Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Tens of Thousands Visit Hevron for 'chayey Sarah' Sabbath
Nov 15th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Tens of thousands of people flooded Hevron, the biblical City of Patriarchs, in honor of the “Chayey Sarah Sabbath.” Among the guests were Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman and MK Uri Ariel (NU).

"Chayey Sarah” – Hebrew for “Lifetime of Sarah” – is the Torah portion which recounts the passing of Sarah the Matriarch and Abraham's purchase of a burial plot for her from Ephron the Hittite. The passage, in which Abraham insists on paying the full price for the plot, has been quoted by Jews for millennia as proof of Jewish rights to the Cave of Machpelah, where most of the first Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried, and by extension, to all of Hevron.

The spokesman for the Jewish community in Hevron, Noam Arnon, told Arutz Sheva that mass prayers were held at the Cave of Machpelah. The entire Cave, including the Yitzchak Hall, was open to Jews.

"It was a wonderful Sabbath,” Arnon said. “Over twenty thousand people came, it was an extraordinary experience. Even the rain came down on time during the prayers and the Sabbath meals.” Arnon said people from all religious streams came to Hevron: hareidis, knit-kippahs, hassidic Jews, Ashkenazics and Sephardics. “The guests did not just come from Israel but also from the US and Europe,” he said.

The Jewish community in Hevron offered guests tours of the Jewish neighborhood, including the Avraham Avinu Synagogue, Hadassah House and Admot Yishai

Syria Turns Down Direct Talks With Israel
Nov 15th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer of direct peace talks with Syria was rebuffed on Friday when Syrian President Bashar Assad claimed he was ready for peace, but not to sit at the same negotiating table as the Israelis.

During his visit to Paris just two days after Netanyahu was in the French capital, Assad said Israel and Syria should resume indirect negotiations via Turkish mediators.

Assad insisted that since peace negotiations must focus on Israel's return of the Golan Heights to Syria, direct talks between himself and Netanyahu would be fruitless.

Many in Israel are reluctant to entrust the mediation role to Turkey at this point, considering recent tensions between the two nations.

Sarkozy Offers to Host Mideast Peace Talks
Nov 15th, 2009
Daily Newschannelnewsasia.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

JERUSALEM : French President Nicolas Sarkozy has offered to host a Middle East peace conference in Paris in talks with Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian leaders last week, an Israeli daily reported on Sunday.

"Sarkozy first raised the proposal in his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, then with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Syrian President Bashar Assad," Haaretz said, quoting unnamed French officials.

Such a conference would also include Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, as well as representatives of the Middle East Quartet which includes the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, it said.

Sarkozy met both Netanyahu and Assad in Paris last week and spoke by phone with Abbas, whose aides said the French leader had offered "important suggestions" to restart the stalled peace process.

The French offer comes after months of US efforts to relaunch peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians failed to produce any breakthrough.

Asked to comment on the report, a senior official at the Israeli foreign ministry would only say under condition of anonymity that "Israel welcomes in advance all possibilities of a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Syrian and Palestinian presidents."

Art's Commentary......It will be a man from Europe not Washington that will sign the false Peace Treaty of Daniel 9:27.

Rise of French Evangelicals Puts Secularism in a Spin
Nov 15th, 2009
Daily Newstheage.com.au
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Church

Belief in the gospel truth is spreading.

As the piano strikes up, the congregation sways, fists in the air, murmurs of hallelujah punctuating the music. Pastor Franck Lefillatre, bathed in the spotlight on his podium, intones into a microphone.

''Let out the words that are in your heart,'' he urges. His whispers crescendo to booming rhetoric. Behind him, emblazoned in gold lettering, are the words: ''Jesus Christ: the same yesterday, today, eternally.''

As evangelical services go, this gathering on a rainy Sunday is nothing unusual. In countless churches across the US and many countries, it would be a staple means of Christian worship.

But this is not the American Bible Belt. It is the Church of Paris-Bastille, and this congregation is one of a growing number of evangelical communities spreading through France and prospering in spite of its secular - and Catholic - traditions.

From a postwar population of about 50,000, French evangelicals are now estimated to number 450,000 to 500,000. According to the Evangelical Federation of France, the number of churches has risen from 800 in 1970 to more than 2200 today.

Last week, the boom made headlines when thousands of evangelicals descended on Strasbourg to turn the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth into a huge media-covered event.

On paper, France would seem one of the least likely places for this branch of Christianity to gain a foothold. For centuries, Protestantism was the embattled minority in a country Catholics liked to call the ''eldest daughter of the church'' because of its strong ties to Rome. That minority still makes up just 3 per cent of the population.

More importantly, ever since France wrote a separation of church and state into the constitution, the country has worshipped at the altar of laicite - the concept of a secular state.

So the emergence of evangelicals as a force has raised eyebrows, with some critics questioning whether their beliefs are compatible with the values of a secular republic. They are associated in many minds with the politically powerful movement of the US religious right.

