July 30, 2010
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LIVING ON BORROWED TIME - DVD
A morally and spiritually bankrupt society …A worldwide economic meltdown…A planet racked with increasingly intense manmade and natural disasters…Are we the Final Generation?
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:42-44
Reviews: The DVD should be seen by small groups and youth ministries far and wide. The clear quoting and referencing of bible verses is especially strong. The collage of dramatic imagery - both in photography and artwork, grabs the viewers' attention and weaves the conclusion that God is about to continue His plan in a major way. The video is so fresh - the oil explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico is shown as one example of how this old world is wearing out and is in flames
The video next defends the authorship and reliability of the bible before showing eight unmistakable developments in our world that point toward the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The number one sign given to our generation is the return of the Jewish people to form the nation of Israel. Jesus Christ is now standing at the door waiting to take his beloved bride- His true believers. Like the admonition from the Book of Jude, verse 23, I pray that this DVD will be used by the Holy Spirit to pluck dying people out of the fire before the borrowed time runs out. - John Wicklund - Chair- Olive Tree Ministries Board of Directors - Maple Grove, MN
Great Job! We have watched all your DVD’s and we think this is the best one so far. After someone watches this DVD there is no way they could argue that we are not living in the last days! – Don & Cindy K. – Bakersfield, CA
The DVD came and it was great. GOOD JOB ! ! – Julie A. – Whitefish, MT
God bless you, the new DVD is amazing! I know that if there is anyone out there who doesn't know what the bible holds or has no clue about what is really going on after seeing this DVD they will surely be enlightened about what is truly going on in the world today. - The Taylor's - Bakersfield, CA
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Mahmoud Abbas preparing to hold direct talks with Israel, say diplomats – Adrian Blomfield - www.telegraph.co.uk
Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, is expected to bow to intense US pressure by agreeing to hold direct peace talks with Israel within weeks, according to western officials.
Despite publicly insisting that he has no interest in face-to-face negotiations unless Israel agrees to a raft of demands, Mr Abbas is preparing the ground for what could be the gamble of his political career, they said.
Any resumption of direct talks after over 18 months of stalemate would hand US President Barack Obama a much needed foreign policy success ahead of midterm elections in the United States this November.
His administration has embarked on a frantic campaign to escalate the pressure on Mr Abbas to yield before a partial Israeli moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank expires in late September.
The Palestinian leader has proved stubborn in public, fearing a backlash among his people, many of whom regard him as already too malleable towards Israel.
But western officials, as well as a number of independent observers, believe Mr Abbas will reverse his opposition to direct negotiations in early September.
"What Abbas is saying in public is not necessarily what he is saying in private," a European diplomat said. "He is navigating unbelievably treacherous waters and is trying to find a way out that will save face."
The optimists were given a boost yesterday when Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo gave their tentative backing for direct talks.
Although their statement was vaguely worded and couched with caveats – one official at the talks described it as "a yellow light that needs some work before it becomes a green light" – some observers saw it as a statement of intent indicating that Mr Abbas would yield.
Domestically, the Palestinian leader is weak has looked to the Arab League for political cover when making potentially unpopular decisions and analysts said that the phrasing of the statement would have been worked out with Mr Abbas's approval.
Shortly before he left for Cairo, he admitted that he was feeling harried on all sides. "I am under a level of pressure that I haven't experienced in my whole life," he said.
Since December 2008, Mr Abbas has refused to talk face-to-face with Israel unless it agreed to halt all Jewish settlement building in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem, seen by Palestinians as their future state.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, reluctantly agreed to a partial moratorium last year, but only in the West Bank, and has since called repeatedly for Mr Abbas to enter direct talks as proof of his sincerity as a peacemaker.
Mr Abbas has held back amid widespread anger in the West Bank that the settlement freeze fell far short of Palestinian expectations.
The moratorium expires on September 26 and Mr Netanyahu has suggested that only if direct negotiations begin before then is there a hope of it being extended.
An expiry of the settlement freeze could, many fear, collapse the peace process, raising the prospect of renewed violence in the West Bank while also rendering Mr Obama's stuttering diplomatic efforts in the region stillborn.
The US president has been under fire from Republicans who maintain that he has been too hard on Israel in recent months and desperately needs direct talks to begin to show that his policies are working.
Mr Abbas reluctantly agreed to indirect peace talks, brokered by the United States, three months ago but has accused Israel of failing to give ground on important issues such as the borders of a future Palestinian state and security.
Netanyahu: Extending settlement freeze will cause government to collapse - By Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff - www.haaretz.com
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has conditioned upgrading to direct negotiations with Israel on a continued halt on West Bank construction.
Continuing the construction freeze in West Bank settlements after it expires on September 26 would be impossible politically and would bring down the coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Moratinos told Netanyahu that the European Union's position was that Israel should continue the freeze.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has conditioned direct talks with Israel on a continued construction freeze.
Jerusalem will be closely monitoring the deliberations of the Arab League foreign ministers meeting today in Cairo. A subcommittee on the Arab peace initiative is expected to announce its continued support for indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians, giving Arab League backing for Abbas' decision not to begin direct talks with Israel. The Palestinian position is that as long as no progress is made in the indirect talks there is no point in beginning direct talks.
Palestinian sources told Haaretz that Abbas seeks unequivocal clarifications from the United States that the framework for direct talks will include a declaration that the Palestinian state will be based on the June 4, 1967 borders and that border adjustments will be based on exchanges of territory. The PA also wants an Israeli declaration that the construction freeze in the settlements will continue and that construction in East Jerusalem will stop.
Although the PA can expect criticism of its position from the United States and even some Arab states it appears to be more worried at present about losing popularity on the Palestinian street if it were to resume direct talks with Israel now.
