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• Many Eyes: Government Expenses 1962-2004 - A friend forwarded these links to me and I thought they were pretty interesting. The following links show the occurrences of words in the Bible visually...
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• Giuliani: No Palestinian State; It Would Support Terror Jerusalem Newswire (August 15, 2007) - A candidate for the US Republican Party's presidential nominee has taken a stand against supporting the creation of a Palestinian state on Israel's biblical heartland at this time. Laying out his foreign policy positions in a magazine article, Rudy Giuliani said it "is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism." The former New York mayor stressed that "America's commitment to Israel's security is a permanent feature of our foreign policy." If the Palestinians wanted a state they would have to earn it "through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel." Giuliani took a swipe at President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who have become almost obsessive about getting a Palestinian state established before the end of the presidential term. "Too much emphasis" has been put on trying to secure an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, he said. Turning to Iran, Giuliani said that, if he is made president, he would threaten to use a "big stick" to put a stop to Tehran's nuclear program. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is universally believed to be committed to developing an atomic bomb and has vowed to wipe Israel off the map. | Israel | Islam | America |
• Israel's Netanyahu wins re-election as Likud chief Reuters (August 14, 2007) - Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu easily won re-election as head of the rightist Likud party and pledged on Wednesday to reclaim Israel's leadership. A year after Likud was routed in a national election, Netanyahu has rebounded in opinion polls that have shown a steep plunge in the popularity of the current prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who leads the centrist Kadima party. Official results of Tuesday's Likud balloting gave Netanyahu 75 percent of the vote in a sweeping victory against his main challenger, West Bank settler Moshe Feiglin, who opposes relinquishing Israeli-occupied land to the Palestinians. "The internal battle ended tonight and tomorrow we will focus our efforts on bringing Israel a new leadership," Netanyahu, 57, said in a victory speech. A Netanyahu win was never in doubt in the party he led out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government in 2005 in protest over Israel's withdrawal of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip that year. Whether the Likud, Israel's main opposition party, can claw its way back to power is an open question. The party won only 12 seats in the 120-member parliament in last year's election, down from 38 in the previous poll. A general election is not due until 2010. But Olmert has been plagued by a string of corruption scandals and a potentially damaging final report by a government-appointed panel examining the Lebanon war is still pending. Some political commentators anticipate a face-off at the ballot box as early as next year, with Netanyahu staking a more centrist ground. Despite the U.S.-educated Netanyahu's hawkish views, he handed over part of a West Bank town to Palestinian control under pressure from Washington while prime minister from 1996 to 1999. His star has been rising. He is widely seen in Israel and among financial institutions that deal with the Jewish state as having turned its economy around while pursuing free market policies as Sharon's finance minister. Netanyahu's warnings against pulling out of the Gaza Strip are also regarded by many Israelis as having been prophetic. Hamas Islamists now control the territory and militants frequently fire rockets from Gaza at southern Israel. | Israel | Isaiah 17 | I feel this story may be relevant in that Netanyahu has been the candidate most likely to head to war in defense of Israel rather than giving up land for a supposed peace that never comes. If Israel is responsible for the destruction of Damascus and Syrians leaving their cities, combined with current buildup of war, he seems the most likely leader to authorize such an attack. The elections aren't until 2010, but in volatile politics of the Middle East, that could change at any time. Keep watching!
• Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned World Net Daily (August 13, 2007) - The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned. David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”. These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt. Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”. “Sound familiar?” Mr Walker said. “In my view, it’s time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American Republic is the first to stand the test of time.” Mr Walker’s views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the investigative arm of the US Congress. While most of its studies are commissioned by legislators, about 10 per cent – such as the one containing his latest warnings – are initiated by the comptroller general himself. In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Walker said he had mentioned some of the issues before but now wanted to “turn up the volume”. Some of them were too sensitive for others in government to “have their name associated with”. “I’m trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call,” he said. “As comptroller general I’ve got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on. “One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough,” said Mr Walker, who was appointed during the Clinton administration to the post, which carries a 15-year term. more... | America |
• Biggest Ever' Rally Calls for Revival of Islamic Caliphate CNS News (August 13, 2007) - An estimated 80,000 Islamists packed a sports stadium in the Indonesian capital Sunday to call for the re-establishment of a single Islamic state or caliphate, uniting Muslims around the world under Islamic law. Video footage posted on the group's websites showed tens of thousands of people, men and women seated apart in the stadium in Jakarta, waving black and white flags and shouting "Allah is greater." The event was organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Liberation), which called it the biggest event calling for the revival of a caliphate since the last time one existed in the 1920s. Hizb ut-Tahrir is a transnational Sunni group that says it shuns violence, but it has been outlawed or restricted in Germany , Russia and parts of the Middle East and Central Asia. The British government said it planned to ban the group after the July 2005 London bombings, although it has not yet happened. Muhammad Ismail Yusanto, the group's Indonesian spokesman, said on the sidelines of the meeting that the group rejects democracy, because sovereignty is in the hands of Allah, not the people. In a statement, he called secularism "the mother of all destruction," and he called on all Muslims to join the struggle to implement Islam and Islamic law. Most of those attending were said to be Indonesians, although supporters of the group also came from the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The Indonesian authorities blocked two foreign leaders, from Britain and Australia, from attending. The Australian, Sheikh Ismail al-Wahwah from Sydney, said he was turned around at the airport and sent home, and the group's British office said the same thing happened to Imran Waheed, a member of its executive committee who was to have addressed the gathering. "Whether this is the desperate action of the Indonesian regime or the regime following the orders of an overseas government is unclear," Abdul Wahid, chairman of the UK executive committee, said in a statement. "What is clear is that there is an attempt to prevent Dr. Waheed from speaking. One has to ask, do they fear our arguments so much?" Wahid said the meeting in Indonesia had been a great success, and that the concept of a caliphate "is increasingly seen as the alternative to corruption and tyranny in the Muslim world, where the population see Islamic governance as an inherent part of their way of life." more... | Islam |
