August 25, 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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Bolton: Obama & Hillary 'talk' while Iran arms for nuclear war... – John Bolton - www.nydailynews.com
Secretary of State Clinton's announcement last week that direct Israeli-Palestinian talks will recommence next month poses considerable risk for the United States. The odds are high these negotiations will fail. If so, and combined with U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, President Obama's commitment to begin withdrawing NATO forces from Afghanistan next summer and Iran's continuing progress toward nuclear weapons, failure means that Washington's Middle East influence will decline.
The conventional wisdom is that it never hurts to talk, and that the United States loses nothing by pursuing an active "peace process," even without concrete results. This is badly wrong, because negotiations are never cost-free. In fact, diplomacy, like all human activity, has both costs and benefits, and the issue in any specific case is whether the benefits of negotiating outweigh the risks. And for Obama, acting as a facilitator or mediator, the key risk is that failure brings the perception of weakness and incompetence.
Clinton stressed her hope that the negotiations could resolve all contentious issues between the parties in one year. Of course, the talks could easily head into a ditch well before then, but the arbitrary time limits, as in earlier failed efforts - including by the Bush administration, of which I was a part - show how artificial the entire negotiating framework actually is. There is simply no evidence that any behind-the-scenes progress has been made on key "final status" issues (borders, Jerusalem, the Palestinians' "right of return" to Israel) that have sunk innumerable prior peace processes.
Diplomacy, even the most artful diplomacy, can bridge only gaps that are bridgeable, and at the right time.
Even what seems like success can conceal hidden costs. Thus, for example, merely announcing that direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations would begin on Sept. 2 had winners and losers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the biggest winner, having insisted for 18 months that Israel would not agree to any preconditions before starting direct talks. Achieving this objective is a significant Netanyahu victory.
By contrast, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wanted ironclad assurances that Israel's West Bank settlement activity would be halted before negotiations began, which he failed to achieve. Abbas thus enters the negotiations in a weakened position, merely hoping that Israel will extend its voluntary construction moratorium, and the almost inevitable breakdown of the talks will leave him weaker still, and exposed to harsh criticism.
Moreover, by raising Arab expectations that almost certainly will not be met, Obama has actually impaired his own efforts to improve U.S. standing among Muslims. The administration's inability even to see that risk is testimony to its near-theological zeal for the peace process.
Thus, ironically, the Obama administration, by forcing the talks into being, has undercut Abbas, weakening its own designated Palestinian leader. Many believe that the Palestinian Authority has neither the legitimacy nor the capability to make hard concessions to Israel, or to carry through with its commitments and obligations even if a peace agreement could be achieved. Abbas' failure in the coming talks will only reinforce this perception, and may well be a death blow to the remaining shreds of his leadership. Moreover, while the talks' collapse may not immediately or directly strengthen the Hamas terrorists, that is almost inevitably one of the most serious long-term consequences.
The human and political resources already invested in Obama's ceaseless effort to resume direct negotiations also represent an enormous "opportunity cost," as the economists say. By diverting U.S. time and attention from more pressing Middle East problems, particularly Iran's nuclear weapons program and its worldwide support for terrorism, peace process diplomacy allows graver threats to grow.
The notion that solving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute will inevitably lead to progress on other Middle Eastern conflicts is diplomacy's version of Trofim Lysenko's genetic theory. Lysenko argued that acquired characteristics could be inherited, and Soviet leaders virtually worshiped his theory because it fit their Communist preconceptions. In fact, the theory and the "data" supporting it were fraudulent.
So it is with the Middle East peace process. Ignoring inconvenient reality, it goes on forever, fueled by the theology that if only Israel were suitably constrained, the region would be peaceful. For the Obama administration, the entire effort constitutes an enormous wasted opportunity and foreshadows a potential diplomatic and political embarrassment of considerable proportions. Why are we squandering U.S. prestige on this sinking ship?
Iran says it test-fires new missile – www.news.yahoo.com
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran said Wednesday that it has successfully test-fired an upgraded version of a short-range surface-to-surface missile.
Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said the third generation of the Fateh-110, which means "conqueror" in Farsi and Arabic, is equipped with a high accuracy guidance control system. He said the solid-fuel missile was developed domestically by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization and tested Wednesday.