Jean-Francois Colosimo, a writer and religious historian, provoked a furious backlash from evangelicals when, after it emerged that France's intelligence services had launched a ''census'' of the domestic population, he said: ''Everything in France would seem to ban a politico-religious mixture. But laicite is fragile and temptations are present'' - a direct reference to the evangelicals.

These arguments are rejected as irrelevant by French believers. Just because they have the same faith as the Americans and a similar style of worship, they say, it does not mean they share the same politics. But Henri Tincq, a religious commentator, said issues such as abortion and homosexuality were creeping up the agenda.

Revelation 14:6-7
Nov 15th, 2009
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

We have stated that this chapter contains seven visions. This chapter is not chronlogical but is another parenthensis, it will save much confusion to recognize this.

Vision two - "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains of waters."  Verses 6-7

During the present age the gospel is committed to men to proclaim, 11 Cor. 5:18.  During the first half of the tribulation period the two witnesses are given supernatural power to preach the gospel. Here in Revelation 14:6 during the second half of the tribulation angels add their voices to the proclamation of the gospel. Why angels?  angels are indestructable, so no matter how intense the persecution they cannot be silenced.

"In the midst of heaven", that is in the atmospheric  heavens. God is never without a witness!  This highlights the intensity of Satan's opposition to God ! "Having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them", it is the good news of salvation by faith in Christ. The emphasis will be on the judgment that is impending!

The final judgments of Revelation are about to occur, with this the final call goes out to all men to repent and turn to Christ. This is happening against the backdrop of Satan's rampage as he seems to be triumphing.

Vision three - "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations to drink of the wine of her of the wrath of her fornication."  Verse 8. This is the announcement of the fall of religious Babylon, this takes place at the mid-trib point.

Babylon is used three ways in scripture. 1- It refers to the literal city that was on the Euphrates river.  2 - It refers to a religious system such as we see in Revelation 17, the Harlot church.  3 - It refers also the the political system such as found in Revelation18, the kingdom of Antichrist. Babylon was the area where pagan religion began. False religion reaches its apex by the midpoint of the tribulation period. "Babylon is fallen, is fallen", mentioned twice, probably a reference to both religious and political Babylon.

Revelation 17, is a detailed description of the fall of religious Babylon.  Revelation 18, is a detailed description of the fall of political Babylon.

Remember this vision is looking forward and is not a part of the chronology of the book.

The reason for the fall of religious Babylon is announced, "Because she made all nations drink of the wrath of her fornication." The great apostate church will lead her people into a union with the the kingdom of Antichrist. Turning away from the Christ she purported to worship and follow. She seduces the world to worship the Antichrist, for that she is punished. This will unfold at the start of the second half of the tribulation period.

Palestinians Threaten to Declare Statehood With UN Backing
Nov 15th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's repeated requests to restart direct peace talks, senior Palestinian officials at the weekend declared that Israel does not want to reach an accord, and threatened to unilaterally declare Palestinian independence.

"Israel is continuing the occupation and is not prepared to return to the negotiating table," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Israel's Army Radio. "We're fed up with your time-wasting. We don't believe that you really want a two-state solution."

Netanyahu has in fact implemented a freeze on all new building in Judea and Samaria, the so-called "West Bank," a move US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised as unprecedented and certainly not a precondition for peace talks.

Erekat said the Palestinian Authority is considering approaching the UN Security Council about recognizing a Palestinian declaration of independence in all of Judea and Samaria and the eastern half of Jerusalem.

Netanyahu was expected to reject that initiative at a conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, where sources said he would remind the Palestinians that such a declaration would be opposed, both diplomatically and on the ground, despite UN backing.

Christian Colleges that promote Contemplative
Nov 15th, 2009
CommentaryLighthouse Trails Research Project
Categories: Warning;Apostasy

 Contemplative Prayer – A mystical prayer practice that leads one into the “silence” but in actuality leads away from God.

Definition of Contemplative Spirituality: a belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is often wrapped in Christ terminology; the premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all).

Christian Colleges That Promote Contemplative

Abilene Christian University

ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University,  BC, Canada

Alberta Bible College,  Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Ambrose University,  Calgary, Alberta, Canada

American Christian College & Seminary,  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
info@accs.edu
PMN 3373 Christian Spirituality: A Biblical and historical overview of the concept of Christian spirituality. Exposes the student to various disciplines such as journalling, meditation on Scripture, prayer, solitude, fasting and contemplative Bible study.