• Secret' plan would give Palestinians West Bank World Net Daily (August 13, 2007) - Newly installed Israeli President Shimon Peres has quietly drafted a plan for the Jewish state to evacuate and transfer to the Palestinians nearly the entire West Bank and several Arab Israeli cities located within territory that is undisputedly Israel's according to the international community, WND has learned. The West Bank is strategic territory that runs alongside Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport. It is home to many biblical Jewish communities and some of Judaism's holiest sites. Peres has presented his initiative to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and to top aides for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas the past few weeks, after he took office as Israeli president last month, diplomatic sources in Jerusalem told WND. The official role of president here is limited largely to ceremonial matters; the president does not create foreign policy. Olmert is mulling over the plan and agrees with much of its contents, the diplomatic sources said. Peres' plan calls for Israel to hand 97-percent of the West Bank over to Abbas, with Israel retaining a small number of the territory's Jewish communities. In exchange for Israel keeping some land, the Jewish state will give the PA control of Arab Israeli cities north of Tel Aviv which, together with the evacuated West Bank territory, would amount to the equivalent of 100 percent of the West Bank. Diplomatic sources said aside from Abbas and Olmert, Peres has presented his plan to European Union officials. Top EU diplomats in recent days told the media they want a U.S.-sponsored international conference scheduled for November to lead to negotiations on a final agreement with the Palestinians. That international conference and talk from the Bush administration the past few weeks has led many here to speculate the U.S. will push in the near future for intense Israeli-Palestinian negotiations leading to a Palestinian state. With a year and a half left in office, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been urging meetings between Abbas and Olmert to establish a framework for momentum leading to a breakthrough at November's conference. Olmert and Abbas have been meeting bi-monthly in summits brokered by the U.S. Already Olmert during the meetings has granted a number of security concessions to Abbas regarding increased Palestinian control of the West Bank. The Israeli prime minister last month amnesty to 178 gunmen from Abbas' Fatah organization who comprise most of the senior leadership of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared military wing of Fatah that is responsible for every suicide bombing in Israel the past three years. more... | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | 1^st Seal |
• 3rd SPP summit shrouded in secrecy World Net Daily (August 13, 2007) - President Bush will interrupt his summer vacation in Crawford, Texas, next week to attend the third summit meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, slated for Aug. 20 and 21 in Montebello, Quebec, at the five-star Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello resort. Bush will meet with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the event. The meeting has been hidden in a cloud of secrecy until WND obtained from an Access to Information Act request a previously unreleased copy of a government report detailing agenda plans for the third SPP summit. According to WND reports, as many as 10,000 protesters are expected to be in Quebec to oppose the meeting. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada's national police force, and the Sûreté du Québec, the state police, plan to maintain a 25-kilometer protest-free zone around the Montebello resort where the meeting is to be held. WND has reported that a multinational business agenda is driving this upcoming SPP summit according to the heavily redacted document obtained from the Canadian government. The memo clearly states at center stage in the Montebello SPP summit will be recommendations by the North American Competitiveness Council, regarding promoting North American competitiveness for multinational corporations through "integrating" and "harmonizing" regulations between Mexico, Canada and the U.S. The council, an executive group composed of 10 top multinational corporations from each of the three SPP countries, was constituted under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide guidance to the 20 SPP working groups of U.S., Mexican, and Canadian bureaucrats. WND has also reported that President Bush will discuss at the summit a plan to send U.S. military assistance to Mexico to assist Mexico's military and civilian law enforcement agencies to combat Mexican narco-criminals and drug lords. | NewWorldOrder | America |
• Hurricane Flossie storms toward Hawaii Associated Press (August 13, 2007) - Hurricane Flossie roared toward Hawaii on Monday with its sustained wind increased to 140 mph, though forecasters said the Category 4 storm would weaken before passing by the islands. The hurricane was expected to pass about 70 miles south of the island of Hawaii late Tuesday or early Wednesday, but by then cooler water should weaken it to a Category 1 hurricane, with sustained wind of at least 74 mph. Meteorologists cautioned that even a slight change of course in the unpredictable storm could take it closer to land. At 11 a.m. EDT, Flossie was about 495 miles southeast of Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii, with maximum sustained wind near 140 mph, up from 135 mph earlier in the day, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said. It was moving west-northwest at about 15 mph. Emergency workers had mobilized Sunday afternoon to prepare for the potentially devastating hurricane, Hawaii Island Mayor Harry Kim said. "You always prepare for the worst case scenario and hope for the best," Kim said. Even though the eye of the storm may miss the Hawaiian islands, Flossie could still bring strong wind and heavy rain to the islands, forecasters said. The southeastern shore of the Big Island of Hawaii could see waves of 8 to 12 feet, forecasters said, with the surf rising during the day Monday and peaking Tuesday. The island's South Point is the southernmost area of the United States. The last time a hurricane hit Hawaii was in 1992, when Iniki ravaged Kauai, killing six people and causing $2.5 billion in damage. more... | Earth Changes |
• Tropical Depression 4 forms in Atlantic: NHC Reuters (August 13, 2007) - Tropical Depression 4 formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean and could strengthen into a tropical storm during the next 24 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday. In an outlook issued at 11 a.m. EDT, the NHC said the center of the depression was located about 520 miles (837 km) west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and about 2,000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. The depression is moving toward the west near 21 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, and could develop into a storm with winds of 39-73 mph in the next 24 hours. The NHC will name the next tropical storm Dean. The NHC expects to issue another advisory at 5 p.m. | Earth Changes | This may be related to a celestial alignment reported by James McCanney on his August 9, 2007 radio program (mp3). With our growing understanding of the electrical nature of the universe, it's easy to see how this kind of alignment could affect weather on the earth. Now after a quiet hurricane season, he believes that from the 12th of August to the 18th we could see some severe weather, now this tropical depression has formed.
• The Hal Lindsey Report Hal Lindsey Oracle (August 10, 2007) - Hal Lindsey discusses the Israel/Palestinian talks and the dividing of Israel in this 28:30 min. video. "If the West Bank is a soveriegn Palestinian state, then Israel's entering into it to pursue the terrorists would be an act of war. Even if the terrorists used it for a base for the attacks. And the liberal international community, they would always blame Israel for the aggression and forget the terrorist provocation. Hey, that's what they're doing now! Conceivibly it's a perfect trap. Palestine becomes a state. It's used as a base for terrorist attacks into Israel. To defend itself, Israel enters into Palestine. Palestine then calls upon the Arab nations to defend it, and the Arab world has a perfect excuse to attack Israel from all sides once again. Before last year's Lebanon debackle, this would have been unthinkable. But now, if Hamas thinks it can defeat Israel, just imagine what the other Arab nations must now believe." | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | Could this somehow play into Israel attacking Damascus in conjunction with trying to stop the terrorism from the West Bank after dividing the land? Could this lead to Iran, Turkey, Russia, and Libya attacking from the North in retaliation? Keep watching.
