze warning for South Florida from Sunday night to Monday morning. A freeze watch will continue through Tuesday. Northern Florida residents will feel temperatures drop to the lower 20s and mid-teens...On Saturday night, a temperature of 35 degrees set a record that had stood since 1970, said Joel Rothfuss with the National Weather Service in Miami. He said a record low of 37 degrees on Monday, which was set in 1927, could also be broken, with the forecast saying it would drop to 35 degrees again.
    Comment: Interesting that YNET and George Mitchell kept using the word "freeze" in talking about Israel giving up land and ceasing building in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Interesting because while these announcements were being made by Mitchell, the United States was and is experiencing one of the worst deep freezes on record. God said He would retaliate against those who would "divide His Land". (Joel 3:2).
Also, isn't it interesting that the global warming people sure have been quiet?!
 
Huckabee: There Can Be No Palestinian State Here - Israeltoday.com.il - August 19, 2009 -  Wrapping up his visit to the Holy Land on Tuesday, former US presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said it was “unrealistic” to propose establishing a sovereign Palestinian Arab state alongside the Jewish state of Israel. Huckabee suggested that the small sliver of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is simply too small to support two sovereign states, especially when many of the citizens of one seek the eradication of the other. “There is going to be nothing but conflict” if the international community insists on layering two governments and two nations so often at odds with each other, he said. Huckabee’s recommendation is that the international community honor its decision made at the San Remo Conference in 1920 to return the entirety of the land to Jewish control, and to find a different place for the Palestinians to call their national home. While he didn’t go into specifics, many Israelis to the right of the political spectrum have noted that at San Remo, the international community also ceded to Jewish control all of what is today the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. When the territory east of the Jordan River was separated to make room for another Arab state, that should have satisfied past and present calls for a Palestinian national homeland. In fact, 70 percent of Jordan’s population are “Palestinians.”
    Comment: If only the world could heed this advice! Unfortunately, this issue won't be settled until Jesus returns to settle it.
 
56 Muslim Nations, One Jewish - Jerusalem Online - January 15, 2010 - There are 56 Muslim nations, 21 of them Arab... There exists only one tiny Jewish democracy now in danger of being subdivided again by the "Saudi Two State Solution"! Is there no room in the Arab or Muslim world to relocate the Palestinian Arabs just as Palestinian Jews absorbed their own refugees in the '40s?
    Comment: Good Question!
 
3 Malaysian churches attacked in 'Allah' dispute - Associated Press - January 8, 2010 - Three churches in Malaysia were attacked with firebombs, causing extensive damage to one, as Muslims pledged Friday to prevent Christians from using the word "Allah," escalating religious tensions in the multiracial country. "We will not allow the word Allah to be inscribed in your churches," one speaker shouted into a loudspeaker at the Kampung Bahru mosque. About 50 other people carried posters reading "Heresy arises from words wrongly used" and "Allah is only for us. Islam is above all. Every citizen must respect that," said Ahmad Johari, who attended prayers at the National Mosque. "I hope the court will understand the feeling of the majority Muslims of Malaysia. We can fight to the death over this issue."
    Comment: This article makes the point very plainly that the Muslims do NOT believe that Allah and Jehovah are the same God. Amazing that western politicians can't seem to understand this point!!!
 
Russia to Start Iran Nuclear Plant in 2010 - Reuters - Nov. 30, 2009 - Russia plans to start up Iran's first nuclear power station in March 2010 to coincide with the Iranian New Year, two sources closely involved with the project told Reuters. Russia agreed in 1995 to build the 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plant at Bushehr on the Gulf coast in southwestern Iran, but delays have haunted the $1 billion project and diplomats say Moscow has never used it as a lever in relations with Iran.
    Comment: It is no surprise that Iran and Russia are allied together in anything! They will be allied together in coming against Israel sometime in the future according to Ezekiel 38.

Tornado Hits Minneapolis - myfoxtwincities.com - Aug. 19, 2009 - A tornado touched down just south of downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday, according to several reports...The Minneapolis Convention Center has sustained approximately 1,800 square feet of roof damage and has some water damage. The  Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was holding its national convention at the center at the time of the storm. About 2,200 people were registered for the convention. People inside the Convention Center were taken to a safe location, and there were no reports of injury... Storm came out of nowhere - No sirens sounded and no tornado warnings were issued in the city before the storm hit. Rain had been falling most of the day in the Twin Cities metro, but the storm came as a major surprise to everyone in the area.
Lutherans to allow gay clergy in committed relationships - USA Today - Aug. 21, 2009 - Leaders of the nation’s largest Lutheran church voted Friday to allow sexually active gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy. Gays and lesbians are currently allowed to serve as ministers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America only if they remain celibate. The proposal to change that passed with 68% approval. At 4.7 million members and about 10,000 congregations in the United States, the ELCA is one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to take a more gay-friendly stance on clergy.
    Comment: The great question is: Was God speaking through this tornado? Isn’t it more than coincidence that with no serious weather predicted, this tornado struck at precisely the time a vote was being taken to allow homosexuality in the Lutheran Clergy? Jesus predicted a wave of homosexuality in the last days in Luke 17, comparable to the “days of Lot”. We are racing toward that day! By the way, even a casual reading of the story of Lot in Genesis 19 reveals how God feels about homosexuality.  Genesis does not reveal that God is against the homosexual. He is against homosexuality!
District approves same-sex marriage - washingtonpost.com - December 4, 2009 - The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage, bringing the District closer to allowing gay couples to marry. The council passed the bill 11 to 2, with Council members Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) dissenting. It still must take a second vote in two weeks before the measure can go to Mayor Adrian M.Fenty (D), who has indicated that he will sign it.

Obama backs marriage act repeal - Washington Times - August 18, 2009 - The Obama administration continued its half-a-loaf approach to gay rights issues Monday by filing documents claiming that federal laws banning same-sex marriage are discriminatory, even as the federal government continues to defend them. In its nine-page brief, the Justice Department stated that the Obama administration opposes the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act as discriminatory and supports its repeal. Yet the motion also calls for the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a gay California couple seeking to overturn the federal marriage law. “This brief makes clear, however, that my Administration believes that the [Defense of Marriage] Act is discriminatory and should be repealed by Congress,” President Obama said in a statement, noting that the Justice Department “traditionally” files briefs defending the law “when acts of Congress are challenged.” 
        Comment: Our generation has lost all logic! Fact: All laws are by necessity discriminatory. The law that posts a 25 mile speed zone discriminates against the guy who believes he has the right to go faster. A law that says one must be sixteen to get a driver’s license discriminates against  those who want one at an earlier age. A line has to be drawn somewhere! Laws are designed for the good of the majority of the people. They cannot accomodate everyone! What’s next? Will someone sue for the right to marry his dog, or sister, or etc? Education with no wisdom is the cause of this nonsense! Winding down the road with little morality is exactly where the Bible says that man will wind up in the last days and he is well on the path! “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,...” II Timothy 3:1-4.