Ashland Theological Seminary,  Ashland, OH

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary,  Professor Earl Creps
Doctor of Ministry Program Associate Professor of Leadership and Spiritual Renewal

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary,  Valley Forge Christian College Branch Campus
Phoenixville, PA

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary,  SOUTHEASTERN COLLEGE BRANCH CAMPUS
Lakeland, Florida

Azusa Pacific University, Haggard School of Theology, Azusa, CA
Example: Transitions in Ministry

Baptist Theological Seminary of Southern Africa

Baylor University, Waco, TX

Belmont University,  Nashville, Tennessee

Bethel Seminary,  San Diego, St. Paul, East Coast campus

Biblical Theological Seminary,  St. Hatfield, PA

Biola University (Institute of Spiritual Formation)
aka: Talbot School of Theology
ISF 532 Developmental Spirituality & Contemplative Prayer   

Briercrest Bible College , Saskatchewan, Canada

Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
A Contemplative Approach to Youth Ministry 

Carey Institute , Vancouver, BC

Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH

Christian Theological Seminary
Indianapolis, IN

Cincinnati Bible Seminary,  Cincinnati, OH

Columbia Theological Seminary (Presbyterian),  Decatur, GA

Colorado Christian University,  Lakewood, CO

Cornerstone University,  Grand Rapids, MI,  Spiritual Formation Department

Dallas Theological Seminary,  Dallas, TX

Eastern Mennonite Seminary,  Harrisburg, VA

Emmanuel School of Religion,  Johnson City, Tennessee

Fresno Pacific University,  Fresno, CA

Fuller Theological Seminary,  Various Campuses Throughout US

George Fox University Seminary,  Newberg, Oregon
See SFAD 556 Spirituality and the Writings of the Mystics - Included in the course is a small group practicum to assimilate contemplative practices into the student's devotional life. , See adjunct professors.

Gordon College,  Wenham, Massachusetts

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary,  South Hamilton, MA
Spiritual Formation for Ministry Program, (various professors)

Grand Canyon College,  Phoenix, AZ
connected with Ken Blanchard and has a spiritual formation program

Greenville College,  Greenville, IL

Hope International University (AKA: Pacific Christian College)
Spiritual Formation with Professor David Timms,  Fullerton, CA

Indiana Wesylan University  (mentoring program)
Division of Religion & Philosophy with Youth Specialties

Intervarsity Christian Fellowship NW, Portland, OR

John Brown University,  Siloam Springs, AR,  Bachelor of Science Degree with Major in Youth Ministries

John Wesley College,  Africa,  Dean: Dr. Dion Forster

Lincoln Christian College and Seminary, Lincoln, IL

Liberty University,  Lynchburg, VA

Luther Rice Seminary/University,  Lithonia, GA,  Spiritual Formation with Dallas Willard/Robert Webber

Mars Hill Graduate School, Bothell, WA 98021, Dan Allender,  SFD 531 Prayer II

Malone College, Canton, OH

Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary,  Fresno, CA,  President, Jim Holm

MidAmerica Nazarene University,  Olathe, Kansas

Milligan College,  Milligan College, TN

Moody Bible Institute,  Chicago, Illinois

Mount Vernon Nazarene

Multnomah School of the Bible

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,  New Orleans, LA, Dr. Francis Kimmitt

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, IL

Northeastern Seminary,  Rochester, NY,  seminary@roberts.edu

Northpark University and Northpark Theological Seminary (Evangelical Covenant Church)

Northwest Nazarene University

Palm Beach Atlantic University,  Palm Beach, Florida

Pepperdine University (Bible Lectures),  Malibu, California

Prairie Bible Institute,  Alberta, Canada

Providence College and Seminary,  Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada

Regent College, Vancouver, BC

Rockbridge Seminary,  Springfield, MO 65804

Samford University,  Birmingham, AL

Shorter College,  Rome, Georgia

Simpson University,  Redding, CA

Southeastern University,  Lakeland, Fl

Southwest Baptist University,  Bolivar, Missouri

Spring Arbor University

Taylor University,  Upland, IN ,  Youth Conference

Trevecca Nazarene University,  Nashville, TN,  Spiritual Formation Program

Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C. Canada,  Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology

Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL

Tyndale University College & Seminary,  Toronto, CANADA

Vanguard, Spiritual Formation Program

Western Seminary,  Portland, Sacramento, San Jose

Wheaton College Graduate School,  Spiritual Formation and Psychology

William Carey Institute Vancouver, BC

Art’s Commentary......The churches rapidly become what the schools are. The apostasy of Laodicea is nearly complete.

Christ Came to Save
Nov 15th, 2009
Thought for the WeekA.W. Tozer
Categories: Inspirational;Exhortation

Millions who have rejected the Christian gospel have generally been too busy and too involved to ask themselves a simple question: "What really is God's intention toward me?" They could have found the plain and simple answer given by the Apostle John: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through him might be saved." This is a gravely significant message from the heart of God Himself! Yet, even in the full light it provides, people are indifferent. Upon our eyes there seems to have fallen a strange dimness; within our ears, a strange dullness. It is a wonder, and a terrible responsibility, that we should have this message in our possession and be so little stirred about it! I confess that it is very hard for me to accept the fact that it is now very rare for anyone to come into the house of God, silently confessing: "Dear Lord, I am ready and willing to hear what you will speak to me today!"