• Israel's Barak dismisses peace push "fantasies" Reuters (August 10, 2007) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak was quoted as saying on Friday that talk of any peace deal with the Palestinians anytime soon was a "fantasy," in a challenge to U.S.-led efforts to revive negotiations. In private conversations reported by Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Barak said he would not carry out plans by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to remove roadblocks in the West Bank as a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. But senior Abbas aide Saeb Erakat said on Friday the Palestinians were told that Barak will present a "map" to remove the checkpoints next week. Barak's office stopped short of denying the Yedioth report in its entirety, but said: "There is no change in Barak's stance regarding the importance of the political process alongside our obligation to protect Israel's security." A spokesman for Olmert declined to comment on the report in the mass circulation daily. Barak, who as prime minister spearheaded talks with the Palestinians that ended in failure in 2001, was quoted in Yedioth as saying a peace deal would not be possible for at least three to five years. Barak said that is how much time would be needed for Israel to develop defenses against rockets, which Palestinian militants regularly fire into southern Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. "You can't feed Israelis fantasies about an arrangement with the Palestinians anytime soon," Barak was quoted as saying. | Israel | Islam |
• DEBKAfile Exclusive: New Al Qaeda threat of radioactive truck attacks naming New York, Los Angeles, Miami DEBKAfile (August 10, 2007) - The threat was picked up by DEBKAfile’s monitors from a rush of electronic chatter on al Qaeda sites Thursday, Aug. 8. The al Qaeda communications accuse the Americans of the grave error of failing to take seriously the videotape released by the American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gaddahn last week. “They will soon realize their mistake when American cities are hit by quality operations,” said one message. Another said the attacks would be carried out “by means of trucks loaded with radio-active material against America’s biggest city and financial nerve center.” A third message mentioned New York, Los Angeles and Miami as targets. It drew the answer: “The attack, with Allah’s help, will cause an economic meltdown, many dead, and a financial crisis on a scale that compels the United States to pull its military forces out of many parts of the world, including Iraq, for lack of any other way of cutting down costs.” There is also a message which speaks obliquely of the approaching attacks easing the heavy pressure America exerts on countries like Japan, Cuba and Venezuela. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources and monitors say there is no way of gauging for sure how serious these threats are, how real, or whether they are part of a war of nerves to give the Gaddahn tape extra mileage. But it is important to note that the exchange of messages took place over al Qaeda’s internal Internet sites and that they contained the threat of radioactive terror and specific American cities for the first time after a long silence on these subjects. In addition, a growing number of clips has been disseminated of late over al Qaeda sites instructing the faithful how to design remote-controlled gliders, pack them with explosives and launch them against predetermined targets. | Islam | America |
• National ID? How about a global ID? Info World (August 10, 2007) - A little-known federation quietly lays the infrastructure for a universal identity system that could eventually be implemented nationally or internationally. The Federation for Identity and Cross-Credentialing Systems (FiXs) -- a little-known group of non-profits, government contractors, commercial entities, and government agencies -- has just unveiled a first-of-its-kind global infrastructure to support distributed, integrated identity management and cross-credentialing across organizations. The implementation combines several existing security technologies along with a set of trusted models, policies, and operating rules to insure the accurate identity of personnel accessing physical sites or logical systems. Already in a pilot mode at a handful of government agencies and defense contractors, the FiXs identity management initiative does not have a hard date for broad deployment, although the impediments do not appear to be technical. “The cultural gap with the public in general is still too wide,” said Dr. Mike Mestrovich, President of FiXs. “I think there would have to be a public consensus to move us in that direction and I don’t see that happening until at least 2009 or beyond.” Founded in 2004 and based in Fairfax, Va., FiXs counts among its members the Department of Defense (DoD), Wells Fargo, Lockheed Martin, EDS, and several others. Modeled after secure electronic payment systems and initially implemented by the DoD’s Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), the FiXs initiative meets the objectives set forth in the October 2006 Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-12). “Until now, cross-bordering policies between government and industry had not been established,” said Mary Dixon, director at the DMDC. The FiXs implementation does not assign roles, grant or deny access, or otherwise act as a gatekeeper. Rather, the mission of FiXs is simply to authenticate the identity of participants within its member organizations. Once verified by FiXs, individual site managers and systems administrators assign or designate access controls based on the role of the individual and the policies of a given organization. FiXs’ capabilities allow it to cross between both public and private sector organizations using a federated trust model. The implementation is available worldwide in local or remote settings via both wireless and wired environments. Access is available in real time. An individual’s specific identity data remains within their vetted source organization. “By its very nature, the federated solution aids in privacy because there is no central database and individual data can be stored in only one [vetted] place,” Dr. Mestrovich said. Yet the distributed design and cross-organizational model found in the FiXs implementation does offer the possibility of a future national or international identity management system that might cross borders and organizational boundaries. “The federated approach can actually take the place of a mandated National ID system,” Dr. Mestrovich stated. | Technology | NewWorldOrder | America | Thank you Vera for this article! This shows the subtle move to build the infrastructure necessary to carry out the mark of the beast. According to the Bible, without this mark a person will be unable to buy or sell. But the Bible tells us the end, not always how it gets to that point. I believe this is a good example of how the infrastructure could be there without anyone really realizing it in the population until the time came to implement it. Then say goodbye to paper currency because nobody will accept it anymore. And without this mark, you can't walk into a store and get anything unless it's running out with alarms blaring. Vera adds, "...this worldwide trend is not the private work of a few secret societies- it is openly being pushed by 1000s of engineers and business people and government bureaucrats, all over the world, that want to either make money or save money. No secrecy involved- this FiXs membership open to any business or group interested in making money on identity solutions, or driving forward their desire to identify terrorists or give security clearances (DoD and GSA) - this is being driven by companies and groups that want to make money, not conspiracies. This ought to be raising waaaaay more eyebrows than RealID."
• China Threatens To Trigger US Dollar Crash Guardian UK (August 10, 2007) - The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation. Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies. Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels. It would also cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession. It is estimated that China holds over $900bn in a mix of US bonds. Xia Bin, finance chief at the Development Research Centre (which has cabinet rank), kicked off what now appears to be government policy with a comment last week that Beijing's foreign reserves should be used as a "bargaining chip" in talks with the US. "Of course, China doesn't want any undesirable phenomenon in the global financial order," he added. He Fan, an official at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, went even further today, letting it be known that Beijing had the power to set off a dollar collapse if it choose to do so. "China has accumulated a large sum of US dollars. Such a big sum, of which a considerable portion is in US treasury bonds, contributes a great deal to maintaining the position of the dollar as a reserve currency. Russia, Switzerland, and several other countries have reduced the their dollar holdings. "China is unlikely to follow suit as long as the yuan's exchange rate is stable against the dollar. The Chinese central bank will be forced to sell dollars once the yuan appreciated dramatically, which might lead to a mass depreciation of the dollar," he told China Daily. The threats play into the presidential electoral campaign of Hillary Clinton, who has called for restrictive legislation to prevent America being "held hostage to economic decicions being made in Beijing, Shanghai, or Tokyo". She said foreign control over 44pc of the US national debt had left America acutely vulnerable. Simon Derrick, a currency strategist at the Bank of New York Mellon, said the comments were a message to the US Senate as Capitol Hill prepares legislation for the Autumn session. "The words are alarming and unambiguous. This carries a clear political threat and could have very serious consequences at a time when the credit markets are already afraid of contagion from the subprime troubles," he said. more... | America |