Iraq oil deal auction a “success,” sees huge output - Reuters - Decemer 12, 2009 - Iraq, emerging from the shadow of war, expects to boost its oil output to rival the level of top producer Saudi Arabia after awarding some of its most attractive oil fields to global oil companies this week. By the end on Saturday of a two-day bidding round for 10 oil contracts — the second auction since the 2003 U.S. invasion — Iraq had received pledges from oil firms to boost its output by 4.765 million barrels per day, almost double its current output. If all deals from a first auction in June, the second this weekend and others being negotiated are added to national production, Iraq will have a capacity of 12 million barrels per day, overtaking Russia and challenging Saudi Arabia’s 12.5 million bpd, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said.
   Comment: Revelation 18 predicts a day when a city called Babylon will be a banking and cultural center for the world in the end times. It is no surprise to think that all the oil money in Iraq will eventually go to this cause. It is interesting that we are the first generation in 2,000 years that could even consider this. It will be very interesting to see how this issue develops! 
 
Israeli company finds oil beneath Rosh Ha’ayin - Ha'aretz.com - Dec. 24, 2009 - An Israeli oil exploration company on Thursday announced that it had found a huge amount of oil and gas during drilling below the city of Rosh Ha’ayin this week. Givot Olam Oil Exploration Limited Partnership said that more than 60 percent gas was measured in the drill, indicating the first such find in Israel. The company said it was too soon to determine what significance the find would bring to Israel, but added that it would become clear over the next few months of drilling whether it could be used for commercial purposes. Givat Olam began drilling at the Megged 5 well beneath Rosh Ha’ayin last June. Its shares rose 123 percent upon news of the find.
       Comment: Oil in Israel will help fulfill the Scriptures that call for Israel to be a very prosperous nation in the end times. Isaiah 60:5, & 11 are examples. They say that God will bring Israel the wealth of the world. Keep your attention on oil exploration in Israel.
 
G-20 Leaders Pledge New System of Global Economic Cooperation - AP - September 25, 2009 - World leaders on Friday issued sweeping promises to fix a malfunctioning global economic system in hopes of heading off future financial meltdowns. President Obama said actions taken so far “brought the global economy back from the brink.” “We leave here today confident and united,” Obama said at the conclusion of a two-day gathering of the world’s 20 top economies to deal with the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
    Comment: Notice the words in this article "global economic system”. God said there would be a world economic system in the last days in Revelation 13 and man is working as fast as he can go to create one.
 
Tough on Israel - Washington Post - Jul 29, 2009 - One of the more striking results of the Obama administration`s first six months is that only one country has worse relations with the United States than it did in January: Israel. The new administration has pushed a reset button with Russia and sent new ambassadors to Syria and Venezuela; it has offered olive branches to Cuba and Burma. But for nearly three months it has been locked in a public confrontation with Israel over Jewish housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank...By making plain his disagreements with Mr. Netanyahu on statehood and Jewish settlements, Mr. Obama hoped to force an Israeli retreat while building credibility with Arab governments...Mr. Obama chose to insist on an absolutist demand for a settlement "freeze."
    Comment: The United States has its problems, but this one of meddling with Israel has the potential to bring her down! God has warned the countries and individuals of the world not to meddle with Israel, especially Jerusalem! (See Zechariah 12:2 & Joel 3:2). God, through current events (storms, hurricanes, floods, drought, etc.), has been speaking about this issue, to the United States especially in the last few years, but it seems few are paying attention! He has now touched our money, but even that warning is not being respected. Now, we arrogantly insist that Israel not build apartments for her own people in Jerusalem? God says, that He would make Jerusalem a "heavy stone and all who try to lift it will be severely injured" (Zechariah 12:2). Who knows what is in store for the United States as she leads the charge in this challenge to Israel and to God?
 
Natural Gas Field Off Haifa Coast Bigger than Thought - IsraelNN.com - Aug/11/09 - The amount of natural gas reserves at the "Tamar I" drilling site, 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast of Haifa, is 16 percent bigger than previously thought, according to a Tuesday report by the companies involved in the drilling. Tests undertaken by an outside consultant show 207 billion cubic meters of gas. The previous estimate of 178 billion, made a month ago was already 30 percent bigger than original estimates. A statement by the companies says that the discovery frees Israel from dependence on foreign sources, and that local exploration will continue.
    Comment: Discovery of natural gas in such amounts is huge news! Why? Because usually wherever natural gas is found, oil is present. Discovery of oil in Israel will have huge prophetic implications!  It will change the dynamics of Middle East politics! It will bring into interesting focus a prophecy found in Isaiah 60: 5 and 11. They both say that God will bring Israel the wealth of the nations. Oil would do that! Also, there is a prophecy in Deuteronomy 33:24 that says that Asher, the eighth son of Jacob, would "dip his foot in oil". Believing that this is a reference to oil in the ground, Zion Oil and Gas is today drilling for oil at the location of the Tribe of Asher's land allotment in Israel. It is interesting that Asher's land allotment is shaped like a foot and Zion Oil is drilling at its southernmost point, the toe. Wouldn't it be interesting if they discovered the largest oil well in the world in Israel! Isn't it also interesting that it is only now that oil in Israel is being seriously sought after. Think of this. If oil had been discovered in Israel before 1948, Israel would have never been founded as a nation, a Biblical prerequisite for the end times. Has God prevented discovery of oil there until now?
 
'Israel soon to be larger than Diaspora' - Jerusalem Post - Aug 4, 2009 - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed a planeload of olim on Tuesday at Ben Gurion Airport, telling them "we're close to a tipping point."According to the prime minister, "for the first time in 2,000 years, there are going to be more Jews in Israel than outside it." Tuesday's flight, carried out in conjunction with the Jewish Agency and the ministries of the interior and immigrant absorption, contained a cross-section of American Jewish society, from religious to secular, from bearded rabbis to 55 young singles slated to join the IDF in the coming weeks.
    Comment: Definitely in keeping with end-time Bible prophecy! Here is what God has promised: "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land." (Ezekiel 36:24). In keeping with this promise, the Jewish people have been coming to Israel from all over the world for the last 60 years especially, but not many from the United States. Good jobs and prosperity has kept the Jewish people attracted to the United States. Now that is changing as the moving of God on these people overwhelms the desire to stay. God has an appointment for the Jewish people. When He has gathered them to Israel, He will send their Messiah and they will turn to Him in faith (Zechariah 12:10). The Jewish people gathering in the land is necessary for that Messiah to come to earth. They are gathering! The Messiah is close at hand!