The new version of the missile increases the weapon's range from earlier generations, Vahidi said without providing any further details. Earlier versions of the Fateh-110, which Iran has had for several years, could strike targets up to 120 miles (193 kilometers) away.
"Employing a highly accurate guidance and control system has enabled the missile to hit its targets with great precision," Vahidi was quoted by state TV as saying Wednesday.
Tehran frequently makes announcements about new advances in military technology that cannot be independently verified.
State TV broadcast footage of the missile being fired and then hitting a target on the ground. Iran's English-language Press TV said the missile is 30-feet (9-meters) long and weighs 7,700 pounds (3,500 kilograms).
The upgraded version of Fateh-110 will be handed over to Iran's armed forces late September, Vahidi said.
Hezbollah wants Iran to arm Lebanese Army – www.upi.com
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on the Lebanese government to seek Iran's assistance in providing arms for the Lebanese army.
"I vow that Hezbollah will work fervently and capitalize on its friendship with Iran to ensure it helps arm the Lebanese military in any way it can and Hezbollah's ministers will make that same vow before the cabinet," Nasrallah said in a speech on Hezbollah's al-Manar satellite station.
The speech Tuesday evening marked the iftar, the evening meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast, Middle East Online said Wednesday.
Nasrallah's statement comes two weeks after the United States announced a freeze on support to the Lebanese army, a decision made in the wake of deadly border clashes between Lebanese and Israeli troops Aug. 3, the report said.
U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced Aug. 10 he had placed a hold on $100 million in aid to Lebanon's military, the site said.
Berman said he feared Lebanese armed forces were working with Hezbollah, which Washington lists as a terrorist organization.
At the time Lebanese Defense Minister Elias al-Murr harshly criticized the decision and opened a bank account for donations that would help modernize the army, the report said.
Iran says it's ready to sell arms to Lebanon – www.news.yahoo.com
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran is prepared to sell weapons to Lebanon if Beirut asks for help in equipping its military, Iran's defense minister said Wednesday.
Gen. Ahmad Vahidi's comments come a day after the leader of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, called on the Lebanese government to formally seek military assistance from Iran.
"Lebanon is our friend," Vahidi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. "If there is a demand in this respect, we are ready to help that country and conduct weapons transactions with it."
In a televised speech on Tuesday, Nasrallah vowed that his Iranian-backed group could help secure the aid for Lebanon's poorly equipped army.
The Hezbollah leader made his suggestion after a U.S. congressman suspended $100 million of American military aid to Lebanon earlier this month over concerns the weapons could be used against Israel and that Hezbollah may have influence over the Lebanese army.
Lebanon's government has since opened an account at the central bank to receive donations to help it purchase weapons for the military.
But Beirut is not entirely dependent on U.S. military assistance, and has turned to other countries, including Russia and Arab nations, for assistance in the past.
Iran is a key supporter of Hezbollah, believed to funnel it weapons and millions of dollars in funding, though Tehran denies arming the Shiite group. Hezbollah, also closely allied to Syria, boasts a heavy arsenal of rockets capable of reaching deep inside Israel.
Israel's FM says no extending settlement slowdown - Aron Heller – www.news.yahoo.com
JERUSALEM – Israel's foreign minister said Wednesday that it would be unacceptable to extend a slowdown on West Bank settlement construction, even as Mideast peace talks get under way next week.
Avigdor Lieberman, whose ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party is a major partner in the governing coalition, told Israel Radio he realized that resuming settlement construction would antagonize both the U.S. and the Palestinians. But he said that maintaining tight restrictions on building would "punish" tens of thousands of Israelis living in the settlements.
"We don't need to create unnecessary conflicts but we don't need to punish and we don't need to fold either," he said.
Lieberman's comments added a powerful voice to a debate that is having deep repercussions for the U.S.-backed peace process. A 10-month moratorium on most West Bank construction expires Sept. 26 and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under heavy domestic pressure to allow building to resume.
Renewed construction in the settlements could spell disaster for the peace talks before they even get off the ground. But leaving the moratorium in place could cause Netanyahu's hard-line Israeli government to crumble.
Government spokesman, Mark Regev, refused to say what Netanyahu would do after the settlement slowdown expires.
Israeli officials said they hope to reach some sort of arrangement before next week's summit launching the peace talks in Washington. But an agreement is far from certain. The U.S. is pushing Israel to refrain from any action that could upset the peace talks, and the Palestinians have threatened to walk away from the negotiating table if any settlement activity resumes.