During yesterday's meeting Netanyahu reportedly told Moratinos that the Palestinians' conditions for renewing direct talks are unrealistic. He also told the Spanish foreign minister that only after a final-status agreement is reached will it be possible to drum up sufficient public support in Israel to push it through. Trying to do so now would bring down the ruling coalition and damage the peace process, Netanyahu said.
Several senior Palestinian and Arab officials have indicated that Abbas will tell the Arab League foreign ministers today that indirect talks with Israel should continue. But Moratinos told Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and President Shimon Peres that Abbas during their meeting in Amman on Tuesday that he was leaning toward agreeing to the resumption of direct talks. Moratinos said Abbas only needs to feel that he has the support of the Arab League for his decision.
Iran sets major exercise; Ahmadinejad sees war by November – www.worldtribune.com
NICOSIA — Iran, warning of an imminent war, has been preparing for another major military exercise.
The Iranian Air Force has scheduled a week-long exercise in the western part of the country near Iraq and the Gulf. Officials said the exercise would seek to enhance interoperability as well as night missions.
"The maneuvers will also include mid-air refueling of aircraft," Iranian Air Force deputy chief Gen. Mohammed Alavi said.
On July 26, Alavi said the exercise would begin on July 31 in the Hamadan province. He said 43 aircraft would participate, including the U.S.-origin F-4, and F-5, the Chinese-origin F-6 and F-7 and the Russian-origin Su-24.
The air exercise was being prepared as Iran warned of a major U.S. military strike in the Middle East. On July 27, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Washington would attack at least two countries in the Middle East by November 2010.
"They have decided to attack at least two countries in the region in the next three months," Ahmadinejad, who did not elaborate, told Iranian television.
For his part, Alavi said the Air Force would deploy unmanned aerial vehicles during the exercise, which would involve at least nine bases. He said attack missions would be conducted at night, the first time that the F-7 and Su-24 would participate in such operations.
The exercise, titled "Devotees to the Sanctity of Religious Leadership," would also include the launch of new air-to-ground munitions, officials said. They said the F-4 and Su-24 would also practice mid-air refueling to prepare for long-range missions.
Iran has intensified air and naval exercises amid its acceleration of the nation's nuclear program. Teheran has repeatedly warned against any Israeli or U.S. air strike.
Pirates or rogue Iranian Guards suspected in Hormuz tanker blast – www.debka.com
The Japanese supertanker M. STAR carrying 270,000 tons of oil was damaged by an explosion Wednesday, July 28, caused by a suspected attack in Omani territorial waters near the Strait of Hormuz, which passes Iran and Oman. One lifeboat was blown off the ship and a large dent made in its hull. A crew member was slightly injured, but there was no oil leak.
The spokesperson for the tanker's owners Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said: "We believe it's highly likely an attack from the outside, maybe a terrorist incident. There is nothing that could cause a spontaneous explosion in that part of the vessel."
But the most striking feature of the incident, noted by debkafile's military and intelligence sources, is the unusual degree of assent between US Navy and Iranian officials that the damage to the supertanker was caused by an explosion by an unknown hand.
"The fire which was triggered by an explosion on the deck of the vessel was contained with the help of the crew and regional forces," Fars News Agency quoted head of marine department of southern Hormozgan Province, Ali Akbar Saffai, as saying, after two Iranian officials before him had attributed the blast to a low-magnitude earthquake.
Clearly both Washington and Tehran were taken unawares by the first attack ever mounted on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow transit channel for some 40 percent of the oil shipped worldwide and one of the most carefully secured waterways in the world.
Both the US and Iran need time to find its cause and decide what to do. Meanwhile, this exceptional circumstance finds them of one mind on at least one issue, the incident must not be allowed to spiral out of control into a larger event.
According to our sources in Washington and Tehran, while waiting for evidence, both speculate that the perpetrators may be either pirates in the pay of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or even a rogue element in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which is bent on settling scores for the latest UN, US and European sanctions against their country.
Tehran has repeatedly warned it will fight back if sanctions hurt its economy and energy supplies.
The attack on the Japanese supertanker intensified Saudi and the Gulf emirates' concerns over a possible threat to their oil exporting routes. Wednesday night, fearing an unidentified assailant may also go for their oil ports and shore installations, Persian Gulf navies, the Fifth Fleet Bahrain-based headquarters and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards naval installations at Bandar Abbas went on a high alert.
Our military sources report some 100 warships of different navies are currently present in the Persian Gulf.
After the attack, the Japanese supertanker, which took on crude oil Tuesday at the United Arab Emirates port of Das Island, headed for Fujairah in the UAE to assess the damage. Straight after the first inspection, both American and Iranian naval experts no doubt received an interim diagnosis of what caused the explosion from their local agents.
The forensic analysis of the means used to damage the M STAR would offer the first lead to the perpetrators, indicate whether it was caused by a missile, torpedo or some other means, and from what direction it was fired.
Saudi, Syrian leaders make rare visit to Lebanon - Elizabeth A. Kennedy – www.news.yahoo.com
BEIRUT – The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented effort Friday to defuse fears of violence over upcoming indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad stepped off the plane together after traveling from Damascus. It was a strong public show of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Syria, which for years vied for influence over Lebanon.
The men held a series of meetings with officials including Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the slain statesman, and President Michel Suleiman. Few details about the discussions emerged, although Assad gave reporters a thumbs-up and said "it was an excellent summit" as he left Lebanon's presidential palace.
The visit underscored the depth of Arab concern that new violence between Lebanon's Shiite and Sunni communities could break out if the international tribunal investigating Hariri's death implicates the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which is Syria's main ally in Lebanon.