Temple Institute to Build Sacrificial Altar on Tisha B'av
- IsraelNN.com - August 8, 2009 - The Temple Institute will begin building the sacrificial altar on Thursday, Tisha B’av, a fast day when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago...The Temple Institute, which has already built many of the vessels for the Holy Temple, such as the ark and the menorah, has now embarked on a project to build the altar. Construction begins Thursday in Mitzpe Yericho (east of Jerusalem) at 5:30 p.m. “Unfortunately, we cannot currently build the altar in its proper place, on the Temple Mount,” Temple Institute director Yehudah Glick said. “We are building an altar of the minimum possible size so that we will be able to transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt."
Can Third Temple be built without destroying Dome of the Rock? - Jerusalem Post - June 21, 2009 - A new Jewish interfaith initiative launched last week argues building the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem would not necessitate the destruction of the Dome of the Rock."God's Holy Mountain Vision" project hopes to defuse religious strife by showing that Jews' end-of-days vision could harmoniously accommodate Islam's present architectural hegemony on the Temple Mount. "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 Yoav Frankel, director of the initiative.
    Comment: According to Revelation 11:1, there is going to be a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem during the coming time of Tribulation. With the regathering of the Jewish people to Israel for the first time in 2,000 years, and the obvious zeal to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem today, tells us that those days must be very close!
 
Islamic Supremacist Group Holds First U.S. Conference - Foxnews.com - July 17, 2009 - The Khilafah Conference 2009 is scheduled to be held July 19, 2009 at the Hilton Oak Lawn hotel. A group committed to establishing an international Islamic empire and reportedly linked to Al Qaeda is stepping up its Western recruitment efforts by holding its first official conference in the U.S. Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global Sunni network with reported ties to confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Al Qaeda in Iraq's onetime leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It has operated discreetly in the U.S. for decades. Now, it is coming out of the shadows and openly hosting a July 19 conference entitled, "The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam," at a posh Hilton hotel in a suburb of Chicago.
    Comment: America is choosing to tolerate Islam, a religion proven to be hostile to others, especially to Judaism and Christianity. It's as if a spirit of blindness has come over the country, not allowing us to see those operating under Islamic dictates, flying planes into buildings, beheading journalists, calling for the destruction of Israel, calling for the fall of capitalism, etc. A spirit of deception is sweeping the world concerning Islam. Some are maintaining it is a religion of peace when reality says exactly otherwise. Some are even maintaining that Allah, the god of Islam, and Jehovah, the God of the Bible, are the same. Simple logic should be applied here! If Allah and Jehovah are the same, why does Allah want to restore Israel, and Allah want to destroy it! If Allah and Jehovah are the same, why does Islam maintain that Allah has no son while Jehovah has a son? His name is Jesus. Wake up America! Think!

'Child Bride' Says Sex With Pastor Began at Age 9 - Foxnews.com - July 17, 2009 - A 9-year-old girl was considered too young to answer the office phone at evangelist Tony Alamo's compound, but old enough for frequent sex with the ministry leader, she alleged at his federal trial on child-sex charges...The teenage witness said Alamo "married" her when she was 8, and groped her after their wedding. She said he began having sex with her when she was a 9-year-old third-grader. He also took explicit photographs of her that year with an instant camera and, upon looking at them, called her a "whore." She said she didn't understand, but Alamo told her it was a good thing.
    Comment: A tragedy in this country is not only that a nine-year-old girl be robbed of her innocence as described, but that it would be done at the hands of someone calling himself a "pastor"! A pastor should be the last person with questionable moral conduct, but many of these are "giving heed to seducing spirits" (I Tim. 4:1) in these last days!
 
Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage, With Override of Governor's Veto - Associated Press - April 07, 2009 - Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage. The state legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override. The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.  It's now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others.
Iowa Gay Couples Begin Seeking Marriage Licenses - Associated Press - April 27, 2009 - Same-sex couples in Iowa began filing marriage license applications Monday after a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay unions took effect, and the first marriages were expected within hours.
Tony Blair tells the Pope: you're wrong on homosexuality - www.timesonline.co.uk - April 8, 2009 - Tony Blair has challenged the entrenched attitudes of the Pope on homosexuality, and argued that it is time for him rethink his views. Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister, himself now a Roman Catholic, said that he wanted to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal, and suggested that in time this would make all religious groups accept gay people as equals.
    Comment: Metaphorical, not literal? Maybe the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was just an allegory. Maybe the story of creation is metaphorical. Maybe the story of the resurrection was just metaphorical. Was there really a real Jesus? The questions could go on and on, ad nauseam! If the Scriptures don't mean what they say about homosexuality, how would we know they mean what they say about anything? Tony Blair's politics can be debated, but it is clear, he is a terrible theologian! An old interpretation rule would apply here: When the plain sense makes, seek no other sense, lest you wind up with nonsense.
    Jesus said there would be a wave of homosexuality in the world just "as it was in the days of Lot" in the last days (Luke 17:28). The days of Lot are recorded in Genesis 19. The predominate sin on record is homosexuality. Jesus said homosexuality would reemerge just before His return. It is!
 
U.N. Wants To Repair Babylon- Associated Press - November 13, 2008 - It was one of the world's first, greatest cities - a place where astronomers mapped the stars millennia ago and kings created an early code of law and planted what became known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Yet little remains of the ancient capital, as seen by The Associated Press during a trip to Babylon last month...Now, for the first time, global institutions led by the U.N. are thoroughly documenting the damage and how to fix it...The U.S. also says it will help rehabilitate Babylon, funding an effort by the World Monuments Fund and Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage...
    Comment: This is huge news!!! In Revelation 18, the Apostle John looked into the end times and saw a city named Babylon that would serve as a cultural and financial center for the world. Because Babylon laid in ruins for centuries, Bible scholars had the tendency to spiritualize the name "Babylon" as it referred to end times. Now there is discussion about rebuilding and revitalizing the real city of Babylon. The question remains, how could this same Babylon become a cultural and financial center? Would developing such a project take a long time? Actually, with the technology we have available today, it would not take long at all. The nuclear research facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee was up and running with a 75,000 population in about 20 months and that was in 1942-1945. Likewise, new roads and buildings of all sorts could be built at the Babylon site today. World banking in the new Babylon could be set up in a matter of months. It would not surprise this author if we hear more plans about this and that Babylon start to look and sound like what John saw in Revelation 18, one more indicator that we are living in the end times and close to the return of Jesus.
    There is some poetic justice in my writing this comment. I was raised in a denomination that, for a long time, lacked the luxury of seeing a physical Israel in place. Because they did not see that physical Israel in place, they spiritualized the prophecies about Israel in the end times, believing those prophecies must be about the church. However, in 1948 A.D., a physical Israel was re-established. Since then, this denomination insists on tradition rather than reality to believe the prophecies about Israel being re-established apply to the church and not about Israel.
    In like manner, there has not been a physical Babylon being restored until recent history. The prophecies about it being this great cultural and financial center in the end times were thusly spiritualized by many. However, a real, physical Babylon is being restored today. Could not the prophecies about it come true as revelation  predicts, just as the prophecies about Israel have literally come true?
 
