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“Folks, it's all beginning to unravel. America is in more danger of falling than at any time in its history. But I believe Bible prophecy predicts this very decline. From this point on, we believers have to get serious. We are going to face discouragement, disillusionment and, most certainly, persecution in the time between now and the Rapture. But don't be discouraged or disillusioned. The coming turmoil will provide us unrivaled opportunities to share the good news of the Gospel. So be ready to share your faith and your hope with those who need Christ. We still have time to reap a great harvest of souls for God's kingdom!” – Hal Lindsey

2) We need your encouragement! - We need to hear from you, let us know how the Lord is blessing you through this ministry so that we can share it with others.

I ask that you would prayerfully consider partnering with us to get the Word out and keep the world informed. Remember, your gift, no matter how small, does make a difference! You will be helping to touch lives, around the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks to the internet your generosity carries a global impact! – Thanks!

Our Prayer for You - "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else." 2 Corinthians 9:10-13

TEHRAN/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the world's most important oil route.

"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated," the Bahrain-based fleet said in an e-mail.

Iran, at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program, said on Tuesday it would stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.

"Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... or as Iranians say, it will be easier than drinking a glass of water," Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayyari told Iran's English-language Press TV on Wednesday.

Analysts say that Iran could potentially cause havoc in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, it is 21 miles across.

But its navy would be no match for the firepower of the Fifth Fleet which consists of 20-plus ships supported by combat aircraft, with 15,000 people afloat and another 1,000 ashore.

A spokesperson for the Fifth Fleet said in response to queries from Reuters that, it "maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilizing activities," without providing further details.

"rhetoric," saying: "Iranian politicians regularly use this type of rhetoric to distract attention from the real issue, which is the nature of their nuclear program."

Tension has increased between Iran and the West after EU foreign ministers decided three weeks ago to tighten sanctions on the world's No. 5 crude exporter, but left open the idea of an embargo on Iranian oil.

"The threat by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz supported the oil market yesterday, but the effect is fading today as it will probably be empty threats as they cannot stop the flow for a longer period due to the amount of U.S. hardware in the area," said Thorbjoern bak Jensen, an oil analyst with Global Risk Management.

The Strait of Hormuz is "the world's most important oil chokepoint," according to the U.S. Department of Energy. About 40 percent of all traded oil leaves the Gulf region through the strategic waterway.

The State Department said there was an "element of bluster" in the threat, but underscored that the United States, whose warships patrol in the area, would support the free flow of oil.

Iran's international isolation over its defiant nuclear stance is hurting the country's oil-dependent economy, but Iranian officials have shown no sign of willingness to compromise.

Iran dismisses the impact of sanctions, saying trade and other measures imposed since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah have made the country stronger.

"We will not yield to pressure to abandon our rights ... The Iranian nation will not withdraw from its right (to nuclear technology) even one iota because of the pressures," said Ahmadinejad, whose firm nuclear stance has stoked many ordinary Iranians' sense of national dignity.

Though four rounds of the U.N. sanctions do not forbid the purchase of Iranian oil, many international oil firms and trading companies have stopped trading with Iran.

An Iranian analyst who declined to be named said the leadership could not reach a compromise with the West over its nuclear activities as it "would harm its prestige among its core supporters."

The election will be the first litmus test of the clerical establishment's popularity since the 2009 disputed presidential vote, that the opposition says was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election.

With the opposition leaders under house arrest since February and the main reformist political parties banned since the vote, Iranian hardline rulers are concerned a low turnout would question the establishment's legitimacy.

Frustration is simmering among lower- and middle-class Iranians over Ahmadinejad's economic policies. Prices of most consumer goods have risen substantially and many Iranians struggle to make ends meet.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Navy plans to test its advanced missiles and smart torpedoes during the ongoing naval wargames, codenamed Velayat 90, in Southern waters, a senior Iranian Navy commander announced on Wednesday.

"During the coming days of the wargames, the Navy will launch advanced short-range, mid-range and long-range missiles and also smart torpedoes," Deputy Commander of the Navy for Coordination Admiral Rastegari told FNA.