• Peres: Talk to P.A. without preconditions JTA (August 9, 2007) - Shimon Peres said Israel should not place preconditions on peace talks with the new Palestinian Authority government. Israel Radio quoted Peres as saying Thursday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who set up a new, Western-backed administration in the West Bank after breaking with Hamas over its Gaza takeover in June, deserve to be treated as full negotiating partners. "I get the impression that Abu Mazen wants to hold serious negotiations, and we have to talk to him without preconditions," Peres was quoted as telling visiting U.S. congressmen. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has recently signaled willingness to talk to Abbas about the formation of a Palestinian state, though the latter has yet to prove the extent of his mandate after the schism with Hamas. | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land |
• Tornado strikes New York borough of Brooklyn International Herald Tribune (August 9, 2007) - It took experts a while to confirm what many in southwestern Brooklyn knew had descended on their neighborhoods as a new workday dawned. It was a tornado - the first to hit the New York borough since modern record-keeping began - and it turned whole sections of Brooklyn upside down. Roofs were torn off houses. More than 30 families were forced from their homes. Tall trees as thick as men were yanked out by the roots. No one was seriously injured, but cars were turned sideways, awnings and aluminum siding shredded, and countless windows and windshields shattered, in a destructive rain of bricks and branches and water Wednesday. Lanie Mastellone was drinking her coffee about 7 a.m. in her apartment on the top floor of her two-story house when she sensed that her windows were going to blow in. She went toward the front of the house, and as she passed from one room to another the ceilings collapsed. "I passed my living room, I passed my dining room, I go to the bedroom," Mastellone said. "They were going one at a time. It was coming from the back forward." Mastellone, a widow who lives alone, was more puzzled than terrified. "It was almost unemotional," she said. "I was still thinking, 'Maybe my roof is leaking?' I think denial is a wonderful thing sometimes." Still, she knew she had to get out. "I grabbed my wedding ring and my cellphone," she said. She opened her apartment door, stepped out into the hallway and looked up. "That's when I realized I had no roof," she said. She was not the only one. Two houses away, the roof looked as if it had exploded. Most of it was lying in the street. | Earth Changes |
• Cabinet meets on prospect of conflict with Syria Haaretz (August 9, 2007) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday evening addressed the possibility of a military conflict with Syria during a Kadima conference held at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, saying that Israel and Syria have no interest in a war. "I believe that we can expect a calm summer, a calm autumn and a calm winter," Olmert said, "naturally, we are dealing with strengthening the Israel Defense Forces' capabilities...but we have no plans, no will, and no interest in a confrontation in the north of the country or in the south." "I believe that the Syrians also have no interest in fighting us," he added, "there is always an exaggeration in creating an atmosphere of tension, but a responsible leadership knows how to control itself, exercise self-restraint and maintain its equanimity," he added. The members of the security cabinet met Wednesday morning to discuss the situation on Israel's northern front and the possibility that a conflict will break out between Israel and Syria. The meeting was labeled "very sensitive," and the ministers were asked to leave their cellular phones outside the room where the meeting took place. The cabinet has recently and with increasing frequency been holding meetings about the northern border and the preparation of the home front in case of a violent confrontation with Syria. Wednesday's meeting is the sixth meeting in the last six weeks on the issue. Echoing similar statements made earlier, Olmert conveyed that the meeting's purpose was to prepare for the possibility of a Syrian miscalculation regarding Israel's intentions, and that Israel doesn't intend to attack. Most of the ministers in the security cabinet attended the meeting, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and ministers Tzipi Livni, Ehud Barak, Haim Ramon, Avigdor Lieberman, Eli Yishai, Rafi Eitan, Avi Dichter, Shaul Mofaz, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Daniel Friedmann. Sources from the prime minister's bureau have said in the last several days that the meetings have been held because of the "possibility of a miscalculation in terms of Syria, but not because of new information of a shift in Syrian activity." more... | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |
• Family Feud Fulfilled Prophecy (August 8, 2007) - An old friend called me two days ago. He's in a pickle. The problem he and his family are facing is, ashamedly, not rare: their church is on the brink of splitting. What do you do when you've invested years into relationships and ministry? Do you stick it out or do you cut loose and start anew? In this particular case, the rift that has opened up in my friend's non-denominational church is between two specific groups. To use common labels, one group is conservative and one group is charismatic. My friend, who is one of the church elders, comes from the conservative end of the spectrum. He's become concerned because in the leadership prayer meetings a growing number of the church leaders are relying less upon God's written Word and more upon spontaneous prophetic utterances and visions--all allegedly from the Holy Spirit--to shape the direction of the church. While some of the spoken prophecies seemed harmless, "God is going to bless our church," others seemed downright ludicrous to my friend, "I'm seeing a picture of a sofa--therefore, God is telling us to stay where we are and not do anything." One prophecy particularly disturbed him. During one of the meetings, someone brought the prophetic word that "Many great signs and wonders will be done here (at this church) and they will divide the church." If you were my friend, what would you do? My friend and I turned to the Bible and, at one point, came to 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22: "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." In short: Paul's answer was not to place an outright ban on the prophetic in the Thessalonian church, but rather to have the church sort through what was spoken. The good stuff was to be kept, the bad stuff was to be thrown out. Was my friend's church testing the words that came out? No. But how the heck do you do something like that? You line things up with Scripture. Consider when the church in Berea had the apostle Paul teaching on their doorstep. They checked him out by Scripture to make sure his teaching was the real deal: "The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians for . . .they . . . examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (Acts 17:11). The Berean church was commended for testing his teaching. Beware of any teacher/leader or church who takes Psalm 105:15 out of context. The verse reads, "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." This verse, in context, is speaking of God's protection over the Jewish people in the time of the Patriarchs. It's not a carte blanche for a leader to be held above the authority of Scripture. The apostle Paul himself was held under the authority of Scripture--and those little, nameless, "insignificant" Bereans were commended for double-checking to make sure his facts lined up. How does that last prophetic utterance at my friend's church (about the signs/miracles and impending church split) line up with Scripture? It doesn't pass the test. Here's why: the problem with that prophecy is not that it predicts signs and wonders (God can do signs and wonders whenever He chooses to), but that God would be sending signs and wonders to separate believers. (I'm working under the dual assumption that (1) God is allegedly the agent of the signs and miracles that will be done, and (2) that the division to be caused is within the church between believers--not between the saved and the unsaved.) Why would the Holy Spirit deliberately work in marvelous ways to divide brothers? In the Bible, there are places where signs separate people. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, that miracle divided the people. Many people put their faith in Jesus (John 11:45). Others plotted to murder Him (John 11:53). But the signs from God separated believers from unbelievers--not "Class-A Super Christians" from "Class-B Lesser Christians." There is only one body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4). You're either in or out. Is unity in the body of Christ important to God? Yes. In Jesus' prayer for the believers just prior to his crucifixion, He prays "May they (all future believers, per verse 20) be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you love me" (John 17:23). Unity is a bit more important to God than I'm comfortable with. If I were faced with my friend's situation, I'd rather just cut and run. But if unity is so important, how do we as a church get there? How does my friend work for unity in the very tangible situation in which he and his family stand? One wrong way to achieve unity is the "Burn, Baby, Burn!" approach. In this method, you come up with such a strict and overly precise statement of faith that it goes down even to the point of taking a position on whether dipping a corn dog in mustard is to be preferred over dipping it in ketchup. You'll get unity, but the problem is that no one will be left in your church to be unified with. There are a lot of minor issues of belief we are free to disagree on. "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters" (Romans 14:1). "Burn, Baby, Burn!" excludes true believers in Christ. A second wrong way to achieve unity is the "Love Bomb" approach (a.k.a. The Lowest Common Denominator approach).  