Google Earth Lets You Tour Ancient Rome - Foxnews.com - November 12, 2008 - The glory that was Rome is to rise again. Visitors will once more be able to visit the Colosseum and the Forum of Rome as they were in A.D. 320, this time on a computer screen in 3D. The rendering of the ancient city in Google Earth lets viewers stand in the center of the Colosseum, trace the footsteps of the gladiators in the Ludus Magnus and fly under the Arch of Constantine. The computer model, a collection of more than 6,700 buildings, depicts Rome in the year A.D. 320. Then, under the emperor Constantine I, the city boasted more than a million inhabitants, making it the largest metropolis in the world. It was not until Victorian London that another city surpassed it.
    Comment: A bit eerie because Rome, according to Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 is due to rise again and be the major power on earth when Jesus comes to establish His Kingdom. Why this sudden interest in Rome? This will certainly make many more friendly with the idea of a restored Rome.

'Why Believe in a God?' Ad Campaign Launches on D.C. Buses - Foxnews.com - November 12, 2008 - Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.
Under God' pastor dead at 97 - Associated Press - Nov. 30, 2008 - The Rev. George M. Docherty, credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, has died at 97...Docherty, then pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, just blocks from the White House, gave a sermon in 1952 saying the pledge should acknowledge God...There was little effect from that initial sermon, but he delivered it again on Feb. 7, 1954, after learning that President Dwight Eisenhower would be at the church. The next day, Rep. Charles G. Oakman, R-Mich., introduced a bill to add the phrase "under God" to the pledge, and a companion bill was introduced in the Senate. Eisenhower signed the law on Flag Day that year.
    Comment: The champions for Godly principles are getting old and dying. They are disappearing from America's landscape. A new landscape is emerging. It is a humanistic landscape that is making attempt to establish a society that has no official allegiance or recognition of the God of the universe. It is one that mocks at the Bible and does not want to be regulated by its principles. America is changing, but not for the better! She is slipping down a slippery slope toward corruption and immorality at a wholesale level. The outcome will not be pretty!

Majority think heaven is open to other faiths - Associated Press - December 18, 2008 - Most American religious believers, including most Christians, say eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior, a new survey has found. And 80 percent of people with this open view of heaven's gates listed at least one non-Christian group — Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists — who may also be saved, according to the survey, released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
    Comment:
This is part of the end-time deception that the Bible speaks of (II Thess. 2:11-12). Anyone familiar with the Bible knows that Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father except through me". (John 14:6).
 
NYC Facing Lossnce of Status in World of Finance - Foxnews.com - December 07, 2008 - The New York City comptroller's chief economist, Frank Braconi, warned in October that the meltdown had "sped up the process of financial dispersion that was already under way," adding that "in coming years, New York will have to share the financial stage."...At the same time, places like London, Tokyo and Hong Kong have become global financial centers on a scale that some believe already rival New York...the financial sway of cities such as London has been growing faster than New York's. From 1997 to 2007, the new capital raised yearly in New York dropped by nearly one-quarter while in London the figure almost quadrupled, according to the World Federation of Exchanges.
Foreign economists urge 'global plan' - Washington Times - October 1, 2008 - Leaders and economists from Western Europe to East Asia Tuesday urged the United States to go beyond reviving a failed domestic bailout and start working on a new global financial system...The Americans don't have a choice” they must absolutely have a global plan," Christian Noyer, head of the French central bank, said in Paris. ..The 27-nation European Union said Tuesday that the crisis "has become a global problem" and Washington has a "special responsibility" to resolve it.
    Comment: The new global financial system that John foresaw in Revelation 13 becomes more of a reality each day. Eventually, everyone will be required to take a "mark" in order to participate. (Revelation 13:17). Stay tuned.

Target Israel? Iran Tests New Long-Range Missile
- Foxnews.com - November 12, 2008 - Iran test fired a new, more accurate surface-to-surface missile, the country's defense minister said Wednesday, in a fresh effort to enhance Tehran's military might...A senior defense official at the Pentagon told FOX News that the missile suffered an in-flight problem, a possible engine failure, during the test, and the missile only traveled about 180 miles out.
    Comment: The failure of this missile is reminiscent of the Scripture that says of Israel that "no weapon formed against you will prosper" (Isaiah 54:17).
    God has a huge surprise for Iran! God is going to wipe out her army supernaturally when she makes the mistake of coming against Israel! Ezekiel 38-39 tells us that Russia will be in this great assault on Israel as well. God will rain down fire on the armies and feed the dead soldiers to the birds. For the first time in twenty centuries, those birds are gathering in Israel for this event. (See the Lion of Judah WEB Site article -
http://lionofjudahministry.org/cm/content/view/41/1/).
    All the saber-rattling that is buzzing in the news among those listed in Ezekiel 38:6 (Russia, Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, and others), tells us that this great event is close at hand! Iran insists that Israel will be "wiped off the map". Actually, it is Israel that will be untouched and these evil armies that come against her will cease to exist. God declared through Ezekiel that He would make Himself "known in the sight of many nations" in this great event. This has become possible for the first time in history, through satellite television. How do you think the world will react?
    Imagine a political world with the armies of Russia, Iran, and the others listed in Ezekiel 38:6 removed from the scene! A political vacuum will be left. The power bases left will be the West and the East. These are the powers listed as the major players in the Book of Revelation for the end times. A good time to be right with God!
 