Lieberman suggested that Israel resume construction in major settlement blocs that Israel expects to retain under a future peace deal, while limiting construction elsewhere.
Some 80 percent of the nearly 300,000 West Bank settlers live in these blocs, which are concentrated along the boundary with Israel. Past proposals have suggested that Israel "swap" an equal amount of territory in exchange for the settlements.
After months of shuttle diplomacy, the U.S. announced last week that direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians would resume on Sept. 2 at the White House. The U.S. hopes to forge a final peace settlement within one year.
Lieberman added that he had doubts about the Palestinians' intentions at the talks.
"They are not coming out of true good will to make peace, they are coming because they were forced to come," he said. "I think everyone should lower expectations."
The roughly 120 Jewish settlements that dot the West Bank have long been a sore point in Mideast peacemaking. Israel began settling the territory soon after capturing it along with Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
The Palestinians say the settlements, interspersed among some 2.4 million Palestinians, are gobbling up land they want for a future state. The international community considers them illegal, and President Barack Obama has been an outspoken critic.
Under intense U.S. pressure, Netanyahu imposed the slowdown last November to draw the Palestinians to the negotiating table. The move barred approval of new housing construction, though hundreds of homes already being built were allowed to be completed.
Netanyahu also quietly imposed a similar slowdown in east Jerusalem early this year after a run-in with the U.S. over Israeli policies in the area.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed strong reservations about negotiating with Netanyahu, fearing the talks will be a waste of time and that his already poor public standing could suffer further damage.
On Wednesday, dozens of Abbas supporters stormed into a meeting hall in the West Bank town of Ramallah and blocked a group of opposition activists from holding a meeting to voice their objections to the peace talks. The men shouted slogans in favor of Abbas and his Fatah party.
The activists, from opposition factions inside the Palestine Liberation Organization, had planned to issue a statement urging Abbas not to speak to Israel until there is a complete halt to all settlement activity.
One of the organizers, independent lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti, claimed the mob were pro-Abbas security men disguised in civilian clothes. He called the attack a "stark violation of human rights."
West Bank police spokesman Adnan Damiri denied the allegations and said no security forces were involved.
Hamas' large-scale terror plot sets off high Israel, Palestinian alerts – www.debka.com
The belligerent speech delivered by Hamas' Damascus-based political leader Khaled Meshaal Tuesday, Aug. 24 only confirmed the information reaching Israel and the Palestinian Authority intelligence services that the extremist Palestinian group is set for large-scale terror attacks against Israeli and Palestinian West Bank targets. debkafile's intelligence and counter-terror sources report Hamas is setting its sights on torpedoing the direct Israel-Palestinian negotiations Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are to launch in Washington on Sept. 2.
Hamas is said by our sources to be preparing to activate its West Bank networks for coordinated strikes against a major target inside Israel and another associated with Abbas' power base or the US- and British-trained Palestinian security forces. However, if those networks are thwarted by the preventive measures set in motion meanwhile, Hamas will resort to attacks from the Gaza Strip which it controls or further South from Sinai, across the leaky Egyptian-Israeli border.
Hamas last attacked Israel on Aug. 2, sending a cell from its military wing, the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades, to infiltrate Sinai through the arms tunnels running under the Gaza-Sinai border for a rocket attack on the twin Red Sea towns of Israeli Eilat and Jordanian Aqaba. This attack was more extensive than admitted at the time. Our military sources report that seven Iranian-made Grade missiles were fired, hitting the two towns. Two also knocked over two Egyptian military observation towers on the Israeli border and left casualties.
Israeli and Palestinian security officials do not rule out a Hamas strike from Lebanon or even from the Mediterranean Sea.
Meshaal's speech Tuesday, shortly before the iftar meal breaking the Ramadan fast, was exceptionally vicious. Never before, had he dared vent his fury on Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah. For the first time, Khaled Meshal not only openly criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah but threatened them: Should they refuse to boycott the US-sponsored Israel-Palestinian negotiations, he said, "The results… will be catastrophic for the interests and the security of Jordan and Egypt."