He said the Army used to make use of real vessels to test torpedoes, but now the Navy has designed a system which has all the needed features and characteristics of a target for testing torpedoes.

Iran's naval forces started 10-day wargames, dubbed as Velayat 90, in an area stretching from the East of the Strait of Hormoz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden on Saturday.

The torpedo, which can be launched by submarines, is able to operate under different weather conditions, deep or shallow waters and is equipped with advanced safety and arm system.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

(CNN) -- It is just 34 miles (55 kilometers) wide and dotted with islands and rocky outcrops, a channel that links the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean. Like many marine chokepoints, the Strait of Hormuz has long commanded the attention of empires and their navies.

And in recent decades it has become even more critical: One-third of the oil carried by sea passes through Hormuz -- that's some 15 million barrels every day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Now Iran's vice president is warning that the Islamic Republic could block the strait if sanctions are imposed on its exports of crude oil. France, Britain and Germany have proposed such sanctions as punishment for Iran's lack of cooperation on its nuclear program.

To demonstrate its intent, Iran is holding a 10-day military exercise in an area from the eastern part of the strait out into the Arabian Sea, with some elements playing the part of enemy forces. Western diplomats describe the maneuvers as further evidence of Iran's volatile behavior, following the occupation of the British Embassy in Tehran. And it's not the first time Iran has used this vital sea lane in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship.

The strait is thought to have been named for the Persian word hur-mogh, the date palm found on the coast. It was mentioned in a first-century mariner's account, "The Periplus of the Erythtraean Sea," and through the ages was known for its pearls.

Iran-Iraq alliance unlikely, expert says But as oil became the lubricant of the world economy, the Strait of Hormuz -- and the sea lanes leading to it -- became a geostrategic flashpoint. So narrow is the strait, with sea lanes just two miles wide heading in and out of the gulf, that ships must pass through Iranian and Omani territorial waters. In addition, Iran and the United Arab Emirates dispute sovereignty over several islands close to the strait.

Iran last tried to disrupt and sabotage Persian Gulf shipping during its decade-long conflict with Iraq, when the Arab gulf states were funding Saddam Hussein's war effort. When Iraq began attacking Iranian tankers in 1984, Iran responded by targeting vessels headed to and from gulf ports. And it began a guerrilla war at sea -- laying mines in shipping lanes.

That led the U.S. to provide military escorts for Kuwaiti shipping. In 1988, an Iranian mine damaged and nearly sank the USS Samuel B. Roberts, prompting U.S. President Ronald Reagan to order retaliatory strikes against Iranian oil platforms and naval vessels. Two platforms -- Sirri and Sassan -- were destroyed and an Iranian warship sunk in Operation Praying Mantis.

But Iran's neighbors understand that their reliance on the strait to transport oil and liquefied natural gas remains vulnerable. According to U.S. diplomatic cables, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in December 2009 that "Iraq would be the hardest hit" if tensions led Iran to try to blockade the strait. Kuwaiti officials have suggested building a 1,000-mile land pipeline to the Gulf of Oman to reduce reliance on the maritime route.

Today, after decades of sanctions, Iran does not have the naval power to block the strait, and its aging air force would be no match for U.S. and gulf state fighter jets. But military experts say Iran could wage "asymmetrical warfare" -- involving mines and attacks by Revolutionary Guards' patrol boats. It has also developed a class of small submarines, three of which were launched last month, according to the Iranian naval commander quoted by the Fars news agency.

Even bellicose language from Iranian politicians has already caused jitters in oil markets. Earlier this month an Iranian legislator, Parviz Sarvari, warned: "Soon we will hold an exercise on closing the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure."

Any attempt to interfere with shipping would be a double-edged sword for Tehran. Iran also relies on the strait to export its crude and other products, and has to import most of its refined gasoline for lack of refining capacity. The U.S. State Department says there is "an element of bluster" in the Iranian threats.

Even so, analysts worry that the deterioration in U.S.-Iranian relations could magnify the consequences of a collision or provocation in the gulf. Shortly before retiring as chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen said: "If something happens, it's virtually assured that we won't get it right, that there will be miscalculations which would be extremely dangerous in that part of the world."

Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, told CNN on Monday that an incident in the strait "could spark a wider war precisely because there's no communication, no diplomacy and no de-escalatory mechanisms between the United States and Iran."

The Israel Air Force conducted a second strike of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, just hours after the Israeli army confirmed it targeted a terror operative in the coastal strip.

A statement by the IDF Spokesman's Office said that the second strike targeted a global Jihad terror cell in the northern Strip that was planning to attack the western part of Israel's border with Egypt.

The IDF identified the two operatives targeted in the second strike as Rami Daud Jaber Kaferana, a global Jihad operative from the Gaza town of Jebalia and Hazzam Muhammad Saadi al-Shaker, a global Jihad man from the town of Beit Hanun.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, an Israeli reconnaissance craft fired a missile at a motorcycle in the Dowar Abu Sharkh area killing its rider.

A statement by the Israel Defense Forces indicated that the strike was the result of joint actions by Shin Bet and IDF forces and that the target had been a squad involved in recent terror activity.

The outlets, however, don't present a uniform version on the dates. One claims the attacks took place at the end of November and on December 15, the other says they occurred on December 15 and December 18.

The attack at the end of November, one media outlet says, targeted two vehicles in the area of Wadi Al-Allaqi in northern Sudan, near the border with Egypt, and left two people dead and another two wounded.

The second incident, on December 15, saw Apache helicopters over an island off the Sudanese coast. Other reports spoke of Israeli submarine activity off the coast of the African state.

On the other hand, reports appearing in the Al-Intibaha daily speak of an attack on December 15 against a convoy of vehicles that left four civilians dead. The second attack, three days later, also reportedly targeted a vehicle. According to the report, all occupants of the vehicle were killed.

For its part, the Sudanese army has rejected reports of Israeli aerial activity over the country. The Sudanese army spokesman, Col. Sawarmi Khaled Saad, said the country's aerial defense systems had not recorded any infiltration into the country's airspace.

“Your Presentation will literally scare the h-ll out some people. There is enough scripture and warnings of what is coming to cause, anyone, who has put off accepting the Lord's salvation through Jesus to repent now!” – Don Mills – Director of Programming – CSN Radio – Twin Falls, ID

Brother Randy, to say it was a great movie documentary is an understatement. Thank you for doing the Lord's work. This movie gave me the chills. – Terrance Alan - Kaukauna, WI

After several delays, technical difficulties, hardware failures, rewrites, illness and spiritual attack, is finally finished – “There Will Be Tribulation”. If ever there was a time for a DVD about the Tribulation, it’s now!

“There Will Be Tribulation” – Features “Storm of a Different Kind” an original song by award winning songwriter Terrance Alan featuring artist Chad Evans and “"People Get Ready...Jesus is Comin" by critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and multi-Dove Award winner, Crystal Lewis.

"There will be Tribulation" This DVD covers the Tribulation from start to finish and include the following topics: the concept, the scope, the length, the starting point, common misconceptions, the Antichrist and the world's acceptance of the Antichrist, the events of the Tribulation and the chronology and God's purpose for the Tribulation.

A new Israeli military offensive against Gaza will be launched "sooner or later" and will be "swift and painful", Israel's most senior military officer has warned.

Benny Gantz, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, was speaking on the third anniversary of the start of a major three-week assault on Gaza during which around 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

That offensive was "an excellent operation that achieved deterrence for Israel vis-a-vis Hamas", Gantz told Army Radio on Tuesday. He added there were signs that the deterrent effect was wearing thin.

"Sooner or later, there will be no escape from conducting a significant operation," he said. "The IDF knows how to operate in a determined, decisive and offensive manner against terrorists in the Gaza Strip."

Within hours of Gantz's comments, the Israeli military launched two airstrikes on targets in Gaza, killing one person and injuring around 10, according to local reports.

A spokesman for the IDF said direct hits on two "terrorist squads with global jihad associations" had been confirmed. According to security officials quoted by Israel Radio, one of the targets was a cell en route to Sinai with the intention of launching an attack on Israel from Egypt.