In May 2008, Hezbollah gunmen swept through Sunni pro-government neighborhoods of Beirut, raising fears the country could fall into a new civil war. That crisis was resolved only after fellow Arab countries mediated a truce and political compromise between the two sides that has tenuously held since.
Hariri was a Sunni leader with strong links to Saudi Arabia. The international tribunal investigating Hariri's death has not announced who will be charged, but the leader of Hezbollah said last week members of his group will be among those indicted.
The summit was unusual on multiple levels, a sign of the depth of concern over the potential for violence. Assad rarely goes to Beirut — his last trip was in 2002, which at the time was the first visit by a Syrian leader to the Lebanese capital in nearly three decades.
Many in Lebanon blame Syria for the truck bombing on Valentine's Day 2005 that killed Hariri, charges that Damascus denies. The blast deepened a rift between Assad and Saudi King Abdullah, who each backed rival sides in the ensuing power struggle that nearly tore Lebanon apart since 2005: Syria backing a Hezbollah-led coalition and Saudi Arabia and the United States supporting a Sunni-led coalition.
In recent years, however, Assad and Abdullah have repaired ties, and the joint visit was a sign of how far the rift has healed.
It also showed how dramatically the political landscape has changed since Hariri's death sparked massive anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon, dubbed the "Cedar Revolution." That helped lead to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005, ending almost three decades of Syrian domination.
Security was tight throughout Beirut on Friday as helicopters buzzed overhead and Beirut's airport road was lined with Syrian and Saudi flags. Some banners portrayed Assad's picture, saying "Welcome among your family."
No details were released about Friday's one-day summit, although Hezbollah Cabinet ministers were also expected to take part.
Another factor behind the concerns in Lebanon is that any turmoil within this country could expand into conflict with Israel, which fought a 2006 war with Hezbollah.
The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, told the Saudi-owned Ashraq al-Awsat newspaper that Friday's visit by the Saudi and Syrian leaders was a sign that the Arabs are rallying behind Lebanon to avert any "negative development or aggression."
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's announcement that his militia members would be implicated in Hariri's slaying appeared to be an attempt to undercut the repercussions of any indictment, and he dismissed the international tribunal as an "Israeli plot."
Hezbollah said it supports Friday's summit.
"We have a fixed policy of welcoming all kinds of Arab rapprochement and coordination toward what is good for the common Arab cause of independence, liberation and resisting the Israeli occupation and aggression," Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi told The Associated Press.
Hezbollah has immediate concerns that go beyond the tribunal, however, sparked by reports that Syria sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah and suspicions that Hezbollah patron Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons. Syria denies sending Scuds.
Fadia Kiwan, a political science professor at Beirut's St. Joseph University, the joint visit was a welcome diplomatic step, but tensions will remain.
"If, God forbid, an indictment is released by the tribunal and it gave names, this could ignite the streets," she said. "The problem is in the street. Politicians are now using a quiet language and trying to calm down the situation, but the problems are in the streets."
Lebanon builds up troops near southern border after attacks on UN peacekeepers – www.worldtribune.com
NICOSIA — Lebanon has decided to bolster its military presence near the border with Israel.
Officials said the Lebanese Army has been ordered to send a brigade, or about 1,500 troops, to the south. They said the reinforcements would ensure security as well as freedom of movement for the United Nations peacekeeping force, called the UN Interim Forces In Lebanon.
The Lebanese decision took place several weeks after a series of attacks on UNIFIL patrols in Shi'ite villages in the south. Officials said Hizbullah was believed to have directed the assaults, which included the seizure of weapons from a UNIFIL patrol from the French contingent.
"This step announced by the Lebanese government is a positive development that will be met with praise by Lebanon's partner in UNIFIL," French ambassador Dennis Pietton said.
Officials said the military deployment began on July 26 and would require about a week until completion. They said the Lebanese forces would accompany UNIFIL patrols throughout the south.
Until July, the Lebanese Army has deployed fewer than 1,000 troops south of the Litani River. In contrast, UNIFIL was operating a force of 13,500 peacekeepers from NATO and other states.
"This is news that we hoped to hear because it is important to support Lebanese troops in the south, in accordance with [UN Security Council] Resolution 1701 at the time of its implementation," Pietton said.
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr has confirmed the military redeployment to the south. Officials said the 8th Brigade would be sent to the south and another brigade could be added in 2011 if necessary.
Damascus: Syria-Saudi ties are none of U.S.'s business – www.haaretz.com
Saudi King Abdullah visits Syria to hold talks with Assad ahead of joint trip t Lebanon; Syrian Foreign ministry says U.S. 'has no right to define our ties with other countries.'
The Syrian government advised the United States on Thursday against interfering with a visit by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to Damascus, saying that the two countries "know better" how to stabilize the Middle East.
Abdullah will hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Syrian capital before they travel together to Beirut on Friday to try to calm tension over a tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik Hariri.
U.S. State department official Philip Crowley said on Wednesday that Washington hoped Syria would play a constructive role in the region and would respond to the Saudi monarch's concerns about Iranian "threats" to Middle East stability.
"Obviously, King Abdullah has played a significant leadership role in the region. So his prospective travel to Syria and to Lebanon is consistent with his search for peace,"
Crowley said.
A Syrian foreign ministry statement said the United States "has no right to define our ties with the countries of the region and interfere in the content of the talks the Saudi monarch will have in Damascus".
"Syria and Saudi Arabia... know better than others the interests of the people of the region and how to achieve them without outside interference and they are able to define their policies to achieve peace and stability in the region," the statement said.