The Hamas leader showed he was even prepared to jeopardize the lifelines given his organization by both Arab governments: Egypt provides Hamas officials and military leaders with their only exit route from Gaza, while Jordan tolerates Hamas' extensive political organization, which has always been careful not to upset its delicate ties with the royal family and risk its freedom of action there.
Meshaal had only venom to pour on Mahmoud Abbas, who he predicted would end up like Yasser Arafat (a reference to Hamas' allegations that foreign parties including Israel poisoned him in 2004). He depicted the PA Chairman as an enemy of Islam, accusing him of setting loose Palestinian security forces on mosques, Islamic charitable associations, cultural centers and Koran study groups.
Allowing the Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin to visit Jenin -"the city of martyrs - was unconscionable, Meshaal said, and so was permitting Israeli officers to be present at training courses for Palestinian security officers.
The direct talks with Israel, he said, aimed at "liquidating" the Palestinian cause.
Meshaal's speech was the last straw, Palestinian and other Arab intelligence officials said Wednesday: The breach between him and Mahmoud Abbas must be seen as final and irrevocable.
Pointless Talks - By Cal Thomas
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Never has George Santayana's oft-quoted warning had greater significance than when it comes to Middle East "peace talks," including the latest round scheduled to begin Sept. 2 in Washington, D.C. In constantly pressuring Israel to go far beyond the multiple and unreciprocated concessions it has already made, the United States ensures repetition of past mistakes, which will produce the same outcome.
Some history and the results for those who would learn:
The Balfour Declaration (1917) and the Palestinian Mandate (1922). These called for the formation of a Jewish homeland while recognizing "nothing shall be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine." The Arab response: A series of riots, largely instigated by Mufti Mohammad Amin al-Husayni.
The Peel Commission (1936) was formed to investigate the cause of the Arab Revolt (1936-1939). The commission recommended the partition of Jews and Arabs. The Zionist Congress accepts the proposal as the basis of negotiation. The Arab response: Outright rejection and a continuation of the revolt.
UN Partition Plan for Palestine (1947) proposed a two-state solution and a divided Jerusalem supervised by the United Nations. The Arab response: Outright rejection, followed by violence. When Israel declared its independence, May 15, 1948, armies of the neighboring Arab states invaded. According to the secretary general of the Arab League at the time, Azzam Pasha, the goal was "a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades."
Oslo Accords (1993). Negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians lead to a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements. The response, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The killing continues. By one estimate, nearly 300 people were killed by Palestinian terrorism between 1993 and 2000.
The Camp David Offer (2000). Prime Minister Ehud Barak offers PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat most of what he asks for. The response: rejection and the second intifada, which according to Israel's Foreign Ministry, killed more than 500 and injured more than 8,000.
There were other "peace talks" and initiatives, among them the Madrid Peace Conference (1991), the Wye River Memorandum (1995), Oslo II (1995), Taba (2001), Road Map for Peace (2003), and the Geneva Accord (2003). Some of these led to Israeli withdrawal from land it had occupied for security purposes, amid continued threats and terrorism, following the 1967 War. These withdrawals predictably led to more terror attacks from Arab regions.
To Israel's enemies, talks and agreements are incremental steps toward their ultimate goal of annihilating the Jewish state. Two examples: According to the Endowment for Middle East Truth, 16 years after Oslo, in 2009, the official platform of the terrorist organization Fatah continues to affirm "armed struggle" against Israel. And the Palestinian Authority continues to practice incitement against Israel through student textbooks, television programs, sermons, editorials and the naming of public streets and buildings after terrorist "martyrs."
At the upcoming talks in Washington, the issues will likely be the same as Camp David 2000:
Jerusalem.
The Palestinian demand for a "right of return" for "refugees" and their descendants to places in Israel from which the original "refugees" claim to have come." This would overwhelm Israel, which is the point of the demand.
Territorial compromise (again).
Agreement on the legitimacy of Israel's sovereignty in the region, producing an end to the war and termination of future claims, which Hamas and Hezbollah have promised never to accept.
If the all too familiar scenario plays out, Israel will give up more land, the Palestinians will make more promises which, like the others, they will break, and more riots and terrorism will follow under the pretext that Israel has not ceded enough. After the maximum propaganda value has been extracted, the Palestinians will agree to more talks and the scenario will be replayed.
To top it off, the Obama administration has assured Israel that Iran is not an "imminent" nuclear threat. This claim has been made before and then withdrawn. Why should it have credence now?