Since the end of the Gaza war in January 2009, Hamas has attempted to enforce a ceasefire among militant groups, although sporadic rocket fire has continued. Israel holds Hamas, as the de facto government, responsible for all rocket fire emanating from Gaza.

There have been suggestions in recent weeks that Hamas is ready to distance itself further from attacks on Israel as part of its reconciliation process with its rival faction Fatah.

"They have accepted popular [non-violent] resistance," senior Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyer said, adding that Hamas would stop "these fireworks" being launched.

However, Hamas officials have also said they reserve the right to self-defence and the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, pledged to continue "resistance" at a public rally this month.

Gantz's comments were meant "to keep [Hamas] on their toes", according to the Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher, who said: "He's letting us know that another operation is possible and it would be successful."

Alpher identified two constraining factors – moves towards Fatah-Hamas reconciliation "which may change the political nature of the Gaza regime", and Egypt. "In the past, we could assume that if we launched an operation in Gaza, [former president Hosni] Mubarak would be largely sympathetic. That's not necessarily the case now," he said.

Hamas's message was not unequivocal or comprehensive, he said, adding: "The question is, are we witnessing an evolutionary process in which Hamas follows the lead of Islamists in Egypt and Tunisia away from violence and into politics? My sense is we are, but it's a slow process."

Shlomo Brom, of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, said a new offensive on Gaza could be pre-empted by political developments, including the opening of a covert dialogue between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas kicked off preparations for a fresh outbreak of anti-Israel "resistance" – which concerned US and Israeli security circles believe will develop into "Intifada No. 3" – Tuesday, Dec. 27, by suddenly firing, the West Bank's top security officer Maj. Gen. Diab el-Ali. He did not notify US Lt. Gen. Michael R. Moeller, the American Security Coordinator between Israel and the PA appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Israel's military coordinator, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, of this step which caught them unawares.

debkafile's military sources in Washington and Jerusalem report that in both capitals, the Palestinian leader's action is seen as paving the way for radical changes in West Bank security. This fragile edifice was kept stable for some years thanks to joint US-Israeli-Palestinian efforts to back up peaceful relations between the Palestinians and Israel after the bloody years of the "Al Aqsa Intifada" terror.

Abbas (Abu Mazen) has now decided to upset this equilibrium by orchestrating an Arab Spring-style uprising on the West Bank, the differences being that the Palestinians will not rise up against their own leaders, i.e., himself, but against Israel, and that in no time this event is liable to revert to the "intifada"-style Palestinian terrorist violence of the early 2000s.

1. Abbas's deal in Cairo last week with the extremist Hamas leader Khaled Meshal is one. The two rivals agreed that notwithstanding their differences they would go forward on common objectives.

For example, Meshaal sought the resurgence of armed resistance against Israel which Abbas opposes. They compromised on a "popular resistance" campaign of protracted mass demonstrations which would smash through the defense barrier dividing the West Bank from Israel, knocking over IDF checkpoints and storming en masse into Israel. The "demonstrators" would also march on and burst into Jewish civilian settlements.

2. For this campaign to succeed, it is necessary to redefine the functions of the eight Palestinian commando battalions of the Palestinian National Security Forces-PNSF, soon to be joined by two more just ending their training in Jordan.

To make sure the Palestinian "uprising" does not turn against the Palestinian Authority and himself, Abbas will place these military battalions at the forefront of the mass demonstrations. They are to lead the throngs to their points of confrontation with Israel.

The PA chairman is therefore highhandedly retooling the armed Palestinian force, which was painstakingly created by the United States, to make it a hammer for confronting Israel's armed forces and civilians on both sides of the Green Line.

3. Abbas fired Gen. Diab el-Ali because he worked productively with the American coordinating unit for four years, from the day the first battalion was formed. His successor Maj. Gen. Dokhan is regarded in Western security circles as a shadowy figure of the undercover world.

The difference between them is that while Gen. Diab el-Ali is trusted in Washington and Jerusalem as genuinely and uncompromisingly willing to combat an upsurge of terror and Hamas extremism on the West Bank, the same cannot be said of the new man. Gen. Dokhan maintains good relations with US and Israel officers but also stands well with the heads of the radical Hamas and Jihad Islami.