From Zion Shall Grow Forth Produce -Isrealnationalnews.com - October 27, 2008 - Preparations for Agritech 2009 - Israel's International Agricultural Exhibition - are well underway.  In anticipation of the upcoming fair, scheduled for May of next year, a delegation of 40 journalists will arrive in Israel next month to meet with the directors of agricultural and water companies...Among the visiting journalists will be print and TV media representatives from countries that are among Israel's best potential customers for exports of agricultural products and knowledge.  These include China, India, Turkey, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, France, Ethiopia, South Africa, Brazil, Peru, Tanzania, Senegal, and others..."Agritech Israel has become a well-known brand name for showcasing the worldwide reputation of Israel's agriculture. Agritech Israel is regarded as one of the most important agro technological exhibitions in the world, a fact proved by the thousands of visitors from around the world at previous exhibitions."
    Comment: Over and over in the Old Testament Scriptures, there is the recurring theme that the Land of Israel would be restored from being a dry and parched land to an agriculturally thriving one. Amos 9: 13-15 reads, "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed;... "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,  and make gardens and eat their fruit. "I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them," says the LORD your God". Ezekiel writing about the same subject says, "And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field; that you may not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations". (Ezekiel 36:30). Ezekiel 36:34-36 states, "And the desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. And they will say, This land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate , and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. Then the nations left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it".
    Did you get that last part? God is restoring Israel today to let the nations know that He is involved in restoring Israel and that He is able to do what He says. Thusly, God is in the process of sending the world a message today. It is so unfortunate that there are so many today who are ignorant about that message! There are others who have been theologically taught that Israel has become irrelevant, so in their minds, there is no message. There are others who just don't care about this major move of God in our world today. (Most in this category don't care about anything except making sure they keep cable TV and cell phones turned on and have plenty of security, prosperity,  and entertainment).  However, for those of us who understand, God bringing the Jewish people home to Israel and restoring the Land of Israel is a major sign that the Lord is about to do something BIG! (Ezekiel 36:22). Included in that "BIG" will be the appearing of Jesus, Israel's Messiah. For those of us who are looking forward to His return with great anticipation, it would be the greatest Christmas present of all!
 
California Attorney General Asks State Supreme
Court to Void Gay Marriage Ban
- Foxnews.com - December 19, 2008 - California Attorney General Jerry Brown changed course on the state's new same-sex marriage ban Friday and urged the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8. In a dramatic reversal, Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure that amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman is itself unconstitutional because it deprives a minority group of a fundamental right.
    Comment: In the Old Testament we have a record of how God dealt with homosexuality. Genesis 19:5 records that the men of Sodom wanted to "know" Lot's guests. God destroyed the cities, Sodom and Gamorrah for this sin and wickedness in general. In the New Testament, Romans 1 records more of how God feels about homosexuality. Here is what is recorded in Romans 1:26-27: "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,  and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error". We are marching toward the world that Jesus said would exist just before His return, like the days of Lot.  (Luke 17:28).

UK's Brown: Now is the time to build global society - Reuters - November 9, 2008 - The international financial crisis has given world leaders a unique opportunity to create a truly global society, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown will say in a keynote foreign policy speech on Monday. In his annual speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, Brown -- who has spearheaded calls for the reform of international financial institutions -- will say Britain, the United States and Europe are key to forging a new world order. "The alliance between Britain and the U.S. -- and more broadly between Europe and the U.S. -- can and must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order," an excerpt from the speech says..."...And if we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together seize this moment of change in our world to create a truly global society."
    Comment: According to Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, the great power base of the world of the end-time will be the Roman Empire in its revived form, Europe. That final empire will extend to become  worldwide. Its leader, according to Revelation 13, will regulate money all over the world. Notice who Brown believes are key to "forging a new world order", Europe and the United States. The world order that Daniel spoke of is very close to being organized! Daniel also asserted that it would be this revived Roman government that would be in place when the Messiah came to this earth to replace it with His own Kingdom. His Kingdom is therefore starting to come into view!
    The citizenship of His Kingdom is being built and has been for a long time. However, the days of adding to that citizenship are nearing their prophesied end! If you are not a citizen of His Kingdom, now would be a good time to become one! Jesus told a man named Nicodemus one night that "unless one is born again" he will not "see the Kingdom". (John 3:1-3). How does one become born again? By turning in faith to Jesus and believing in Him with your heart (Romans 10:9). Ask Him into your heart and life today! Time is short!
 
God is Speaking
to the USA!
Joel 3:2 warns retaliation for
dividing His Land!

 
Condi pulls a Solomon: Split Jerusalem in 2 - World Net Daily - August 31, 2008 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, completing a visit to the region today, has been pressing Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would divide Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a state in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to top diplomatic sources involved in the talks.

Bush Prepares for Hurricane Gustav
- Fox News - August 31, 2008 - President Bush, faced with the prospect of a second monster hurricane striking the still-battered Gulf Coast on his watch, checked in with governors and federal officials Saturday to make sure Washington was doing all it can...The president called state leaders in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas in the early morning ...Those states are in the potential path of the hurricane, which has been cutting a deadly route through the Caribbean and picked up even more power Saturday, probably en route to a terrifying Category 5 designation.

U.S. to 'guarantee' Palestinian state - Letter intended to bind Israel, PA, next administration in Washington - World Net Daily - September 11, 2008 - The U.S. is planning to issue a letter guaranteeing the country will back agreements reached during current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state before President Bush leaves office in January...The move is intended to ensure any agreements reached by the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, and spelled out in a joint document, will be recognized by the next U.S. administration and binding for Israel and the PA. The information comes as Jacob Walles, the U.S. consul-general, stated in an interview with a major Palestinian newspaper yesterday that Israel and the PA agreed to negotiate Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley area leading to the Dead Sea.
 
Ike Ravages Texas Coast With Lower-Than-Expected Storm Surge, Cutting Off Power to Millions - Foxnews.com - September 13, 2008 - Howling ashore with 110 mph winds, Ike ravaged the Texas coast Saturday, flooding thousands of  homes and businesses, shattering windows in Houston's skyscrapers and knocking out power to millions of people.

June 2008 Midwest floods
- Wikipedia - The June 2008 Midwestern United States floods were flooding events which affected portions of the Midwest United States. After months of heavy precipitation a number of rivers overflowed their banks for several weeks at a time and broke through levees at numerous locations. Flooding continued into July. States affected by the flooding included Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin.

Treasury, Congress ramp up bank bailout talks - Reuters - September 21, 2008 - The Bush administration and Congress on Sunday ramped up talks on an unprecedented $700 billion bank bailout as they battled the clock to prevent further financial market turmoil that risks hurtling the economy into a deep and damaging recession. The plan for the largest-ever bank rescue would give sweeping powers to the U.S. Treasury to buy up toxic mortgage-related debt from financial firms, including U.S. subsidiaries of foreign banks.
    Comment: God gives a general warning to those who claim to know Him but not living for Him about sending floods, famine, and trouble in general in Amos 4. The United States has definitely been experiencing these troubles in general! Unfortunately, in spite of all the warnings so far (floods, fires, hurricanes, and the like), there are few who would associate these natural disasters with the way our country is treating God. Additionally, God has specifically warned long ago in Joel 3:2, against those who would divide His Land. The policy of influencing Israel to give up her land and even divide Jerusalem in the interest of making so-called peace has mainly been spearheaded by the United States since 1991, but has been unprecedented recently in the Bush Administration, even to the point of asking Israel to divide Jerusalem! In this author's opinion, the politics of forcing Israel to cede land to her enemies is a dangerous policy! It has pushed the issue over the edge with God and has caused the Lord to make good on His promise in Joel 3:2 to retaliate against those who "divide My Land". God is speaking today to the USA and He is saying,
"USA, -- get your hands off of MY LAND"!