The United States and the West have learned nothing from history and, thus, are doomed to repeat it.
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The Kings of the East - By Jim Fletcher - Prophecy Matters - www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com
The Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick is one of the few prominent journalists that have good sense in our world today. Her recent column outlining a major threat to Israel is dead-on.
From the moment of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 - it seems a lifetime ago - it was clear that Uncle Sam's blood and treasure gave the Iraqis a chance at something they have not had: freedom. Yet in the back of my mind, even as Israel's Ariel Sharon and others expressed hope that a new day could dawn between Iraq and Israel, I have felt a sense of foreboding.
The neighbors to Israel's east have always been a menace, whether in ancient times or now. During the Yom Kippur War of 1973, in which Iraq did not take part in the overall invasion as they had done in 1948, the country still sent a brigade to the north, to assist the Syrians.
Of course, the history under Saddam Hussein was one of continuous threats; Saddam, like many Middle East dictators, fancied himself as the one who would eliminate the world's "Jewish problem."
So when Saddam was deposed by the magnificent American army, it seemed there was the possibility of brighter days ahead. Again, though, a shudder went through me when Sharon expressed this hope in public. Surely the wily old general, who knew the Arabs only too well, actually believed the threat had vanished?
As Caroline wrote this week, when the last American brigades pulled out: "The Iraq they withdrew from has no government."
This is chilling.
Too often we put our trust in geopolitics, which in point of fact is the epitome of instability. Turkey is our best example of this. Until very recently, the Turks were relatively friendly to Israel and the West. Today, they stand poised to follow Iran as an Islamic caliphate. Literally overnight, Turkey is now a threat, which makes Gog/Magog not only plausible, but likely.
Iraq is not stable and likely won't be. Now that they have been removed as a threat from the Iranians, the mullahs of the new Persian Empire have a free hand in the region. In 2003, it seemed desirable to remove Saddam, but there is something to be said for leaving relatively unstable regimes in place, if for no other reason but that they are a menace and deterrent to each other.
In Iraq, one can also never be sure that any "leader" is remotely friendly to Israel. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki…who knows his true feelings? In fact, one should assume they are all hostile.
It is a little-known fact that Jordan's King Hussein desperately tried to warn Israel's Golda Meir about the intentions of Egypt and Syria early in 1973, even flying himself to a night-time, desert locale to meet with the Israelis. Hussein was perhaps the closest thing Israel will ever have to a "friend" among the Arabs. He might have foolishly taken part in the Six Day War, but he knew very well that Israel helped protect him and, again, in certain situations, he reciprocated.
But Husseins are in short supply in the Middle East. Even his son and successor, King Abdullah, is a self-serving tinhorn dictator who comes off as elegant and regal. Don't believe it, he is as much a part of the old Arab tribal fabric as one could imagine. He is no friend of Israel. His Iraqi neighbors are part of the same makeup.
A senior Iraqi military official, Lt. Gen. Babakir Zebari, has stated that Iraq's forces won't be able to fully defend the country until 2020! For one thing, the ongoing Sunni/Shia civil war promises instability for a long time to come. Al Qaida and Iran are the main beneficiaries of this strife.
In the region, we have two very different realities playing out. On the one hand, the region's geopolitics are tied to the roles of America and Iran. The U.S. has had a presence in the region since the administration of Thomas Jefferson, often of course with mixed results. Once we pull out of Iraq, Iran will fill the vacuum and menace all its neighbors. I maintain that the threat Iran poses is ultimately a problem not only for the U.S., but also to Europe and Russia.
The Iranians are not a long-term threat to Israel, and here I touch on the second reality: biblical prophecy. Modern geopolitics and Bible prophecy are meeting for the first time, and the issue of Israel's security is separate, I maintain, from other matters, such as the safety of the rest of the world.
Israel has been promised survival by the Lord of history. The rest of us are essentially on our own, and Scripture tells us that all the nations of the world will be judged specifically on how they treated the Jews.
This is why I maintain that the worries over how Iraq or Iran, or Lebanon will deal with Israel are largely irrelevant. God will take care of that.
But key geopolitical mistakes, many of them made by the U.S., will threaten the rest of us for a long time to come. It was the Reagan administration that pulled out of Lebanon, leaving a void that was filled by the Syrians and the Iranians. Reagan also recognized the PLO, and publicly castigated the Israelis for bombing the Iraqi reactor at Osirik.