Relations between Damascus and Washington improved after President Barack Obama took power last year but major differences persist, including Syria's strong ties with Iran and the two countries' backing for the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
"The Syrian statement seems to express a preference in Damascus not to focus on the Iran issue again during King's Abdullah's visit," a Syrian source said.
Iran was a focus of talks by King Abdullah when he visited Damascus last year, diplomats in the Syrian capital said. The visit helped mend ties between Saudi Arabia and Syria, which had deteriorated after the Hariri assassination.
This month Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly criticized the U.N.-backed tribunal that began work last year but has yet to issue indictments in the Hariri case.
He described the tribunal, which is based in The Hague, as an "Israeli project" after saying he had received word that it planned to indict members of his group over Hariri's killing.
U.N. investigators initially implicated Syrian and Lebanese security agencies. Syria says it had no hand in the Feb. 14 seafront bombing in Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others.
The assassination provoked an international furor led by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia that prompted Syria to end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April 2005 and led to the establishment of the special tribunal.
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Iran Starts to Feel Heat - Charles Krauthammer – www.article.nationalreview.com
Ahmadinejad reminds the world of Iran’s capacity to trigger a regional conflagration.
“[The United States and Israel] have decided to attack at least two countries in the region in the next three months.”
— Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, July 26
President Ahmadinejad has a penchant for the somewhat loony, as when last weekend he denounced Paul the Octopus, omniscient predictor of eight consecutive World Cup matches, as a symbol of decadence and purveyor of “Western propaganda and superstition.”
But for all his clownishness, Ahmadinejad is nonetheless calculating and dangerous. What “two countries” was he talking about? They seem logically to be Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah in Lebanon has armed itself with 50,000 rockets and made clear that it is in a position to start a war at any time. Fighting on this scale would immediately bring in Syria, which would in turn invite Iranian intervention in defense of its major Arab clients — and of the first Persian beachhead on the Mediterranean in 1,400 years.
The idea that Israel, let alone the U.S., has the slightest interest in starting a war on Israel’s northern neighbor is crazy. But claims about imminent attacks are serious business in that region. In May 1967, the Soviet Union falsely told its client, Egypt, that Israel was preparing to attack Syria. These rumors set off a train of events — the mobilization of Arab armies, the southern blockade of Israel, the hasty signing of an inter-Arab military pact — that led to the Six-Day War.
Ahmadinejad’s claim is not supported by a shred of evidence. So what is he up to?
It is a sign that he is under serious pressure. Passage of weak U.N. sanctions was followed by unilateral sanctions by the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union. Already, Reuters reports, Iran is experiencing a sharp drop in gasoline imports as Lloyd’s of London refuses to insure the ships delivering them.
Second, the Arab states are no longer just whispering their desire for the U.S. to militarily take out Iranian nuclear facilities. The United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to Washington said so openly at a conference three weeks ago.
Shortly before the 1991 Gulf War, Pat Buchanan charged that “the only two groups” that wanted the U.S. to forcibly liberate Kuwait were “the Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen corner in the United States.” That was a stupid charge, contradicted by the fact that George H. W. Bush went to war leading more than 30 nations, including the largest U.S.-led coalition of Arab states ever assembled.
Twenty years later, the libel returns in the form of the scurrilous suggestion that the only ones who want the U.S. to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities are Israel and its American supporters. The UAE ambassador is, as far as is ascertainable, neither Israeli, American, nor Jewish. His publicly expressed desire for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities speaks for the intense Arab fear — approaching panic — of Iran’s nuclear program, and the urgent hope that the U.S. will take it out.
Third, and perhaps even more troubling from Tehran’s point of view, are developments in the U.S. Former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden suggested last Sunday that over time, in his view, a military strike is looking increasingly favorable compared to the alternatives. Hayden is no Obama insider, but Time reports (“An Attack on Iran: Back on the Table,” July 15) that high administration officials are once again considering the military option. This may reflect a new sense of urgency or merely be a bluff to make Tehran more pliable. But in either case, it suggests that after 18 months of failed engagement, the administration is hardening its line.
The hardening is already having its effect. The Iranian regime is beginning to realize that even President Obama’s patience is limited — and that Iran may actually face a reckoning for its nuclear defiance.
All this pressure would be enough to rattle a regime already unsteady and shorn of domestic legitimacy. Hence Ahmadinejad’s otherwise inscrutable warning about an Israeli attack on two countries. (Said Defense Minister Ehud Barak to Fox News: “Who is the second one?”) It is a pointed reminder to the world of Iran’s capacity to trigger, through Hezbollah and Syria, a regional conflagration.
This is the kind of brinkmanship you get when leaders of a rogue regime are under growing pressure. The only hope to get them to reverse course is to relentlessly increase their feeling that, if they don’t, the Arab states, Israel, the Europeans, and America will, one way or another, ensure that ruin is visited upon them.
Delusion instead of solution - Yoram Ettinger – www.ynetnews.com
Western policy-makers grow increasingly reconciled to coexistence with a nuclear Iran. They assume that notwithstanding the radical rhetoric, the Iranian leadership is pragmatic, cognizant of its limitations, unwilling to expose its people to devastating Western retaliation and considering nuclear capabilities as a tool of deterrence – and not as an offensive means – against the US, NATO and Israel.
However, a nuclear Iran would constitute a clear and present danger to global security and peace, which must not be tolerated. In order to avert such a wrath, it is incumbent to disengage from illusions and engage with realism.
Unlike Western leaders, the Iranian revolutionary leadership is driven by ideological and religious conviction, bolstered by ancient imperialist ethos:
1. Jihad is the permanent state of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, while peace and ceasefire accords are tenuous.