In this method, you give up any attempt of discernment. This will bring in harmful teachings and perhaps even allow unbelievers in the position of leading God's people. There is a dividing line between true and false doctrine. Some doctrines are so essential to our faith that we cannot abandon them, like salvation by grace alone or the authority of the Bible. There is a difference between biblical Christianity and the other world religions. Islam is not the same religion as Christianity. Mormonism is not the same religion. We need to discern the fruit of our leaders' lives (Matthew 7:15-20), and we need to test the spirits (1 John 4:1; 1 Corinthians 12:10). May God praise our generation like the church in Ephesus and say, "I know you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false" (Revelation 2:2). (Sidenote: It's true that Jesus says in Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Jesus is not saying to throw away all discernment, though. In the same chapter, he tells us to discern false prophets by their fruit (v. 15-20). He is not saying to avoid correcting a brother or sister in Christ because, in verse 5, we see that Jesus does expect us to correct our brothers and sisters, after we have examined ourselves. I believe that what Jesus means in 7:1 (considering the context) is to not be hypocritical or look down on your brothers when you see something wrong in their walk. Romans 14 is a great lens to make sense of what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7:1.) So what's the answer? How do we achieve unity in the church? Paul gives the answer in Ephesians chapter 4. In short: recognize the unity in the body of Christ (verses 1-6), recognize that everyone has a different part to play (verses 7-13) and then "Speak the truth in love" (verse 15). In the context, speaking the truth means to hold on to biblical teaching (consider verse 14). Love means to do it in a kind and patient manner. We get church unity by lovingly correcting each other. That can be a hard row to hoe. It's a lot easier to run and start over. Some of us need to be more loving in how we deal with our Christian brothers and sisters. Some of us need to open up more to allowing our beliefs to be scrutinized by what the Bible actually says. We all need to be worked on, and we all have our role to play in helping our brothers and sisters. I don't know what my friend is going to do in his situation, but I hope he doesn't give up on the people of God. He's a godly man who knows the Bible well--they need what he's got. Though it will, no doubt, be hard to bring in loving correction, Christ's church is worth it. | Apostasy |
• 'Conversion Code' Fulfilled Prophecy (August 8, 2007) - The World of Council of Churches and the Vatican have teamed up to create a code of conduct for Christians who seek to win converts from other religions and faiths. About 30 Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant theologians will attend a meeting in Toulouse, France -- today through Friday -- to draft a "rule-book." Read the WCC's press release here. The WCC said proselytizing is a "cause of friction and conflict between religions and among different branches of individual faiths." The reason for the Vatican's participation in the meeting becomes clear in this Washington Post article, which reports that evangelicals and Pentecostals -- "two strongly proselytizing sects" -- have won many converts from Catholicism in Latin America, Africa and Asia. So, the Roman Catholic Church is losing people to Protestantism. And it's found a way to stop this -- by getting evangelicals and Pentecostals to agree to a set of rules that, no doubt, will include a rule against sharing the gospel. This is the second meeting in the three-year study project -- and the first one attended by evangelical and Pentecostal representatives. The first meeting -- held in May 2006 -- concluded that the "obsession of converting others" needs to be cured. Read the full report here. The rule-book is scheduled to be completed by 2010. And if you've been following the news reported on FP, then you know that's just in time for the war against the saints to be launched -- if we're, indeed, in Daniel's 70th week. Coincidence? Staying tuned! | Apostasy |
• Powerful earthquake rocks Indonesia Breitbart.com (August 8, 2007) - A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck Indonesia's main island of Java early Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties and no tsunami alert. The epicentre of the undersea quake, which struck at a depth of about 290 kilometres (180 miles) was about 110 kilometres east of the capital Jakarta, on the north coast of Java. The quake occurred just after midnight (1700 GMT). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the quake was "located too deep inside the earth to generate a tsunami in the Indian Ocean." The Japan Meteorological Agency also issued a bulletin saying there was "no possibility of a tsunami". Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh province alone. The archipelago sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. | Earth Changes |
• Israel sends conciliatory messages to Damascus to avoid war Haaretz (August 8, 2007) - Israel has sent several messages to Damascus in recent weeks reiterating that it has no desire to attack Syria, in an effort to keep Syria from misreading Israel's intentions and therefore deciding to launch a war. The messages have been sent via various foreign channels, a senior government source said. In addition, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made public statements to this effect. But while doing its best to reassure Syria, the government also has been preparing intensively for the possibility that war might nevertheless break out: Yesterday, the ministerial committee on the northern front held its sixth meeting in the past two months. As yet, there are no signs of progress that would enable a resumption of Israeli-Syrian negotiations. Nevertheless, a senior European diplomat said, "European officials who have given Olmert messages from Damascus regarding its desire to resume negotiations have received the impression that he is keeping an open mind." "The situation on the northern border is fragile and sensitive, but the European Union believes there is no danger of war, since neither side wants to start a conflict," the diplomat added. Nevertheless, he said, "in the present atmosphere, it is important that there not be confusing messages." The ministerial committee, which includes Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and ministers Eli Yishai, Avi Dichter, Shaul Mofaz, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Rafi Eitan and Avigdor Lieberman, is preparing for a possible conflict with either Syria or Hezbollah. It has been discussing issues including intelligence reports on the deployment of the Syrian army and on Hezbollah's efforts to rebuild following last summer's war in Lebanon; intelligence reports on Syria's network of rockets and surface-to-surface missiles, which threaten Israel's home front; and the home front's preparations for a missile attack, including installing additional warning systems, renovating bomb shelters and assessing the ability of the nation's infrastructure to withstand a rocket attack. The Prime Minister's Office stressed yesterday that these meetings are being held solely to prepare for any eventuality; they do not indicate any Israeli intention of attacking Syria or any Syrian intention of attacking Israel. A senior government source explained that the Second Lebanon War revealed major gaps in Israel's home front defenses, "and that's the major issue we're trying to solve now." more... | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |
• IDF Intel: Syria May Launch Missile Attack Soon Israel National News (August 8, 2007) - Contrary to the official Military Intelligence line, according to which Syria does not intend to attack Israel in the near future, many researchers in the intelligence community suspect that Syria is waiting for the right moment to strike, and that the moment may come soon. This is the reason that Israel's Home Front Readiness Cabinet met Wednesday to discuss the possibility of a massive Syrian missile attack, according to Ynet's veteran military analyst, Ron Ben-Yishai. Ben-Yishai says Syria is completing the construction of a large rocket array aimed at Israel from the Syrian Golan Heights. These are not Katyusha rockets but larger ones with a much greater range: 222 mm., 302 mm. and 600 mm. rockets with a payload of up to half a ton, which can reach Tel Aviv. Dozens of launchers have already been set up and these are capable of firing hundreds of missiles simultaneously. Syria also has SCUD missiles which can reach southern Israel, but these can supposedly be intercepted by the Israeli Arrow anti-missile system. The heavy missiles in the Golan cannot be intercepted by the Arrow, however. According to Ben-Yishai, all this means that the Syrians can launch a massive attack on Israel's home front without Israel having any advance warning of the attack. | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |
• Iran-Turkey-Message Islamic Republic News Agency (August 8, 2007) - A message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was submitted to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday afternoon by a senior Iranian official. Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific and Commonwealth of Independent States Mehdi Safari handed over the message in a closed door meeting with the Turkish premier. Safari arrived in Ankara on Tuesday to confer with Erdogan on issues of mutual interest. An informed source at Iran's embassy in Turkey told IRNA that the message focused on strengthening Tehran-Ankara relations. The source added that Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was also present at the meeting. The Iranian and Turkish sides declined to make any comments at the end of their 40-minute meeting. Safari immediately headed for Tehran after the meeting. | Iran | Gog/Magog | Islam |
• Olmert to comply with 100% of Palestinian land demands Israel Today (August 7, 2007) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering a final status peace deal with the Palestinians that would require Israel to allow the creation of a Palestinian state on the 100 percent of the territory liberated by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. According to the proposal, which was first reported on by Ha'aretz, Israel would retain control over several large settlement blocs in the West Bank, and in exchange transfer a number of Arab towns insider sovereign Israel to Palestinian control. Olmert's office issued a denial of the original Ha'aretz report, but the newspaper got confirmation from aides to Israeli President Shimon Peres that the prime minister had in fact adopted the plan, which was formulated by their boss when he was serving as Olmert's deputy. Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Monday's meeting between Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had accelerated the establishment of a Palestinian state on Israel's biblical heartland. “Abbas and Olmert discussed the fundamentals that will allow a Palestinian state to be established in an expeditious manner,” Erekat told Israel's Army Radio. | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | 1^st Seal |