If our most popular president did that, what does that say about America's eventual outcome?
Iraq is going to be a "threat" to Israel, just as Iran is, and Lebanon, etc. But a unique thing is coming: the Creator is going to intervene for His people.
The rest of us will fend for ourselves.
The Return of the Mahdi Is Nigh – Robert Morley - www.thetrumpet.com
Can anyone stop Iran?
Iran may be days away from going nuclear—in the full sense of the word. Russia is complicit, Israel is handcuffed, America’s will is broken, and Europe appears impotent. The countdown to a nuclear Iran is nearing its end. Will anyone stop Iran from unleashing a Muslim-inspired Armageddon?
On Saturday, Iran began commissioning its first nuclear power plant. Barring a full-scale invasion, it may now be impossible to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons (if it hasn’t already). With Russian-supplied uranium in its reactors, any aerial bombing risks spreading nuclear fallout far beyond the Persian Gulf region.
Who would take such a risk? Israel might have previously, but American handcuffing purposefully postponed military options until the risk of fallout made them possibly non-options.
America does not have the will to stop Iran either. It has proven great at talking, at negotiating, at pleading. And at being told what it can do with all its empty rhetoric.
Iran just doesn’t care!
On Friday, the day before it began loading its radioactive uranium rods, Iranian Defense Minister, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi announced the launch of a special new upgraded surface-to-surface missile. Written on the side of the missile was a very specific and literal message for President Obama, the world, and anyone who would oppose Iran.
“Ya Mahdi.”
Ya Mahdi—also known as the 12th imam—is the most important Shiite personage after Mohammad. The belief of a returning Mahdi, or 12th imam, is a defining doctrine within the most populous group of Shiite Muslims (known as the “Twelvers”), to which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a devout adherent.
Why is this important?
Twelvers believe that the 12th imam will emerge from hiding during a time of world chaos to bring order and exalt Shiite believers to their rightful place. Ahmadinejad belongs to this sect, which believes it is their job to pave the way for the Mahdi’s return. Ahmadinejad claims that Ya Mahdi has communicated with him personally and that it is within his ability to hasten the Mahdi’s return.
The televised viewing of the missile’s launch, which was accompanied by shouts of “Allahu Akbar” (meaning, our God is greatest) and timed to coincide with the arrival of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr reactor, sent an unmistakable message.
And if the world didn’t get it, Iran sent it another memo on Sunday, the day after the nuclear reactor got the fuel.
On Sunday, Ahmadinejad announced the completion of Iran’s very first unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) capable of delivering weapon payloads. Named the Karrar, Ahmadinejad said the new weapon would be an “ambassador of death” for Iran’s enemies.
In the past, American officials have scoffed at Iran’s uav technology, noting that past models were small drones, only capable of monitoring. This new model has a range of 1,000 kilometers and can carry two bombs weighing 250 pounds each. Analysts say Iran’s rapid advances are due to Russian technology.
In the same Sunday victory speech, Ahmadinejad also announced that Iran would begin mass production of the Bladerunner 51, a boat often referred to as the world’s fastest. Ahmadinejad christened the more heavily armed Iranian version of the Bladerunner “Zolfaqar.” Zolfaqar was the name of Shiite Imam Ali’s famous sword. Imam Ali, the first imam, was known as “Allah’s Lion” for his aggressive wars against unbelievers. Earlier, in June, Iran announced that it would no longer accept UN-approved cargo inspections on Iran-bound ships. From now on, Iran would use its burgeoning navy to retaliate by searching foreign vessels of offending nations.
So with Iran growing stronger and more radicalized, who is going to stop it from hastening the return of Ya Mahdi by getting the bomb?
It certainly won’t be the United States. Remember the famous 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (nie) released by the U.S. government claiming that Iran actually gave up its nuclear weapons program way back in 2003. That report also claimed that Iran was a “rational actor” not motivated by religion and that it could be coerced into giving up its civilian nuclear program by conventional means such as economic sanctions and political pressure.
At the time of the 2007 nie report, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote that the “report was America’s indirect announcement to a stunned world that we lack the will to ever stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons” (emphasis mine throughout).
“Americans prefer to live in a fantasy world—like the one portrayed in the nie,” he wrote.