2. The Shihada commits every Shiite to kill and be killed, in order to advance Shiite Muslim strategy.
3. The strategic goal of Shiite Islam – which replaced the” illegitimate” Judaism and Christianity – is to convert humanity to Islam.
The religious Shiite zeal is intensified by the Persian-Iranian ethos, shared by secular and religious Iranians, who consider Iran a regional and a global power during the last 2,600 years.
Iran’s religious/imperialistic strategy has guided Tehran’s tactical policy toward the US (the “Great Satan” and the key target for Iran’s terror and nuclear efforts), Central & South America (an anti-US terror platform), Iraq (the chief Sunni rival in the Persian Gulf and an arena to weaken the US), Saudi Arabia (an apostate regime), Gulf States (targeted for revolution and takeover), Afghanistan and Pakistan (an arena to erode America’s image), international terror organizations and terror cells in the US and Europe (weakening Western societies), Syria, Lebanon, Hezbollah and Hamas (threatening Israel and advancing regional hegemony) and Israel (the “Little Satan,” a Western outpost in the Abode of Islam, the source of Judeo-Christian values.)
Western leaders are top heavy on “pragmatism” and low on ideology and religion. Therefore, they are preoccupied with Iranian global tactical policy, minimizing the study of Iran’s strategic infrastructure of religion, ideology and history, which consider Shia, Jihad, Shihada and Persian imperialism as Tehran’s Pillars of Fire.
Debunk ‘Linkage Theory’
Western leaders believe in engagement – and not in confrontation – with Iran. However, Tehran’s revolutionaries regard such an attitude as a symptom of Western fatigue, of a tendency to “blink first” and of a modern version of the defeatist European slogan: “Better Red than Dead.”
Moreover, Tehran considers the US a superpower in retirement and retreat, adopting gradually the European state-of-mind and losing its posture of endurance since 1973 (retreat from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), 1979 (terrorist takeover of the US embassy in Tehran), 1983 (retreat from Lebanon following the blowing up of the US embassy and Marines headquarters in Beirut) until 2011 (announced US withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.)
At the same time, Iran demonstrated its willingness to pay a brutal price for its principles and interests when sacrificing some 500,000 persons on the altar of the 1980-1988 war against Iraq, including about 100,000 children who were dispatched to clear minefields.
Tehran is encouraged by Western preoccupation with engagement and sanctions, which constitute a delusion and not a solution. For instance, Russia and China consider the US a rival and do not share US assessment of Iran. They benefit from a weakened US and therefore they do not cooperate in the implementation of sanctions. Europe employs tough rhetoric, but displays frail action. And, the UN will not support tough US policy toward Iran. The longer the sanctions and engagement process, the more time available to Iran to develop and acquire nuclear capabilities.
Tehran benefits from Western adherence to a supposed linkage between the Palestinian issue and a successful campaign against Iran. However, there is no linkage between the Palestinian issue – or the Arab Israeli conflict or Israel’s existence – and the pillars of Iran’s strategy. The more entrenched the “Linkage Theory,” the heavier the pressure on Israel and the weaker the pressure on Iran.
In 1978, President Carter’s policy toward the Shah was perceived as the backstabbing of a US ally, producing a tailwind to the anti-Shah opposition and facilitating the Iranian Revolution. In 2010, Western policy toward Iran is perceived as an acknowledgment of the potency of the revolutionary leadership, thus serving as a headwind to a weakened domestic opposition and minimizing the possibility of a domestically generated regime-change.
A sustained Western policy toward Iran would confront the Free World with a brutal dilemma: Accepting radical diplomatic, economic, military and religious demands presented by a nuclear Iran, or facing a series of vicious wars, including a rapidly escalated nuclear race among rogue regimes.
In order to avoid such a dilemma, it is incumbent to disengage from the illusive options of deterrence and retaliation and engage with the realistic option of military-preemption/prevention. Furthermore, the cost of military inaction would dwarf the worst case cost of preemptive military action against Iran.
Are you on Facebook? - Nathan E. Jones – www.lamblion.com
Statistically, chances are "of course" is the most likely answer you'll be giving. Boasting over 400 million active users, Facebook is THE social network phenomenon whose usership dwarfs the entire population of the United States (309,800,169 people as of this writing according to the U.S. Census Bureau). More than likely, you're one of the million-fold masses.
DigitalBuzzBlog's "Facebook: Facts & Figures For 2010" shows that this modern marvel of communication and social connectivity has created a new era in which mankind communicates. From its humble beginnings cobbled together by students in a Harvard dorm in February of 2004, Facebook has amassed some staggeringly high statistics for 2010.
People:
• 35 million users update their status each day
• 55 minutes spent on Facebook per day per user
• 20 million people become fans of pages each day
• 130 friends average per user
• 13 groups the average user is a member of
• 25 comments the average user writes each month
• 3.5 million events created each month
• Texas Hold'em Poker is the favorite game
Site:
• 60 million status updates per day
• 3 billion photos added each month
• 5 billion pieced of content shared each week
• 3 million active pages
Businesses:
• 1.5 million local business have pages
Technology:
• 500,000 active applications
• 70 translations available translated by 300,000 users
• 100 million users connect via mobile
Facebook's blend of technology, people and connectivity means power, and not just the power over private information. The real power behind Facebook is the ability to extend one's ideological reach over a wider mass of people. This can be a power for good or for bad.
For Bad
The best example of bad is the "Kill a Jew" Facebook Group. Started by a user named "Alex Cookson" and adorned with a big swastika as its profile image, this person created an event called "Kill a Jew Day." As reported by The Jerusalem Post on July 5, 2010, the "Web site urged users to violence 'anywhere you see a Jew' between July 4 and July 22." Cookson wrote, "You know the drill guys." One user even commented, "Can't wait to rape the dead baby Jews." Another user posted images of corpses piled on one another, while a third posted quotes by Adolf Hitler.