Neither US nor Israeli commanders would risk sharing sensitive intelligence with him lest it reach the wrong hands. His appointment therefore as the senior officer on the West Bank is seen as the beginning of the end of the successful military and intelligence cooperation the US crafted between Israel and the Palestinian Authority for combating West Bank terrorism and presaging the return of the pro-terror Palestinian organizations.

This is what Khaled Meshaal was driving at Tuesday, Dec. 27, when he said his accord with Mahmoud Abbas had ushered in a new era of Palestinian cooperation after "Hamas forces on the West Bank were eradicated in recent years."

4. In intensive consultations this week, debkafile's sources report that US and Israeli security officials were of the opinion that the security changes Abbas is molding will have the effect of destroying the security stability the West Bank has enjoyed under US-backed Palestinians Authority rule. After opening the door to the radical Palestinian organizations, the PA will soon lose control as Hamas and Jihad Islami ride into the enclave's towns and villages. Any demonstrations will soon get out of hand and descend into violent turmoil.

The Jewish population of Israel continues to increase, however the Arab population is increasing faster than the Jewish – Jimmy DeYoung – www.prophecytoday.com

At the beginning of each Jewish New Year, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics releases data on the population numbers on all the sectors of the Israeli body politic and the latest numbers indicate that the total population of Israel is nearing the 8 million mark and the report indicates that the population growth among Arabs in Israel is increasing faster than the Jewish population.

Of the total population of Israel there are 5.8 million Jews, 1.6 million Arabs and around 300 thousand additional residents detailed as others, which includes Christians. The population in the disputed territories, Judea and Samaria is growing twice as fast as the general population of the Jewish state which has become a very controversial statistic for those working to bring about peace in Israel.

On the eve of the Jewish New Year, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics releases the latest numbers for the population of the state of Israel. This year is no exception, and the report reveals that the total population of Israel is nearing the 8 million mark. This report indicated that the Arab population of Israel is growing faster than the Jewish population which has some Israeli officials concerned. In 1948, when the modern day state of Israel came into existence, there were only about 500 thousand Jews in the land, now there are more than ten times that number and growing each year. This is tangible evidence that the prophecies in the Bible are at least in a process of being fulfilled.

The ancient Jewish prophet Ezekiel wrote that the Lord would find all the Jews scattered for some 2000 years across the world and bring them back to the land of their forefathers, Ezekiel 37:7-11. In fact, the prophet Ezekiel wrote that the Lord would not only bring them into the land He had promised them, but He would make the land better and it was for their forefathers, Ezekiel 36:11.

As we exit 2011, some things are certain in this age of uncertainty. Most readers will acknowledge that the end-time clock is racing. The year started with violence as a deranged gunman shot and killed or wounded many in Arizona. One of the victims was a U.S. Congresswoman. As 2011 winds down, chaos and violence rage around the world. The 1960s are being relived as angry young people demand that world governments bow to their anti-capitalist ideas. Violence and instability are everywhere, however, and particularly in the volatile Middle East.

So what else do we see? The world is riddled with war and rumors of war. Our churches are no longer sound. True Christianity is under attack from all sides, and Christians are being marginalized as intolerant bigots. In far-away places, Christians are being slaughtered in the name of Allah. Nature seems out of control as we observe record-setting disasters everywhere. Greed and corruption are the engines that run just about everything. Israel and Jerusalem are blamed for most of the world's problems. Allow me to expand on some of these.

War is on the way in the Middle East. Muslim nations are determined to force a showdown over the future of Israel, observes Ronald Reagan's Assistant Defense Secretary Frank Gafney. He warns of a "cataclysmic regional war and it will be over the future existence of the state of Israel. It may involve all of her neighbors, as they want to drive the Jews into the sea. It may include the use of nuclear weapons."

So much for the benign purposes of the "Arab spring." Consider Egypt. Under Hosni Mubarek, Egypt was the anchor of regional stability. Now, thanks to the Muslim Brotherhood, instability emanates to all other Mideast nations from that hub. A united effort to annihilate Israel is underway.

America is assisting in that endeavor as the Obama assault on Israel continues. Secretary of State Clinton is warning that any American action towards recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel must be avoided. It might jeopardize the peace process even though that process is a joke.