• PM: Israel, PA to expand talks on establishing Palestinian state as soon as possible Haaretz (August 7, 2007) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting in the West Bank on Monday he would push for the establishment of a Palestinian state as "fast as possible." In a Jericho meeting with the PA chairman, Olmert refrained from setting a schedule, but said statehood would be achieved by adherence to the internationally brokered road map to Middle East peace, and through mutual understanding. "We have decided to expand the scope of the negotiations between us in order to advance mutual understanding and formulate the framework that will allow us to move forward toward establishing a Palestinian state," Olmert said. Monday's meeting marked the first time an Israeli prime minister has visited the Palestinian Authority since the outbreak of the second intifada in September 2000. The meeting took place under heavy security. Palestinian Presidential Guard officials and Shin Bet security service VIP officers held a number of meetings in recent days to lay the groundwork for the security at this historical meeting. While Olmert did not present a timetable, he declared that he has no intention to stall for time on the issue of Palestinian statehood. "Our mutual goal is to realize the shared vision between us and [U.S. President George] Bush regarding the establishment of two states for two peoples who live side by side in security and peace. We want to achieve this as soon as possible," Olmert added. Olmert also mentioned that the basis for negotiations "will continue to be the road map, which is acceptable to both sides." The prime minister was referring to a peace plan proposed by the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - that calls for an independent Palestinian state. During the meeting between the two leaders, Abbas told Olmert that Israel's release of the 255 Palestinian prisoners last month had a positive effect on the Palestinian people, and requested the release of additional prisoners in the coming weeks. Olmert said he would consider Abbas' request. more... | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | 1^st Seal |
• PM, Peres deny 'Palestinian state plan' Jerusalem Post (August 7, 2007) - The offices of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres vigorously denied a report in Tuesday's Ha'aretz newspaper alleging that they crafted a plan to establish a Palestinian state on the equivalent of 100 percent of the land in the West Bank. "We are not aware of any such plan described in the article," Olmert's office said in the most strongly worded denial the office has ever issued. "It is not being considered or discussed. We are amazed by the false report, which was published without asking for a response or checking whether it was true." Abbas to PM: I won't talk to Hamas According to the plan, Israel would maintain settlement blocs totaling five percent of the West Bank and compensate the Palestinians with land inside pre-1967 Israel from blocs of Arab communities, with the residents' acquiescence. The paper said Peres presented the plan to Olmert after he became president. Olmert said at a Kadima event two weeks ago that he would welcome Peres's involvement in diplomatic issues, but Peres's associates said the plan published fits more with the ideology of Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman. A similar plan is the diplomatic platform of Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party. But even he distanced himself from the report in a statement released Tuesday. "I welcome the acceptance of my idea of population exchanges, because there is no other solution," Lieberman said. "The solution must include all of the settlement blocs and leave Jerusalem united under Israeli sovereignty. But there is no sense in talking about a Palestinian state until the PA proves itself. | Israel | Islam | I wonder what's up with all the conflicting reports? Either there's a ton of speculating going on or the confusion is meant to disorient people to more easily slip in things the population may not necessarily like, but will come to pass before anyone can do anything. They are certainly in discussions with the recognized Philistines government regarding this issue and the demands of the Philistines
• Peres' aides confirm plan for PA state on land equal to 100% of West Bank Haaretz (August 7, 2007) - Aides to President Shimon Peres confirmed Tuesday a Haaretz report that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining a new framework for peace, in which Israel will propose transferring to the Palestinian state areas equivalent to 100 percent of the territories conquered in 1967. According to the aides, the proposal was formulated while Peres was vice premier, and presented to Olmert a few days after he entered the President's Residence. The PMO, however, denied the existance of the proposal Tuesday. "We do not know of any plan as described in the [Haaretz] article," the prime minister's office said in a statement. "We would like to clarify that such a plan has not been considered, nor is it being raised for discussion in any forum." The proposal includes a timetable for negotiations for the final status agreement and implementing it, similar to the framework of the Peres-Abu Ala agreement reached at the end of 2001. Israel will suggest to the Palestinians to conduct negotiations for adequate territorial compensation from Israel's sovereign territory, in exchange for settlement blocs amounting to about 5 percent of the West Bank's area. Israel is also examining various options of exchanging settlement blocs with Arab community blocs within Israel, in agreement with the residents. An agreement on this issue would enable Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, to remain in the coalition. Olmert has not yet decided on his position regarding all the plan's clauses, but apparently has not dismissed its main ideas. Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas agreed Monday that cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would be expanded, in an effort to expedite progress in their talks for the establishment of the Palestinian state. "Exchanges between the two sides will become increasingly more substantive, and will deal less with routine matters," a senior political source in Jerusalem said Monday. | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | 1^st Seal |
• Olmert and Peres: Palestinian state on 100% of West Bank area, with swaps Haaretz (August 7, 2007) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining a new framework for peace in which Israel will propose transferring to the Palestinian state areas equivalent to 100 percent of the territories conquered in 1967. Israel will suggest to the Palestinians to conduct negotiations for adequate territorial compensation from Israel's sovereign territory, in exchange for settlement blocs amounting to about 5 percent of the West Bank's area. Israel is also examining various options of exchanging settlement blocs with Arab community blocs within Israel, in agreement with the residents. An agreement on this issue would enable Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, to remain in the coalition. The new framework was presented to Olmert by President Shimon Peres, a few days after he entered the President's Residence. It includes a timetable for negotiations for the final status agreement and implementing it, similar to the framework of the Peres-Abu Ala agreement reached at the end of 2001. Olmert has not yet decided on his position regarding all the plan's clauses, but apparently has not dismissed its main ideas. Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas agreed yesterday that cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would be expanded, in an effort to expedite progress in their talks for the establishment of the Palestinian state. "Exchanges between the two sides will become increasingly more substantive, and will deal less with routine matters," a senior political source in Jerusalem said yesterday. The three-hour meeting between Olmert and Abbas took place in two parts: a private meeting just between the leaders, and a lunch with their teams of advisers. Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said that the atmosphere at the meeting was constructive. Saeb Erekat, head of the PLO negotiating team, described yesterday's meeting between Olmert and Abbas as serious and detailed. "Abbas did not come to the meeting with a magic wand, and neither did Mr. Olmert," Erekat said at a news conference. "There is an agreement on a series of meetings to discuss the issues, including the establishment of a Palestinian state." Abbas thanked Olmert for the release of 255 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and expressed hope that the next step would result in the freeing of more prisoners. The two decided to institute a special ministerial committee, and that the Palestinian Authority will be represented by Interior Minister Abd al-Razek al-Yihiye. Israel also promised the Palestinians to reconsider the request of the militants who were expelled after the siege on the Church of the Nativity in 2002. more... | Israel | Islam | 1^st Seal | Dividing the Land |
• U.N.: 2007 seeing record extreme weather MSNBC (August 7, 2007) - The world experienced a series of record-breaking weather events in early 2007, from flooding in Asia to heat waves in Europe and snowfall in South Africa, the United Nations weather agency said Tuesday. The World Meteorological Organization said global land surface temperatures in January and April were likely the warmest since records began in 1880, at about 3 degrees Fahrenheit higher than average for those months. There have also been severe monsoon floods across South Asia, abnormally heavy rains in northern Europe, China, Sudan, Mozambique and Uruguay, extreme heat waves in southeastern Europe and Russia, and unusual snowfall in South Africa and South America this year, the WMO said. “The start of the year 2007 was a very active period in terms of extreme weather events,” Omar Baddour of the agency’s World Climate Program told journalists in Geneva. While most scientists believe extreme weather events will be more frequent as heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions cause global temperatures to rise, Baddour said it was impossible to say with certainty what the second half of 2007 will bring. “It is very difficult to make projections for the rest of the year,” he said. more... | Earth Changes |