This is the fourth anti-Semetic site taken down by Facebook within just a few days. Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes commented, "Unfortunately ignorant people exist and we absolutely feel a social responsibility to silence them on Facebook if their statements turn to direct hate. That's why we have policies that prohibit hateful content and we have built a robust reporting infrastructure and an expansive team to review reports and remove content quickly."
Nevertheless, the damage was done. David Appletree, founder of the Jewish Internet Defense Force website (JIDF), reported that such efforts in online anti-Semitism "has already helped spur violent incidents, such as the 2007 assault on Holocaust author Elie Wiesel in San Francisco by a Holocaust denier, and the gun attack on the Holocaust Museum in Washington by a white supremacist armed with a rifle, which claimed the life of a security guard."
For Good
That same power to connect ideas to people which man can use for evil, can be used for good as well, and for God.
Take the Christ in Prophecy Facebook Group. With almost 1,900 people engaged in sharing the blessed hope of Jesus Christ's soon return, discussing Bible prophecy, sharing prayer requests, witnessing to visitors, and hashing out the tough doctrines and issues — this group has connected people from all over the planet who never would have met otherwise. It gives believers in Christ Christian connectivity and unites the brethren in our common love of the Lord. It's also a safe environment, moderated by a godly man who's earned the title "Son of Thunder."
For a Time
Should Facebook, as the JIDF has recommended, implement IP bans on people involved in posting inflammatory material, as well as call upon law enforcement to get involved, Facebook be subpoenaed, and the IP's of the people threatening and inciting violence be obtained so that legal action can be immediately pursued? Or, should Facebook instead implement a passive filter that detects keywords which could prevent such "hate" pages from being loaded in the first place?
And, how should Facebook describe "hate"? From the Bible, Christians know that we are to hate evil and love good (Amos 5:15; Rom. 12:9), and so know that anti-Semitism is very evil. We are even told that anti-Semitism's growth will play a huge end time role (Zech. 12:2-3; 13:8-9; Rev. 12:13-17).
But, what of those who get it all upside down and hate good? Again, what is meant for good can also serve evil. What if the words "pro-life" and "Christian" and "Jesus" are found offensive (and they are to a growing and evilly vocal group), and end up being censured?
Long before Spiderman's Uncle Ben said "with great power comes great responsibility," Jesus pointed out in Luke 12:48, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
Believers in Christ have been given much with Facebook, and we should use this far-reaching phenomenon for good while being good is allowed in these darkening times.
This week on 'The Hal Lindsey Report' – Hal Lindsey – www.hallindsey.com
On this week's edition of "The Hal Lindsey Report": Under the leadership of President Obama, Israeli-US relations have taken quite a beating. His 'popularity' ratings in Israel are in the single digits. The Israeli public simply does not trust him and they feel like America has thrown Israel under the bus.
Apparently, that didn't bother the Administration and it was "full speed ahead" in the drive to cozy up to the Arab-Muslim world. It seemed that no cost was too great -- even abandoning Israel -- if it accomplished the President's goal of American-Muslim affinity.
But now we know that there really was a point at which the cost became too great. The Democrat National Committee recently realized that it was many millions of dollars down in its fundraising for the upcoming mid-term elections. And it was glaringly apparent that the constituency from which the giving had dried up was the American Jewish community. So, as I reported a couple of weeks ago, the White House went into damage control mode and started a charm offensive toward Israel and the Jewish community.
White House operatives fanned out and began to sweet talk the Jewish organizations here in the States. President Obama invited Prime Minister Netanyahu back to the White House and, evidently, promised that he'd be a better host this time than he was last March. He might even allow himself to be seen in public with the Prime Minister and certainly wouldn't stomp out of any meetings and leave the PM sitting, staring at the walls.
So Netanyahu returned and everyone made nice before the cameras. Obama even walked Netanyahu out to his car and added some extra pumps to his farewell handshake!
This past week, an Assistant Secretary of State appeared before a Jewish audience and confirmed that, indeed, "Israel is a vital ally and cornerstone of our regional security commitments." Now, that sounds pretty good at first, but I think it woefully understates the case. Israel is not just a "vital ally" in that region. Israel is our ONLY ally in the Middle East.
What's more, unlike our other friends in the area who are simply 'allies of convenience,' Israel and the United States are natural allies because we share common values, freedoms, ideals, goals, ideologies, and respect for human rights and the law. We even share a common Bible. Many Israeli citizens were born and reared in the US. The Mosaic Law is the foundation of our own law. And our rule of law is a big part of what makes America so successful. To say Israel is anything less than our greatest ally -- especially in the Middle East -- is to be less than clear-eyed or honest.
Yet, despite all this, the Bible says that eventually Israel will stand completely alone and friendless against the entire world.
Where's America?
I believe these are dangerous days for the United States. Paul predicts that, in the last days, "perilous times" will come. He also describes what I believe will be the condition of the world's most Christian nation in those days. Here is his portrait: "...men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving (one translation says 'without natural affection'), unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power...."
If I didn't know better, I would say Paul had just spent the evening watching network television (and flipping over occasionally to MSNBC). Could you paint a better picture of America at this very moment?
Jesus even described the Western church in these days. He said, "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' -- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked...." He also declared that since we were so self-absorbed and influenced by the world's decadence that we would be neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. And that made Jesus nauseous.
So, now I can see why Israel will be completely alone in the future. America won't matter anymore.