A fantasy world is one in which someone tells you he is going to do everything he can to wipe you off the face of the map and you don’t believe him. A fantasy world is one in which a country labels you as “the Great Satan” because it wants to form a partnership with you. And a fantasy world is one in which a country with the world’s third-largest oil and natural gas resources builds a nuclear power station because it needs more electricity.
Unfortunately, when you are dealing with nuclear weapons, living in a fantasy world can lead to a nightmare.
Iran has sent a clear message to the world: We are going nuclear and there is nothing you can do about it. And even if you try, we will actually welcome that because you are just doing us a favor. Long live the 12th imam and hasten his return.
As America fades from Iraq, one nation is stepping into the power void. To learn what power the Bible predicts will actually put a stop to Iran’s nuclear program, read History and Prophecy of the Middle East.
Dealing with definitions and discernment of the end times – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
The definition of propaganda is: chiefly derogatory information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view; the dissemination of such information as a political strategy. The definition of lie is: an intentionally false statement used with reference to a situation involving deception or founded on a mistaken impression. The definition truth is: that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. Another definition of truth is: a fact or belief that is accepted as true. Hitler's propagandist Joseph Goebbels is credited with stating that a lie spoken often enough will be believed as truth.
In a January 9, 1928 speech in Berlin, Goebbels said, "Success is the important thing. Propaganda is not a matter for average minds, but rather a matter for practitioners. It is not supposed to be lovely or theoretically correct. I do not care if I give wonderful, aesthetically elegant speeches, or speak so that women cry. The point of a political speech is to persuade people of what we think right. I speak differently in the provinces than I do in Berlin, and when I speak in Bayreuth, I say different things than I say in the Pharus Hall. That is a matter of practice, not of theory. We do not want to be a movement of a few straw brains, but rather a movement that can conquer the broad masses."
Given the definitions, is it truth, lie, propaganda or telling a lie enough times that it becomes truth when the man who occupies the Oval Office and his vice president say with conviction that the country is moving in the right direction? All economic indicators point to a double dip recession. Gluskin Sheff economist David Rosenberg begs to differ. In his daily report to investors, Rosenberg says the economy is "a depression, and not just some garden-variety recession." He compares these times to those of the era of Goebbels speech, saying that any good news during the late 1920's triggered euphoric responses." Unemployment rising, home mortgage failures, bankruptcies--all point to an economic depression.
Yet the White House says the country is headed in the right direction. Goebbels pretty much said the same thing. He added, however, in another 1928 speech: "What does Christianity mean today? National Socialism is a religion. All we lack is a religious genius capable of uprooting outmoded religious practices and putting new ones in their place. We lack traditions and ritual. One day soon National Socialism will be the religion of all Germans. My Party is my church, and I believe I serve the Lord best if I do his will, and liberate my oppressed people from the fetters of slavery. That is my gospel." Sound familiar? Joshua said in Joshua 24:15,"...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Who will you serve, and what will you do about it?
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
Safeguard Your Mind – Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
— Philippians 4:8
In our culture today, it is pretty hard not to see some things that you wish you had not seen. You don't have to even go out looking for it. You can just be standing in line at the supermarket, and there it is on the cover of the magazine. Or you are driving down the street, and there it is on the billboard. There it is flashing on the video screen. There it is, emblazoned on someone's T-shirt.
Wickedness is just a mouse click away. Click, click, click, and you open up a Pandora's Box of perversion. According to an Internet filter review that analyzes and rates Web content filters, revenues of pornography exceed those of all professional football, baseball, and basketball franchises combined. There are 4.2 million porn sites, representing 12 percent of all Web sites in the world. Pornographic search engine requests total 68 million a day.
Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27–28). The word that Jesus used for "look" in the original language does not refer to a casual glance, but to the continuous act of looking. In this usage the idea is not that it is incidental or involuntary, but it is an intentional and repeated gazing. Granted, it is worse to commit adultery than to look lustfully at someone. But at the same time, looking lustfully is a violation of this commandment as well.
This is why we need to guard our minds. This is why we need to put safeguards in place. We want to be careful of what we see and what we expose ourselves to.
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When Will the Rapture Occur? - Nathan Jones – www.lamblion.com
Q) When is the Rapture going to occur? What will be the timing in relation to the Tribulation?