Temple Institute Announces: High Priest's Crown is Ready!
- israelnationalnews.com - February 17, 2008 - The Temple Institute in Jerusalem announces the completion of the Tzitz, the High Priest's headplate - now ready for use in the Holy Temple. The tzitz is made of pure gold, was fashioned over the course of a more than a year by the craftsmen of the Temple Institute, and is ready to be worn by the High Priest in the rebuilt Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
120 Sets of Linen Garments for Lay Priests is Presently Underway - March 13, 2008-www.templeinstitute.org/garment_manufacture.htm - For the first time in 1,938 years the linen garments of the lay priests are being produced in preparation for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and the renewal of the Divine service. The last priestly garments to have been worn were those worn by the priests who were martyred by the Roman legions who brutally invaded and destroyed the Holy Temple on the ninth day of the month of Av, in the year 70 CE.
    Comment: Incredible! No other generation for almost 2,000 years has seen these developments. Zeal to rebuild the Temple tells us that the Antichrist, who takes his seat in it (II Thess. 2:4) is close at hand. It also tells us that the Lord who comes to stop Him (II Thess. 2:8) is close at hand. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!
 
Lightning sets 800 fires in California - Associated Press - June 24, 2008 - In less than a day, an electrical storm unleashed nearly 8,000 lightning strikes that set more than 800 wildfires across Northern California, a rare example of "dry lightning" that brought little or no rain but plenty of sparks to the state's parched forests and grasslands. The weekend storm was unusual not only because it generated so many lightning strikes over a large geographical area but because it struck so early in the season and moved in from the Pacific Ocean. Such storms usually don't arrive until late July or August and typically form southeast of California.
'Extraordinary' number of fires forces California firefighters to pick their battles - Associated Press - July 1, 2008 - Cool, damp weather returned Tuesday to the area around a huge wildfire close to Big Sur, one of hundreds of blazes firefighters have struggled to contain because of hot weather, rough terrain and lightning storms...This year is extraordinary for the number of active fires, Kirchner said. The weekend of June 21 had 1,200 fires; a number Forest Service officials said appeared to be an all-time record in California.
More than 1,400 fires burning in California - KSBY.com - June 30, 2008 - More than 1,400 fires scorch a path of destruction across the state. One of the biggest of those fires is burning in Monterey County near the town of Big Sur. Here is the latest on the Basin Complex Fire: More than 35,000 acres have burned since the fire began June 21. Fire crews say it's only 3 percent contained. More than 1,000 firefighters are working to get it under control. 16 structures have been destroyed, more than a thousand others are still threatened.
    Comment: All of these disasters were taking place in California as the State was announcing seemingly an all-out campaign to challenge traditional marriage, to make it legal for homosexuals to marry in the State. It was God who established traditional marriage between man and woman in the book of Genesis (see Genesis 2:18-25).

Saudis to Christians: Get out!
- World Net Daily - August 12, 2008 - More than a dozen Christians in Saudi Arabia who were accused by government officials of worshipping in their homes have been ordered deported...The report from the Washington-based human rights group said 15 Christians will be deported. Sixteen had been arrested April 25 when a dozen Saudi Arabian police officers raided a home during a prayer meeting. "The first officer to enter the house after breaking down the main gate pointed a pistol at the Christians and ordered them to hand over their resident permits and mobile phones," the report said. "The other 11 police followed quickly and started searching the entire house. They confiscated an electronic drum set, an offering box with 500 Saudi Riyal in it ($130), 20 Bibles, and a few Christian books."
    Comment: We have heard much about Allah and Jehovah being the same God of late. If this is true, why are Christians getting this treatment in Saudi Arabia, a Muslim State? II Thessalonians 2:11-12 make a case that in the end-times, truth would be not be received by many. It says, "...because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false..." Jehovah and Allah are not the same God and this news story stands as evidence.
 
Church of England Confirms Support for Women Bishops - christianpost.com - July 8, 2008 - After lengthy debate, the Church of England's General Synod voted on Monday to confirm its support for the ordination of women as bishops without offering much in the way of safeguards for objectors. The Synod had already agreed to the ordination of women bishops in principle but was voting on Monday night...
    Comment: The following is what the Bible says about the selecting of Bishops: "It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer (bishop), it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer (bishop), then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity, but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?,  and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." (1 Tim 3:1-7). One would get the impression that Bishops are supposed to be masculine, at least, from the Bible's perspective. I guess this doesn't mean much to the Church of England.

Texas school district to let teachers carry guns
- Reuters News Service - August 15, 2008 - A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States...Teachers who wish to bring guns will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and
permission from school officials.
    Comment: Incredible that it has come to this! The Bible declares that in the last days violence and "lawlessness" will increase (Matthew 24:12). Amazing that school teachers have to defend themselves at school!

Top Russian general names Israel as Georgian arms supplier
- Jerusalem Post - Aug 19, 2008 - Russian Deputy Chief of General Staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn accused Israel in a Moscow press conference on Tuesday of arming the Georgian military with mines, explosive charges, special explosives for clearing minefields and eight kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). "In 2007, Israeli experts trained Georgian commandos in Georgia and there were plans to supply heavy weaponry, electronic weapons, tanks and other arms at a later date, but the deal didn't work out," Nogovitsyn said.
    Comment: The Russian bear is flexing her muscles. Interesting that this story indicates new hostility between Russia and Israel! Since Russia is predicted by Ezekiel 2500 years ago to militarily come against Israel in the last days (see Ezekiel 38 & 39).

South African Olim Arriving in First-Ever Group Flight
- israelnationalnews.com - July 21, '08 - Ninety-six South African are scheduled to land in Israel Monday night, the first time a group of new olim, (immigrants to Israel) has been organized from the country by the Jewish Agency. Their arrival precedes by several hours a North American flight of 210 new olim.
    Comment: God keeps bringing the children of Israel home as He promised He would in the last days (see Isaiah 11:12, and Isaiah 43:6).
 