However, though God's People will face terrible times in the future, they will not be completely abandoned. Jesus Himself will return to fight for them. And for those of us who have accepted the pardon He died to purchase? The news is even better. We won't be here for those terrible times. You see, we will be where Jesus is because He will snatch us away before those troubles begin.
As we say in Texas, if that ain't Good News, I don't know what is!
Don't miss this week's Report on TBN, Daystar, Inspiration, CPM Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com .
The Prophecy of Deception--A warning to the church – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." The word deceive or deceived is used at least 27 times in the New Testament. Jesus warns over and over again about the deception that will fall upon the church in the latter days. He says, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Deception is all over the world. It is all over our country. Politicians are deceiving and being deceived. From a political standpoint, Americans are deceived every day. Discerning the truth with regard to the political and economic landscape is more and more a lost art.
Spiritual discernment is even more rare. There are so many Christians who sit in their pews on Sunday mornings to "check off" that they have attended church. They are the "frozen chosen" who are not on fire for the LORD. They would be the first to admit that there are no spiritual gifts in operation today and that the Holy Spirit was for a time in the past. Then there is the other extreme who abandon all sense of doctrine to shake, jerk, scream, run, fall, shout and repeat. They believe they have the handle on the Holy Spirit, who he is and how he operates. The problem here is that the church in general lacks the balance that is found by reading and understanding the Word of God.
Does God lack understanding of man? Is He hard of hearing? Do we need to act like crazy fools to get His attention? Most would respond with a resounding "Of course not." Yet how many jerk, gyrate, scream out and repeat over and over their prayers? Did God just create the earth and its inhabitants and turn it loose without any more contact? Most would say, "Of course not." So why do so many never want to talk to God or appreciate His good works? Jesus says in Matthew 6:7-8, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
Paul warns in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Deception can be by ignorance or by willful pride, but it is deception nonetheless. Church leadership especially is accountable to this. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:14, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." The foolproof way not to be deceived is to read, even digest, the Holy Scriptures.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Holding On to Truth – Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
— John 4:24
Americans have never been more spiritual yet more immoral. Research done in 2009 by the Barna Group concluded that "increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity." According to the study, Americans are now creating their own brand of faith.
And why not? Now that we live in the age of the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad, why not the iGod? They keep what they like and throw out what they don't like. If they believe in a God of love and forgiveness and mercy, they keep that. And if they are offended by the biblical teaching of a God of holiness, righteousness, and judgment, they delete that. They are effectively making God in their own image. As it has been said, "God made man in His image, and man returned the favor."
The result is moral relativism, the belief that there are no absolutes. Moral relativism teaches that we are all products of the evolutionary process, that we make our own luck, create our own fate, and are all basically good. And if we happen to go bad, then it is because we are simply products of our environment.
The ironic thing about those who accept moral relativism is they are very tolerant of everyone, except people who believe in absolute truth. Then they suddenly become very intolerant. There is no tolerance in our culture today for such a view.
Moral relativism may sound fine in theory: I have my truth. You have your truth. Your truth is not necessarily my truth. But what if we were to put it into practice? What if we removed all the traffic lights and painted over all the lines on our streets? It would be absolute chaos. And that is what moral relativism is doing in our culture today.
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Has the Word of God Gone Missing? - Ron Graham - twotug@embarqmail.com
“The writers of the Bible believed their writings to be God inspired but in all actuality that just isn’t the case. The Bible is not to be taken literally as God’s word”. I heard the above quote recently on a national call in radio program. The caller told the radio hosts that her pastor was responsible for the above quote. The response from the two host pastors of the program was a rousing, in unison” RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” Personally I thought that was good advice.
That pastor’s statement dismissing the fact that the Bible is God’s word reflects where we can place the bulk of the problems in the Christian Church today. The quote from that unnamed pastor can be laid at the feet of many pastors in many denominational, as well as non-denominational, churches around the world.
Why is Christ’s church floundering today? It is because the Bible, the inerrant word of God Almighty, is not taken seriously let alone literally by many of Christianity’s leaders. If we dismiss any portion of God’s word by implying it was not God breathed, then all of scripture becomes a bald face lie. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 2 Timothy 3:16. Apparently the above mentioned pastor’s opinion is we should simply dismiss the entirety of the Bible as man’s own mythological tales. If we believe man just made up the words that established the biblical canon of scripture then the Christian Church has no purpose and is meaningless.
Recently I read that approximately 70% of the people who attend Church services are not born again. That number, if accurate, is not only depressing but scary. The idea that some pastors are demeaning, disparaging, and dismissing the Bible’s true validity, and giving man the credit for its inception through his imagination, proves that many people no longer believe what the Bible says. Therefore that 70% figure referring to the unsaved in the church, again if that number is correct and I suspect it is, would be a very good indication of where the Church is headed. Perhaps we’re already there.
Many expositors condemn those who claim we are witnessing the great apostasy of the Church happening today. But I say when legitimate surveys are done which indicate significant numbers of people in Church are remaining in their lost state, how much more proof is needed before those expositors see what many of us have been aware of for quite some time?
Our foundation of faith is based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What will we do for a replacement for the Bible? Will we turn to “The Shack” as our study guide? What about “The Purpose Driven Life”? Or better yet, perhaps the book of Mormon will be our re-enforcing and permanent new foundation for biblical truth. Don’t let yourself become deceived by people who have no true biblical discernment.
The Bible is our God given tool, a place where we can go to study and learn about our Great God and Savior, Jesus the Christ. But what of the history of the world both past and future? Studying God’s word to obtain greater understanding, discernment, and wisdom is essential for the born again believer in Christ. But the new mantra from many pastors today is “Listen to me, I’ve got the truth, forget that tired, old antiquated nonsense of our forefathers. The Bible is no longer relevant in our new progressive society.” People, this type of teaching is more commonly referred to as cultic.