Add to this litany an emboldened and ascendant China, Russia once again under the absolute control of Vladimir Putin, a Mexico free-falling into civil war with narcotic traffickers and their Hezbollah allies on our southern border, and you get a world that is fraught with peril for the United States. Isn't it obvious that we are in the midst of the Bible's predicted "perilous times"? (II Timothy 3:1) Sure, times have always been rough, but it's the convergence of events that is so intriguing at this time.

"Occupy Wall Street" is nothing to ignore. Suffice it to say that it represents the lawlessness and debauchery that characterizes our times. Don't dismiss it as a silly circus of unwashed graduate students or fossilized 1960s nostalgists who can't even formulate a coherent platform. If they could govern, we would have the ideal Leftist agenda of Marxism, Socialism, and one-worldism. It would take a super-human person to blend those elements and make it work. His name is Antichrist and he is waiting in the wings.

In late October, the Vatican called for radical reform of the world's financial systems, including the creation of a global political authority to manage the economy. Read that again. The Vatican has called for a one-world economic and political system. Untold millions of Catholics have now been told that their leadership is ok with global government. Six billion more inhabitants of Earth must be persuaded but with record-setting global and individual debt, this process will likely be easy!

Many scenarios are yet to play out. The policies of the man we elected by a wide majority just three years ago seem to be designed to confiscate the wealth of most Americans and put an end to America's super power status by eliminating what little value our currency still has. More and more experts are warning us to be prepared for the hyperinflation that's sure to come when the rest of the world decides to stop lending us the money we need to fund our deficits. Already 70% of it is coming out of thin air, courtesy of the Federal Reserve.

America is not going away but a weakened America is necessary before someone can carry the globalist football into the end zone. The one-worlders know this and the world's rabble-rousers denouncing capitalism know this. As we often say in this office, "It's all coming together." On Monday, December 26, a prominent talk show host, with an animated voice said, "We need a world leader now!" He probably had no idea what he said or what the implications are. I noticed he didn't say that we need an American leader. We need a global Mr. Fix-it. Another host calls such a man a "spooky dude." He has no clue either. Only the Bible helps us understand these mysteries and a lot of churches today consider the Bible an inconvenience. The Antichrist will be both: A 'man-with-a-plan' and a real 'spooky dude.'

Perhaps one of the most profound prophecy-related stories in 2011 is global debt. We're another year older and deeper in debt! The whole world is in debt -- not just America! I could give you the stats but your eyes would glaze over. Worry not. The 'spooky dude' will solve it!

The early church longed for Jesus' return and thus greeted each other with "Maranatha!" Imagine how simple their lifestyle was. They knew nothing of the clanging noise of concrete canyons around the world -- big cities throbbing with violence and turmoil. Still, that simple word comforted them because it promised a better world someday.

As we see 2011 leaving us, know that a better world awaits you, too! But it is not of this world. It is another dimension, another location, another time. Yet it could be here in the twinkling of an eye! The heart-cry of millions in 2011, and even more in 2012, is this wonderful word: Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus! I'll say it over and over again. Some will get sick of it but I won't quit. It's the one word that offers hope as the world comes unglued!

Maranatha, maranatha! Keep looking up. With an eternal perspective, the headlines won't disturb you quite so much and you can focus on spreading the gospel while there is still time. And find a church that believes same!

The White House used every opportunity in 2011 to downplay any mention that the man who occupies the Oval Office is a Muslim. He keeps saying that he is a Christian, but never truly describes Jesus Christ as the Son of God--which would be blasphemy according to the Koran. He also has said that there is more than one way to heaven (March 27, 2008). Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." This is central doctrine to Christianity. Whether he claims to be a Christian, however, is truly found in his actions as Jesus also said in Matthew 7:20, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." This is key concerning his foreign policy regarding Islam.