1st time: Entire 'Lost tribe of Israel' allowed 'home' - World Net Daily - August 23, 2008 - After years of diplomatic wrangling, the Israeli government has given permission to a community of Indian citizens who believe they are one of the "lost tribes" of Israel to move legally to the Jewish state. This decision, first reported in Israel's Maariv newspaper, clears the way for the arrival here of 7,232 members of the Bnei Menashe. They believe they are the descendants of Manasseh, one of the biblical patriarch Joseph's two sons and a grandson of Jacob...According to Bnei Menashe oral tradition, the tribe was exiled from Israel and pushed to the east, eventually settling in the border regions of China and India where most remain today. Most kept customs similar to Jewish tradition, including observing Shabbat, keeping the laws of Kosher, practicing circumcision on the eighth day of a baby boy's life and observing laws of family purity.
    Comment: As this article suggests, there are no "lost tribes of Israel". Man may not have known for twenty centuries where they all were, but God has!!! He said He would preserve them (Jeremiah 31:35-37) and then gather them back to Israel in the end times from the "ends of the earth" (Isaiah 43:6). He is! The gathering of the children of Israel back to the Land is something God said He would do in the last days to prove to the nations that He is God (Ezekiel 36:23). As of this writing, some 5.6 million have been gathered back to the Land of Israel and most of them since 1948. God is at work!

Temple Institute Tailors Kohanims’ Garments
- IsraelNationalNews.com - July 2, '08 - Since Monday, the Temple Institute in the Old City of Jerusalem has opened a workshop for the tailoring and production of the Priestly Garments to be used by Kohanim (priests) in the Temple service. Priestly garments have not been worn since the destruction of the Second Temple almost 2000 years ago. Each set has a turban, tunic pants and belt which must be individually tailored at a cost of NIS 2,500 per Kohen. At the inauguration ceremony on Monday, Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, himself a Kohen, was measured for a set of the garments. The garments are the fruits of a worldwide search.  Special flaxen thread from India and Turkish mountain worms for the correct shade of crimson are two examples of the necessary materials . "The Temple is not a message (to only) the Jewish people. It reunites the world all around one central prayer house… all the nations will be coming to Jerusalem" Temple Institute Director Rabbi Yehuda Glick said.
    Comment: Huge News!!! The Bible anticipated a new Temple to be in operation in the last days. II Thessalonians 2:4 says that a future leader will "take his seat in the Temple of God" to display himself as God. According to Daniel 9:27, three and one half years later, Jesus will return to this earth to rule and reign as "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords". There hasn't been a Temple for almost two thousand years since the Romans destroyed it in 70 A.D. and scattered the Jewish people all over the world. Now there are almost six million Jewish people living in the land of Israel and there is a zeal to restore Temple worship. The return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and putting a Temple in place are prerequisites to the Return of Jesus to this earth. His return is drawing very NEAR!!!
 
To college freshmen, GPS has always been there - Associated Press - August 19, 2008 - Students entering college this fall have lived their whole lives in a digital world where GPS has always been available, phones have always had caller ID and tax returns could always be filed online...ther cultural markers are all but unknown to them IBM typewriters, Roseanne Barr's tortured version of the National Anthem, Pee-wee Herman's "Playhouse" and gas-station attendants who fix flat tires or offer to check under the hood.
    Comment: The  rate at which technology is moving is astounding!!! No surprise  however. Daniel 12:4 states that knowledge will increase in "the time of the end". This is exactly what we all are observing.

G7 nations welcome U.S. bank bailout - Reuters - Sep 22, 2008 - Group of Seven nations welcomed the $700 billion U.S. markets bailout plan on Monday but there was no sign that other governments saw any need to follow Washington in setting up rescue packages of their own...U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Sunday he was "aggressively" encouraging other countries to put in place similar schemes to the plan announced on Friday which sent global stock markets soaring. The world's big central banks have already joined in a coordinated move with the U.S. Federal Reserve to pump hundreds of billions of dollars in extra funding into markets to prevent the world financial system from seizing up in a credit freeze.
    Comment: Amazing that the current economic crisis we are facing brings us to consider a global solution! According to Revelation 13, we are going to have a system in the future that will be global in scope. A leader from Europe that God calls "Antichrist", will cause all to receive a mark, or they cannot participate (see Revelation 13:16-17). With this present crisis bringing the world's big banks to cooperate, the world banking system is becoming more believable.

Britain Takes Up Islamic Law
- Foxnews.com - September 15, 2008 - Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases. The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence. Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through county courts or the country's High Court, a part of its Supreme Court system.
    Comment: This is a product of the deception that Jesus and Paul prophesied for the end times!!! Jesus predicted that the deception He spoke of would sweep the earth before His return and be so powerful that "if possible, even the elect would be deceived" (Matthew 24:24). Paul, writing on the same subject, said this, "because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false..." (2 Thess 2:10-11). The deception, in spite of all the evidence otherwise, is that Islamic law can peacefully coexist alongside any law for long.

Presbyterian Assembly votes to drop homosexual clergy ban
- AP - 6/28/2008 - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)...set up another confrontation Friday over its ban on ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians. The denomination's General Assembly...voted 54 percent to 46 percent Friday to drop the requirement...
    Comment: Jesus predicted days just as it was in the days of Lot in Luke 17: 28-30. We are approaching those days rapidly!

Grassley Probes Televangelists' Finances
   - CBS News - November 7, 2007 - Acting on tips about preachers who ride in Rolls Royces and have purportedly paid $30,000 for a conference table, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee said Tuesday he's investigating the finances of six well-known TV ministers.  Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said those  under scrutiny include faith healer Benny Hinn, Georgia megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar and one of the nation's best known female preachers, Joyce Meyer. Grassley sent letters to the half-dozen Christian media ministries earlier this week requesting answers by Dec. 6 about their expenses, executive compensation and amenities, including use of fancy cars and private jets.
    Comment: Jeremiah 5:30 & 31 deals with this tragic issue. They say, "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it"? Also, the same atmosphere existed among the spiritual leaders in Micah's day. Micah warned, "Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us. Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest" (Micah 3:11). A day of reckoning is coming because "judgement begins at the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17). God will hold all accountable for what is done in His name, including what was done with His money! 

More than 40 nations invited to Annapolis - YnetNews.com - November 20, 2007 - The United States issued formal invitations to some 40 nations and organizations on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Annapolis peace conference...The list of confirmed invitees also includes the Arab League and Arab countries such as Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Members of the international diplomatic quartet have also been given invitations. These include the UN, The EU, Russia, and Mideast envoy Tony Blair.
    Comment: It is absolutely amazing to ponder the list of  nations involved in the issue of what to do with Israel! God indicated that the world's attention would be on Israel, but more specifically, Jerusalem in the last days in Zechariah 12:1-3. It is!


Ahmadinejad Says Annapolis Summit Was 'Failure,' Israel is Doomed - Foxnews.com - November 28, 2007 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the U.S.-brokered Mideast peace conference was a "failure" and that Israel is doomed to "collapse,"..."It is impossible that the Zionist regime will survive".
    Comment: "Nothing is impossible with God". Mr. Ahmadinejad needs to understand that the Lord God Almighty has proclaimed that Israel is back in their land to stay (Amos 9:15). No bomb, no army, and no politician will change this!