• Christian Zionist Leader Denounces Evangelicals' Pro-Palestinian Letter The Christian Post (August 7, 2007) - A Christian Zionist leader has denounced the recent letter by some of America’s leading evangelicals voicing support for a Palestinian state, criticizing the signers for their “appalling ignorance.” Dr. Jim Hutchens, president of the Jerusalem Connection and the Washington-area director for Christian United for Israel, acknowledged the “deep chasm” growing among evangelicals regarding Israel. He contends, however, that the modern state of Israel is part of the fulfillment of God’s covenant of a homeland for the Jewish people. Evangelicals supporting a Palestinian state have an “appalling ignorance of both secular and biblical history,” said Hutchens, according to OneNewsNow. The Zionist leader noted that there has never been a sovereign state of “Palestine.” In July, 34 prominent evangelical leaders signed a letter voicing support for President Bush’s Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, emphasizing their support for a two-state solution. The leaders also said they wanted to repair the “serious misconception” that all American evangelicals are against the two-state solution and the creation of a new Palestinian state. “Historical honesty compels us to recognize that both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine,” states the letter dated July 27 and published in the New York Times. Signers included Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary; David Neff, editor of Christianity Today; Richard Stearns, president of World Vision; Tony Campolo, president/founder of Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education; Stephen Hayner, former president InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; and Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, Fla., and member of the executive committee of the National Association of Evangelicals. Hutchens, however, disagrees and points to the Replacement Theory as the theological explanation for evangelical support of a Palestinian state. “I would suggest that the basic theological underpinning of this is super-cessionism,” he said, according to OneNewsNow, “and that is to say that the church is the new Israel, that Christians have replaced Jews as the covenant people of God … [and that] the covenants that God made with Israel and the Jews are now null and void because they have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah.” Yet Hutchens believes that the covenant between God and Israel still holds. He proposes as solution to the Israel-Palestinian problem that Israel annex the West Bank and Gaza and for the Israeli military to uproot terrorists in the region. The debate on Israel and Christian support for the biblical land has stirred tension among evangelicals – arguably the world’s most vocal supporters of the state; evangelicals make up 1/3 of American tourists that visit Israel, second only to American Jews. Among the critics are those against the “blind support” that some Christians give to Israel despite the fact that the Knesset – Israel’s legislative body – bans evangelism in the country and has proposed punishment including imprisonment and heavy fines for guilty parties. Megachurch pastor Joel Hunter, one of the signers supporting a Palestinian state, noted: “There is a part of the evangelical family which is what I call Christian Zionists, who are just so staunchly pro-Israel that Israel and their side can do no wrong, and it’s almost anti-biblical to criticize Israel for anything,” he said, according to the New York Times. “But there are many more evangelicals who are really open and seek justice for both parties.” more... | Israel | Islam | America | Apostasy | It seems to me the blindness is on the side of those who have no clue what is happening in the world according to Bible prophecy. Peace sounds great, who doesn't want it? The peace that is coming will only arrive once Yeshua does. Hebrews 5:11-14, "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." The difference between the milk and meat is discernment of both good and evil. Ephesians 5:11-21, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Understanding the will of the Lord is paramount in determining our direction because His goals are our goals. The end He wrote about is the end we will experience. We can develop all kinds of our own plans, but His will always win out and are motivated by love. Sometimes the motives of men is selfish and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So let us guard our minds with the Word of God in all things, clinging to Truth and rejecting the lies and deceptions. God gave us His Book to guide us and light our path for us. Understanding the end helps determine direction for the present.
• Network Helping Us Accept Nephilim As Future Redeemer The Christian Post (August 5, 2007) - "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, But against principalities, against powers, Against rulers of the darkness of this world, Against spiritual wickedness in high places," Ephesians 6:12. It seems to be becoming characteristically prescient that Tom Horn's careful examination of often obscure Biblical topics and text once again synchronizes with an unusually scripted and interestingly timed media 'event,' ABC Family's second season of "Fallen." From a series of four teen novels, “Fallen” focuses on angels who have fallen from grace and the one being who can help them back to heaven. Author Thomas E. Sniegoski said he did quite a bit of Biblical research about angels before he wrote the novels, rather then using pop culture references. "I think I drew my ideas from all kinds of sources, but my main source were from the tons of research books on angels and various mythologies that I'd collected over the years. It was really cool to read all this stuff and slowly build my own angelic mythology." Mr. Sniegoski's background work in this area suggests little familiarity except possibly a vague concept of western culture in the area of angelology. Thomas Horn, author of The Gods Who Walk Among Us, The Invisible Invasion, the bestselling Ahriman Gate and the recently released Nephilim Stargates, The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers would likely find pieces of truth in Mr. Sniegoski's "angelic mythology," but would caution that the spirit world is a subject to be taken very seriously. Dr. Horn, an experienced pastor and veteran exorcist, has had first hand experience: speaking the horror and the reality of involvement with such activities, “These are real. I’ve seen things I hope I never see again…and that no one else ever does.” Apart from framing the script with Hebraic sounding names, the Judeo-Christian concept of a primal angelic rebellion and the subsequent hybridization described in Genesis chapter 6, “Fallen” gives no references to specific theological traditions but does designate the lead, Aaron Corbett as a ‘nephilim’ hybrid who is on Earth to fulfill a prophecy and meet his destiny: as the chosen Redeemer of the mutinous angelic domain. This is where the fantasy blurs, the positions reverse, the menace begins. As Dr. Horn notes in Nephilim Stargates, "Given the abundant and universal prophecies that the end times will witness what we have been calling a 'reopening of the gates of heaven' and the descending of a 'savior,' it is important to note that from the Middle Ages forward, many church leaders have believed that the Antichrist would ultimately represent the return of the Nephilim - the union of a demon and a human." According to Catholic Online, “the program's pop-culture theology bears little in common with the Christian understanding of angels." Executive producer Pete Donaldson, said that the goal was to make the story ‘more secular,’ so there's no explanation of where God stands on the battle between the angels.” But how can such a topic, the subject of centuries of rigorous academic study and analysis be represented as “family entertainment?” more... | UFO |
• The Great Apostasy Unsealed Prophecy (August 5, 2007) - In the early days of TBN, the idea of an immanent harpazo set the tone of TBN eschatology (the study of last things). In fact, Paul and Jan Crouch would get excited any time world events signaled a warning that trouble was escalating in the Holy Land. They would bring on their regular end-times experts. Besides Hal Lindsey, there was Doug Clark, Charles Taylor, Dr. Steuart McBirnie, Chuck Smith and a host of other experts who would analyze current events to see where we were on the Armageddon clock. It was always about one minute to midnight, according to their estimates. One particularly interesting Praise the Lord program featured Lindsey, Clark, and McBirnie hashing it out over whether the harpazo would take place ‘pre,’ ‘mid,’ or ‘post’ Tribulation. It was a friendly discussion, yet Crouch always took the pre-trib position with his friend, Lindsey. Up until around 1988, just about every Praise-a-Thon focused on the immanent harpazo of the Church as an incentive for people to call and get in on the final gathering of souls before it was too late. “I have asked you this question a hundred times or more,” Crouch wrote to his supporters in his January, 1987 newsletter. “WILL YOU GO WITH JAN AND ME another mile? Will you hold our hands up another year? This could be the final one you know. This could be our ‘ Battle of the Bulge!’” In fact, the following year, 1988, Crouch was so confident that Jesus would return during the coming Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah, that TBN altered their regular programming during that Jewish feast on September 11-13, 1988, and played re-runs of prerecorded shows that focused on the harpazo. “But to Christians curious about Bible prophecy, ” wrote William Alnor in his book, Soothsayers of the Second Advent, “It was also the target date on which Edgar C. Whisenant, a former NASA engineer, told the world that Christ would harpazo the church into heaven.” Whisenant’s book, “88 Reasons Why the harpazo Could Be in 1988,” had made an impression on the Crouches, which could also have contributed to Jan Crouch’s subsequent disenchantment with the pre-trib harpazo position. Although Paul Crouch always held onto his belief in the soon return of Jesus, his wife, Jan, appeared to be going in a post-millennial direction. In the early 1990s she began what looked like a boycott of programs that focused on the traditional end times views. Yet, when scandalized Pastor Earl Paulk and other anti-harpazo guests would show up, Jan would be there and share their enthusiasm. Any time the subject of “Kingdom Now” doctrine would arise Jan would show her excitement about that view that Jesus would not return until the church has ruled over the earth for a thousand years. On the other hand, Paul Crouch began expressing what is known as the “latter rain” or “manifest sons of God” doctrine that says that before Jesus returns, there would be a second Pentecost that would result in a final great revival that would herald the Lord’s soon return. The Crouch home seemed divided oh the subject of Bible prophecy. Since Paul Crouch claims that TBN fulfills Bible prophecy and is God’s end times tool to finish His Great Commission, it becomes imperative to examine his claims in obedience to Scripture. And that is the main objective of this book — examine TBN’s fruit, doctrine, and claims to see if they line up with the sure foundation of the historic Christian faith as revealed in God’s Word, the Bible. The Word of God is our only anchor and sure foundation in a time when spiritual fads blow in and out at such a rapid clip as we see today. Bible teacher John MacArthur put it well: “First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: ‘But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.’ The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, ‘Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world’ (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer — it is required.” For the sake of discussion, we are going to limit ourselves to the two most popular views of what the church should look like just before the return of Christ. Is she a scattered remnant of true believers or a united army of victorious warriors? The letters to the churches addressed by Jesus in the book of Revelation best describes the visible church at the end of the age. Theologians have long pointed out that the seven churches not only reveal the churches that existed at the end of the first century when the apostle John wrote the book, but that they are a prophetic glimpse of church history from beginning to end. Listed there are two faithful churches, the persecuted church at Smyrna and the church of Philadelphia that will be kept from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Jesus has a rebuke for four of the other churches that have a few faithful ones within, but as a whole these four churches hold false doctrines. Yet Jesus still counts them as the visible church as they name the name of Christ. The last of the seven is the one that has no redeemable value and is a peek at the last church age that names the name of Christ. For this “church” Jesus has nothing good to say. That is the church of Laodicea. more... | Apostasy | There is a subtle line drawn for the "kingdom now" position. On one hand the Bible says to spread the Gospel to all the world. At the same time, it says in the end there will be a great falling away from God. Our understanding should come from the Word of God, not man. There may be a revival in the bride of Christ, an awakening to Yeshua's nearness, but according to Matthew 25:1-13, half of those waiting for the bridegroom are shut out. That is just those who call themselves Christians. Of the entire earth, they are a minority in the end according to the Bible. This fits with Matthew 7:12-20, "...Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it...". My issue coming from some of the teachings of this group is that they show a lack of understanding of Bible prophecy on much deeper levels than this. Not that I'm a great expert, but I've posted all my scriptural reasons for my beliefs within this website to show with the Bible what the Bible says and welcome any correction. In many cases, there seems to be one part of scripture that is focused on too much, giving a myopic viewpoint. Isaiah 28:9-14 says that precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me God's plans, not mans' and not my own vain desires. As I've been studying prophecy, I remember scriptures (I believe through the Holy Spirit, John 14:26, because my memory is bad), look them up, and assemble them here. What I'm discovering from the Word of God says something that many are missing because they are tripping on the stumblingblocks made by interspersing Bible prophecy throughout scripture, here a little and there a little. One point is seen, but it is taken alone without comparing it to other relevant scriptures. The scriptures the Lord is leading me to are very clear I'm finding. Bible prophecy is God's plans written before time, hidden in plain sight. We are to discern the Word of Truth understanding that in the last days there will come many who even speak in Christ's name that are not His. Even some who cast out devils in His name. Matthew 7:22 All because He didn't "know" them. We know God through a personal relationship, spending time dwelling on Him as He is dwelling upon us. We can affect those in our immediate area with our peace, love, joy, and other gifts being in a relationship and walking with God offer. We all stumble, but He is there always. And furthermore, He will not lose anyone that is His and only He knows the inward hearts of men. Trust in God regarding the salvation of the world, be a light in the darkness. But first we need the oil of the Holy Spirit, then we have the fuel needed to produce the light. God's Word, the Holy Bible, is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path. Psalm 119:105 We are the bride awaiting the coming of the bridegroom, who is Yeshua the Christ. We need to know His Word and walk His path to enter in through the door, which is Christ, when He comes to take His bride from the wicked earth before His wrath is poured out. I speak as much to myself as to you because I fail in this consistently myself. Let us stand for Him as He died for us for the sake of the lost who are without understanding of what is coming. Let us warn them in love and in confidence and faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
• The Deadly Virus of Celebrity Christianity Charisma Online (August 3, 2007) - Just when I thought we charismatics had finally taken enough abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I’ve learned that some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We’ve moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the 1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large segments of the church. One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent preacher could speak at her conference. The minister’s assistant faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to book a speaking engagement. The demands included: a five-figure honorarium, a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane, a manicurist and hairstylist for the speaker, a suite in a five-star hotel, a luxury car from the airport to the hotel (2004 model or newer), room-temperature Perrier. This really makes me wonder how the apostle Paul, Timothy or Priscilla managed ministering to so many people in Ephesus, Corinth and Thessalonica. How did they survive without a manicurist if they broke a nail while laying hands on the sick? It gets worse, if you can believe it. At a charismatic conference in an East Coast city recently, a pastor stood on a stage in front of a large crowd and smugly announced that the guest speaker was “more than an apostle.” Then the host asked everyone to bow down to the person, claiming that this posture was necessary to release God’s power. “This is the only way you can receive this kind of anointing!” the host declared, bowing in front of the speaker. Immediately, about 80 percent of the audience fell prostrate on the floor. The few who were uncomfortable with the weird spiritual control in the room either walked out or stood in silent protest. So today, I guess it’s not enough to feed a celebrity preacher’s ego by treating them like a rock star. We also are required to worship him. more... | Apostasy |
• Christian Apologist Says Church is Producing Atheists The Christian Post (July 31, 2007) - Churches are producing atheists by not answering the questions of young people and explaining why they believe in the Bible, said a Christian apologist who works with young adults. Anthony Horvath, who was formerly an atheist himself after years of Christian education, pointed out that renowned atheists such as Richard Dawkins were raised in the Church but have become some of the fiercest attackers of God. He further noted, “Books like Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ and Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ do not become best sellers in a society that understands what Christianity is all about.” Horvath, who has taught religion to middle school and high school students, explained that some of the recurring questions young adults struggle with but churches often fail to address include the formation and development of the Bible, the presence of evil and suffering in the world, and the question of inspiration and inerrancy. “In large part, it happens when the church leadership is completely unaware that their members – and not necessarily just the young members – have questions at all,” explained Horvath to The Christian Post. “And [they] continue merrily along thinking that to retain the youth they just need to be entertained.” Young people question whether they should trust the Bible since it “is so old,” and are not satisfied with the simple answer that they should trust it because God wrote it. Horvath explains that though they understand that to be the Christian position, they want to know how they can be sure of that. Furthermore, the younger generation continues to wrestle with the age-old question of why, if God is good, then there is evil and suffering in the world. “The evidence – which they can see with their own eyes on TV and in the newspaper – is that God is not good,” said Horvath. “It is only a matter of time before a young person begins to encounter pain and suffering in their own lives and has to grapple with the issue personally.” He added that these youth will be less likely to trust what the Church says as they continue to be fed easy answers which do not really explain why. more... | America | Apostasy |

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