The president's foreign policy has changed the direction of America as much as, if not more than, his domestic policies. From his Chief of Staff's comments in early 2009 to Israeli leaders that America's opposition to Iran's nuclear program would be tied to Israel's progress in peace talks with Palestinians to embracing the terrorist-sponsoring Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign policy partner, the president's foreign policy has given Islam an unprecedented leg up in the Middle East. His policies have strengthened Islam in most every nation in the region. Swiftly abandoning Iraq has led to Iran immediately ramping up its influence there. There are virtually no Christian churches left in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Muslim Brotherhood, whose goal is to establish Sharia law globally, has gained tremendous strength in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen. It is solidifying its strength in Israel as Hamas, one of the Muslim Brotherhood's terrorist arms, is considering joining with longtime rival, the Palestinian Authority. As Americans we need to understand that the Palestinian Authority is also made up of terrorists, just not the same ilk as Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood's strategy, even in America, is to divide and conquer using diverse Islamic groups, then unite them under Sharia Law. AP reports that the head of Hamas in Gaza describes Hamas as the "jihadi movement of the Brotherhood with a Palestinian face."

AP reports that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is facilitating reconciliation of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority's terrorist arm, Fatah. This would not be possible without the White House empowering the Muslim Brotherhood. Christian and Muslim eschatologists know that Islamic nations will come against Israel in the end times. They differ on the outcome. Muslim leaders, such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believe it is their duty to "usher in" the end times. A Christian president would not knowingly try to strengthen Islam toward this end. This American president has been Islam's escort. He has remade American foreign policy and has advanced the prophecy clock by laying the foundation of the antichrist.

Our society doesn't really have answers for all the problems we are facing in our country today. Ironically, our society seems to do everything it can to undermine the only one who can help us, and that is Jesus Christ.

There are people caught in our legal system as repeat offenders. There are judges who make the wrong decisions. There is the breakdown of the family. And all of these elements combined produce a society that can do very little to change a person's heart, if anything at all. Rehabilitation efforts largely fail. In fact, the only real programs that seem to produce lasting change are faith-based, and more specifically, are being operated by Christians who are calling people to faith in Jesus Christ. Society doesn't have the answers.

Jesus met two men whose lives had been controlled and ruined by Satan. Society didn't have the answers. Enter the Savior, Jesus. What did He do? He sought them out in their graveyard and offered them hope. In fact, Luke's account of the story tells us what happened to one of the men who was delivered: "Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid" (Luke 8:35). Why were people afraid? They didn't know what to make of it. He was so transformed it frightened the people. They couldn't even imagine a guy like him could be changed in such a dramatic way.

It is such a glorious thing when Christ so transforms someone that you can't even imagine that person being what he or she used to be. You realize that it is the power of a changed life. And that is what God can do.

These DVD’s are not just someone standing at a podium and speaking to an audience, they are full length docudramas just like you would see on the Discovery Channel or the History Channel. They make wonderful witnessing and teaching tools and many churches show them to their congregations and youth groups as well as using them in home Bible study groups.

"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty." (2nd Peter 1:16)

The New Testament of the Bible consists of twenty-seven short Greek writings, essentially letters that were exchanged throughout the Church, the first five of which are historical in character.

The first four historical books are commonly called the 'Gospels' (literally, 'good news') that record the eyewitness accounts of the public ministry of Jesus Christ.

The Gospels aren't exactly biographies of Jesus, since they reveal little of the Lord's life on earth, apart from His Divine origin and His three years of public ministry.

Critics often point to the variations between the Gospels as evidence the Scriptures are flawed, since some give seemingly different accounts of the same event.

It is important to keep in mind that each presents a distinctive point of view, and each was originally composed for a different audience. Personally, I regard the differences between the Synoptic accounts as strong evidence supporting their accuracy.

The Gospels are eyewitness accounts. Much of my law enforcement career was spent conducting investigations and interviewing eyewitnesses. It has been my personal experience that no two eyewitnesses ever describe the same event the same way.

Mark's account of the Olivet Discourse differs from that of Luke's or Matthew's but only in minor points of perspective, the way two eyewitnesses to a car wreck remember different details based on their point of view and what stood out to them at the time.

The writings of the New Testament were completed by about AD 100, with the majority of them having been in existence within forty years of the Lord's Crucifixion and Resurrection.