Israel says must trade Jerusalem areas with Arabs
- Reuters - December 9, 2007 - Israel's deputy prime minister responded on Sunday to U.S. criticism of plans to build homes on occupied land in the Jerusalem area by saying parts of the city must be given to the Palestinians to avoid losing U.S. support.
    Comment: Zechariah 12:3 warns that political tampering with Jerusalem is very risky business! "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured...."

Bush hardens tone, urges end to Israeli occupation
- Reuters - January 10, 2008 - U.S. President George W. Bush, hardening his tone towards Israel on Thursday, urged an end to "the occupation" of the West Bank and pushed for a peace treaty to be signed within a year to create a Palestinian state. The United States rarely uses the politically charged word "occupation" to describe Israel's hold on lands captured in a 1967 war. It is a term Palestinians seeking a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip employ frequently to describe their plight. "The establishment of the state of Palestine is long overdue. The Palestinian people deserve it," Bush said in a statement he read to reporters in a Jerusalem hotel.
    Comment: Joel 3:2 warns retaliation against those who would "divide My land". Again, very risky business! Prophecy teachers who are aware of how the Lord feels about this, hold their breath and hope that the Lord's patience and mercy stay in place a little while longer. Eventually, no nation will survive not supporting Israel.  All nations will eventually turn against Israel and will be brought against Israel and the Lord, Himself will fight them (Zechariah 14:2-3). There is no guessing who will win this great coming contest.

Rabbis Warn US of Disasters to Follow Annapolis -israelnationalnews.com - November 6, 2007 - The SOS Israel organization dispatched a letter to US President George W. Bush warning him that American pressure for Israel to withdraw from parts of the Land of Israel and divide Jerusalem at the upcoming Annapolis Conference is liable to lead to disasters befalling America. The rabbi pointed out that they had made a similar prediction in 2005, prior to the US-backed Disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria...Hurricane Katrina formed on August 23rd, 2005 – on the day the Disengagement was completed. "This time the Almighty is warning the US in advance: if the plague of water was not enough  now he shall send flames. While hundreds of thousands of families have already fled the terrible fires in California, and we ask you, will you really forge ahead with this malevolent plan?" the letter said.
    Comment: Since this warning, the US has seen rare winter tornadoes, more devalue of the dollar, more broadening of the failing US housing market, flooding, etc. All of these are coincidences?
First transatlantic flights land at Heathrow under 'Open Skies' - AFP - Mar 30, 2008 - A Continental Airlines flight from New York arrived at London's Heathrow airport Sunday morning, marking the beginning of the ground-breaking "Open Skies" agreement to free up transatlantic air travel. Comment: Travel will greatly increase - Daniel 12:4.

Saudi Arabia's Judiciary Defends Verdict Sentencing Rape Victim to 200 Lashes and Jail Time - FoxNews.com - November 21, 2007 - The Saudi judiciary on Tuesday defended a court verdict that sentenced a 19-year-old victim of gang rape to six months in jail and 200 lashes because she was with an unrelated male when they were attacked. The Shiite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's rigid Islamic law requiring segregation of the sexes. But in considering her appeal of the verdict, the Saudi General Court increased the punishment. It also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the woman, Saudi news media said last week.
    Comment: And this is what we seem to want to embrace here in the West? Our White House is hosting Ramadan (Muslim Holy Event) and many are trying to convince us that Islam is a peaceful religion, and that Allah and Jehovah are the same God. This is some major deception going in our day! If Allah and Jehovah are the same God, why is it that the followers of Allah want to destroy Israel, and the Jehovah wants to restore it? Why is it that the followers of Allah turn their backs toward Mecca, away from Jerusalem, when they pray, and the followers of Jehovah pray toward Jerusalem and rever Jerusalem as their most holy city? If Allah and Jehovah are the same, why are Christian churches and Bibles not allowed in many Muslim countries?

Vatican: Muslims now outnumber Catholics - Associated Press - March 30, 2008 - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday. "For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican's yearbook. He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4% of the world population — a stable percentage — while Muslims were at 19.2%.
    Comment: While Christianity still claims 33% of the world's population,  that is changing because in Christianity, there is a great falling away in progress (I Timothy 4:1). 

Spitzer steps down as New York governor - USA TODAY - March 11, 2008 - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the nationally known do-gooder who suffered a jaw-dropping fall from grace this week after being accused of frequenting a high-price call girl ring, announced his resignation Wednesday.
Former N.J. Gov. McGreevey Confirms Reports of Three-Way Sex With Wife and Aide - FoxNews.com - March 17, 2008 - It's now a case of he said, he said, she said. Both former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey and his one-time driver insist that they engaged in three-way sex with McGreevey's wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, who is in the midst of a nasty divorce from from the now openly gay ex-governer.
    Comment: Scandal and corruption continue to plague a people who are in rebellion against God. God said in the last days man's morality would grow from worse to worse (II Timothy 3:13).

Birthrate up for Jews, down for Muslims - Jerusalem Post - Nov 6, 2007 - The country's fertility rate continues to rise; the average number of babies born to Muslim women is falling; having babies before the age of 20 is less common, and the average age when women have their first child is up. These are some of the findings of the report on Patterns of Fertility in 2006 released this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics. A total of 148,170 babies came into the world last year: 71 percent of them were born to Jewish mothers and 23% to Muslims; 3% to women of undetermined religion; 2% to Druse; and 1% to Christians (81% of those Arabs).
    Comment: Isaiah 44:3&4 - "For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants; And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.' Deut 7:13 - "He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground..."

Canada orders ministry by Christians shut down - World Net Daily - March 21, 2008 - The Canadian government has ordered a Christian ministry that teaches doctrine and the differences between Christians and cults shut down because its reference materials were "critical" of the beliefs of those who are not Christian, WND has learned. "When a group such as Jehovah's Witnesses said of our doctrine we're worshipping a freakish three-headed God (the Trinity), we should be able to respond," she said. "We say, 'Here's the doctrine of the Trinity and here is where it is in the Scripture.'" That, however, violates Canada's hate crimes laws, and the ministry was ordered to either make wholesale changes in its  presentations, or shut down.
    Comment: At press time for this newsletter, many of the details were missing about this story. If time proves that the story stands as printed by World Net Daily, then it is consistent with the expectation that truth will become greatly contested in the last days. II Thessalonians addresses this issue when it says, "because they receive not the love of the truth...God will send them strong delusion". (II Thessalonians 2:10-11). If the story stands, then it is very alarming and unfortunate that standing for truth in our developing world would amount to "violating a hate crime law"!
Comment:
Our world is in turmoil as the Lord said it would be in the days before His return. Look up, redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28)!
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