To answer this tough Bible question, Dr. David Reagan and I on a Christ in Prophecy television episode interviewed Dr. Ron Rhodes. Dr. Rhodes is the founder and director of Reasoning From the Scriptures Ministries. With nearly 50 books penned and decades of public teaching, he is an expert on the Bible. As a former "Bible Answer Man," he specializes in easy to understand answers to the really tough questions about the Bible and the defense of the Scriptures.
I'm a firm believer that the Rapture of the Church is going to happen before the Tribulation, and there's a number of reasons why I say that.
I'd say the most important reason is that the Church has no purpose for being in the Tribulation. The Scriptures clearly define the purpose of the Tribulation and I believe it's two-fold: there's going to be a judgment on unbelieving nations and there's also going to be a purging of Israel.
The Church has no business even being in the Tribulation. Now, that's aside from the fact that there's not a single verse dealing with the Tribulation in the Old Testament that mentions the Church. There's not a single verse in the New Testament dealing with the Tribulation that mentions the Church.
We are told in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 as well as 1 Thessalonians 5:9 that the Church is not appointed to wrath. That leads me to believe that God is going to take the Church out of the world prior to the time of wrath which is coming upon the world. I also think this is related to Revelation 3:10 where the Church has promised deliverance from the actual time period of testing that is going to come upon the earth.
One of my favorite verses is John 14:1-3, which I don't think fits a Post-Tribulation scenario at all. Jesus says, "I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." In other words, Jesus is going to take Christians back to Heaven. That doesn't fit the Post-Tribulation scenario which says that they all stay on the earth.
Imminence is absolute. That's the assumption that is always present. There's nothing that needs to take place before the Rapture of the Church. It could happen at any moment. But, there are many events that must take place before the Second Coming. If you had a nice little calendar you could pretty much tell when Christ was going to come again. You could watch, for example, when the Antichrist signs the peace pact with Israel in Daniel 9:27 and do a countdown of seven years, which is also called the Seventieth Week of Daniel.
When we're talking about the Rapture, we don't see signs that are prophesied prior to that event. So you see, it is an imminent event. It's something that could happen at any moment.
Nathan's IMHO
The Bible teaches about the Rapture of the Church. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 speaks of an event called "the Rapture", Latin "rapio," Greek "harpazo," which means "to catch up, to snatch away, or to take out." "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."
Paul states that the concept of the Rapture is meant to encourage believers during this Age (1 Thes. 4:18). Other references on the Rapture are Isa. 26:19-21; Mal. 3:17; Jn. 14:1-14; I Cor. 15:51-58; and 1 Thes. 4:13-18.
There will be a Pre-Tribulation Rapture because the Church isn't destined to endure God's judgment on the world, as promised in 1 Thes. 1:10; 5:9; Rom. 5:9; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:4; and Rev. 3:10.
A great explanation that points to the timing of the Rapture comes from Jesus in the Parable of the 10 Virgins in Matthew 25. This story is about the Bride of Christ (the Church of 2 Cor. 11:2) being prepared for the Rapture and Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Jesus). This parable goes with what Jesus stressed in His teachings concerning end times. Over and over He told His disciples to be ready for His return at any moment (Matt. 24:44). Jesus used the Parable of the Ten Virgins to illustrate this point.
Five virgins were not ready when the bridegroom came and were thus left behind. "Be on the alert, then," Jesus warned, "for you do not know the day nor the hour" (Matt. 25:1-13). On another occasion, Jesus put it this way, "Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps alight... for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect" (Lk. 12:35, 40). And, while the virgins left behind may have a form of godliness, they are not saved and so are not qualified to be members of the Church, and are therefore not ready to be included in the Rapture.
Evidences of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture also come from Paul who comforted the Church of Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 when he wrote, "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come." The church there was concerned that they had missed the Rapture and were living in the Tribulation. Paul assures them in verse 3 to "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." In other words, they'd know if they were living in the Tribulation.
The only hope that comforts someone staring into the face of the horrors of the Tribulation is that they would not have to endure it. These words from Paul and in 1 Thes. 4:18 provide that very encouragement and hope of the Lord rapturing the Church beforehand.
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Maranatha!
(Lord Come Quickly)
"On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, All other ground is sinking sand."
"Let Us make the short time we have left count for all eternity!"
YBIC-Randy