This also argues strongly for their accuracy. The Synoptic Gospels were written and distributed within the lifetime of men who were alive and could remember the things that Jesus said and did.

Many of us were alive and old enough to remember the assassination of President Kennedy. Many of us witnessed the Kennedy assassination, and the subsequent murder of Lee Harvey Oswald three days later, on live television, as it happened.

Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas by a gunshot wound to the head. Oswald was murdered in the basement of the Dallas Police parking garage when Jack Ruby poked a thirty-eight into his ribs and pulled the trigger.

I could not write a credible book arguing that Kennedy was really shot in Seattle and Oswald really died in a shootout with police by the Space Needle. There are too many living witnesses to take me seriously -- it would never get any traction. (Even my wife wouldn't buy a copy, let alone start telling the story to her friends).

Consider this: The Synoptic Gospels recount a time when Jesus was speaking to a crowd so large that, to get a sick man into His presence, the roof was ripped off the building so a paralyzed man, confined to a cot, could be lowered to Him.

Ripping part of a roof out of a building would attract the attention of its occupants. Seeing a guy lowered down in front of the featured Speaker would grab the attention of every person in the room. And when the paralyzed guy got up and started running around, there was not likely a disinterested person in the house.

Jerusalem of Jesus' day was a small town where everybody pretty much knew everybody else. When the Gospels began making their rounds, this fantastic story was accepted because there were eyewitnesses to attest to its truth.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in full view of many witnesses. John records the resurrection of Lazarus was reported to Caiaphas the High Priest and the Council of Pharisees.

And if there were no eyewitnesses to support the account, the Gospels would have been discredited as just one more Messianic legend. Nobody would have believed them and Christianity would never have found a foothold -- especially among the Jews.

The 'Thirty-Nine Articles' document that determined the Canon of Scripture, that is, separating the Inspired Word of God from other historical and religious works of the time, declares in Article VI,

If there had ever been an expressed doubt, it was carefully examined for contemporary eyewitness testimony. Within three hundred years of the Resurrection, the Canon of Scripture was assembled.

"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the Word." (Luke 1:1-2)

Both Peter and Luke made clear from the outset that they were personal eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesus Christ. Peter reminds his followers that he was a "witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." (1st Peter 5:1)

Luke also drives home the point of eyewitness testimony, writing, "And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him." (Acts 5:32)

The fifth historical book of the New Testament is really a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, but divided into the Acts of the Apostles. In it, it recounts the beatings, stonings, ostracism, torture and ultimate deaths of many of His eyewitnesses.

The only Apostle to die a natural death was John the Beloved, who lived into his eighties. The rest were given a choice between denying the testimony of what they witnessed, or accepting a horribly brutal and painful death.

This is, to my mind, incredibly powerful evidence. Following Jesus meant abandoning their lifelong religion, their families, their friends, their homes, all they held dear, to become vagabond preachers, subject to the whims of the authorities and declared public enemies of Judaism.

Given the choice, not one recanted. All went joyfully to their deaths, as did countless Christian martyrs of Nero's persecution. They KNEW by personal eyewitness what we know only by faith.

They SAW Jesus heal the sick, raise the dead, turn water into wine, feed five thousand with five loaves and seven fishes, walk on water, die, be buried, and rise again three days later. They WATCHED as He ascended into heaven. They SAW the angels and HEARD their words:

"Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)

That is what makes the Acts of the Apostles such powerful evidence. Who would choose to live a life of misery and joyfully embrace an agonizing death when a simple declaration could make it all go away -- unless they were absolutely certain?

We live in a generation unlike any in history. Our technological advancements border on the miraculous, indeed, we've come to expect a new technological miracle as part of our daily routine. We live in an age of miracles, to the degree the miraculous loses some of its 'miraculousness'. (I had to invent a word to make my point -- sorry)

Jesus is alive and well and everything is under control -- despite the seemingly ever-increasing chaos all around us. We can be confident of His involvement in the affairs of men and in His promise:

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:1-3)

And when He comes again, to 'receive us to Himself', we have the eyewitness testimony of the angels who told the 'men of Galilee', that "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you BY THE WORD OF THE LORD, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1st Thessalonians 4:15-17)

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