I’ve known for years that many parts of the Bible are looked on as allegorical in most denominational Christian Churches, and that fact alone will be a disrupting and divisive influence to Christ’s true Church in the last days, but a pastor who claims the Bible is not God’s word is certainly fixated on removing Christ as the foundation for our faith. Tragically, this kind of teaching has now seeped into many congregations.
These days, we’re seeing many new pastors, learned men and women (don’t get me stated on women pastors) who’ve come out of seminaries completely void of any real essence of God’s truth. They then proceed to fill the pulpits of our churches and the messages they deliver week in and week out are nothing more than tripe if they believe not in the inerrancy of the scriptures. Hence the figure of 70% of pew sitters who lack any real conversion experience (by the way, in case you’re wondering, that 70% figure comes from the Barna Research Group).
The whole concept of dumbing down the Church by disparaging the inerrant word of God is fully, unmistakably satanic, and it started way back when Satan had his first conversation with Eve, “…Yea, hath God said…” Genesis 3:1. That little piece of satanic rubbish caused Eve to doubt God’s word and from then on it’s been all downhill (spiritually speaking) for humankind. But not for Satan; he and his demonic hoards must be quite satisfied with their more current achievements. By infiltrating the minds of the professors in the seminaries and Christian collages, who in turn teach the classes and corrupt the vast majority of students with those old antiquated but effectual lies, Satan and his minions of evil have reached new heights in their attempts at destroying the truth of God’s word. These newly initiated followers of Satan are now intent on disseminating their new god’s doctrine instead of the One true God’s inerrant word.
If people would simply grasp the fact that there are two opposing supernatural forces involved in the lives of every human being on planet earth, one benevolent and the other malevolent, and understand that one is diametrically opposed to the other, there would be many more followers of Christ on planet earth.
Mankind, for the most part, knows there’s a very basic concept, a completely recognizable aspect of life which permeates our very existence. It’s the basic premise of good against evil. What most don’t realize is that this “good vs. evil” concept is supernatural, and the malevolent side focuses their attacks on creating the most deadly of consequences. These two opposing forces waging continual inter-dimensional war are fighting for one purpose and that is for the sole ownership of human souls.
It’s true; these two opposing forces are stuck in a battle which pits supernatural beings against one another. And even though that battle rages on in another dimension, much of the residual from this war ends up in our human dimension in the form of lies, deceit, hatred; the list goes on and on. The number one way this fight effects humanity is that the malevolent forces are constantly bombarding us with their lies. Their darkest agenda is to disrupt, disparage, confuse, corrupt, and ultimately destroy the truth of its opponent, the benevolent ones. Which means the truthfulness of the Bible will be continually attacked. Sadly, many people grasp the enemy’s lies as truth and they become so blinded by these lies that they become adamant in their quest to do the enemy’s biding by re-distributing those lies to others.
The Bible is not only a faithful representation of God’s precepts for the instruction of His children, but it is also a historical document used by many to learn of humanity’s past. The Smithsonian Institute of History, for example, uses the Holy Bible to reference people and places of antiquity. Even though the people the Bible focuses on are the Jews, archeologists have used the Bible for years in their research to determine the placement of cities, buildings, as well as lost civilizations other than the Israelites. God’s word has been an invaluable tool even for the secular segments of our society.
For the believer in Christ there can be no doubting the Holy Bible is the inerrant word of God. That fact alone should say something about those who stand behind the pulpits of the Christian Churches and claim the Bible to be nothing more than man’s great ability at writing fiction.
We can’t look at God’s word and call it false and then with a straight face claim to be born again. Calling God a liar is certainly not a term of endearment. Going about the routine of pastoring a Christian Church while placing doubt in the very word that is to be proclaimed from the pulpit, has and will continue to lead those congregations into unbelief. Certainly, pastors who teach the Bible to be fallible man’s own creation will only add to keeping a Church of lost folks lost. That 70% figure will undoubtedly increase exponentially if this type of teaching continues. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 7:13-15.
Jesus refers to those who lead others astray as ravening wolves. “Ravening” signifies rapacious in the Greek. Pastors, or Church leaders for that matter, who would rather believe Satan over God when it comes to the inerrancy of scriptures are rapacious in their determination to lead their flocks away from God. Jesus is applying a metaphor by using the word “wolves” in this context as He describes cruel, greedy, rapacious, destructive men and women intent on leading their flocks astray.
If the majority of folks occupying Church pews these days are indeed unsaved sinners, then it becomes even more understandable as to how and why the great apostasy will occur in the end times. Jesus tells us the path that leads to destruction is very wide and many will follow that destructive path. If a pastor doesn’t believe the Bible he’s not going to preach on salvation through Jesus Christ, and Him alone. He’ll undoubtedly preach on all the different roads that lead to Heaven to placate all the diversity in the pews even though, in truth, he’ll be leading them to Hell.
There are, of course, many ways to authenticate the Bible as being the inerrant word of God, but there’s one truth that always comes screaming back to me at times like these. It’s the following verse in which the Apostle Paul tell us “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. There are a lot of natural men and women out there pretending to be faithful shepherds of their assigned flocks.
If we don’t believe the Bible then we are no different than the natural man spoken of by Paul. As a matter of fact, we are just as lost and condemned as that natural man. For those of you whose pastor teaches as the pastor spoken of earlier, with regards to the Bible, then my suggestion to you is the same as the statement made by the two radio hosts I wrote about at the beginning of this commentary, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
All scripture is from the KJV
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(Lord Come Quickly)
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